16/09/2014 Asia Business Report

head injuries on a beach on the island of Koh Tao. Now on BBC News,

all the latest business news live from Singapore. Raising the stakes,

e`commerce giant Alibaba hikes its price days before its listing. And

why India looks set to become the world's fastest`growing exporter.

Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report on BBC World News. I am Rico

Hizon. China's e`commerce giant Alibaba has boosted the price of its

US share flotation to between 66 and $68 per share, in a sign there is

strong investor demand for its initial public offering. This news

comes as the Alibaba roadshow arrives in Singapore. Our reporter

has been looking at this huge share sale, and why it matters. She joins

us now live from outside the venue for today's investors' lunch. Good

morning, Rico Hizon. I am standing outside the Ritz Carlton hotel where

will the roadshow has come to Singapore. This has been shrouded in

secrecy and not a lot of detail has been given out, but what I can tell

you is that this share price that you mentioned of between 66 and $68

goes ahead, Alibaba stance to raise up to $25 billion in its share

listing. It was already set to become the biggest in history, and

despite the huge investor interest, many people still don't know about.

With just days to go until Alibaba's stock listing in New

York, it is the talk of investors from Hong Kong to Wall Street. While

it may be based in China, it is the world's biggest e`commerce company.

In fact, more than 80% of online sales in China happen on an Alibaba

site. But how big it is it outside its home market? We hit the streets

of two of the world's biggest shopping mecca is to ask whether

they had heard of Alibaba. First to London. Alibaba, a long time ago.

Aladdin. and the 40 thieves. Have you heard about Alibaba? Kebabs

shop? No. I am from China and I have never heard of it. Is actually an

Arabian fairy tale, it is not Chinese. I have heard of it, but

have never been to the site. Of course the closer you get to China,

people not only no Alibaba and shop on its site, but it has also been an

inspiration for entrepreneurs like this 29`year`old who has teamed up

with the Chinese tech giant to sell more than 1 million products. We

solve the problems in terms of language, in terms of payments, in

terms of inspection, in terms of shipping. So they have four parts,

we do better. Alibaba and its offshoots may not yet be household

names, but once its shares hit Wall Street, that may change. Something

the owner is banking on, as he looks to expand his own business. The

countdown is on, and all details will be revealed on Friday. From

Singapore, the roadshow heads to London, and then goes to Chicago.

Outside the venue for today's investors lunch for Alibaba, our

correspondent. In other news making headlines, Microsoft has purchased

the Swedish company behind the popular videogame Minecraft, for 2.5

billion US dollars. More than 50 million copies of the game have been

sold, which allows players to build objects with Lego style locks as

well as acyl other players and explore our map. The original

creators are leaving the company but have told investors everything will

be OK. Jean`Paul Gaultier says it is to stop making ready to wear clothes

for men and women. A fashion house said it will be concentrating on

exclusive custom`made clothes from now on, as well as its perfume

lines. Jean`Paul Gaultier launched his business in the early 1980s, and

it is one of the world's best known fashion designers. Some positive

news for India this morning with the country tipped to become the

world's fastest`growing exporter. HSBC says global trade is heading

for long`term growth after a period of stagnation trickle by the global

financial crisis. `` triggered by that gets it. Our correspondent has

more. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his independent state

speech recently he coined a new catchphrase, made in India. Sell

anywhere, but manufactured here, he said. In reality he knows the true

potential is to sell abroad. Despite its size, India is only the world's

14th largest exporter, and needs to grab a much larger slice of what it

makes, especially as domestic growth has slowed down. At the moment,

Indian exports are worth more than $440 million, though about a third

of that is from services like IT, rather than manufacturing. Selling

more products overseas partly depends on economic conditions,

investing and economy is improving. And those countries having the

appetite for Indian made goods. But that is not the only battle. Other

countries in the region are developing their export sectors.

Bangladesh makes garments, Philippines electronics, Thailand

and Vietnam machines and computer parts. The competition is getting

tougher. I spoke earlier to HSBC's regional head of global trade about

the bank's report and started by asking about India's projected

growth and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be one of the

main drivers behind it. Certainly the reforms that we expect Narendra

Modi to put into place will help that, but India has got a growing

middle class economy, it has got a competitive Labour rate still, and

it has a good hi`tech in the pharmaceutical area, and we are

going to see pharmaceuticals grow. At the same time, India has been

very much a domestic driven economy. We see that this is certainly going

to change. His reform policies are indeed promises, and you still have

a high interest rate environment in India. Do you think Narendra Modi

can deliver? The general sense that I get from speaking with clients in

India is there is really a very, very positive momentum in place.

Companies are getting very much set from a capital structures and their

balance sheet to take advantage of the growth they expect coming out

next year. Well who controls the Internet? The answer right now is no

single organisation. But there is increasing concern about what could

happen if governments demand more say in how the Internet works. It is

an issue being discussed by the group responsible for assigning the

billions of Internet domain names and IP addresses in existence today.

Our correspondent caught up with their chief executive and asked them

about the risk of government is wanting to write the rules. It is a

threat because if we do not give answers to governments on how we can

together ensure that we have an Internet that allows limitless and

permission this innovation but also is secure, if we do not give

government mechanisms or parts to participate in the policy setting to

do that, I think it is a threat, because of and have a duty to

protect their people, and their citizens. But in reality, don't

governments really control the Internet today? I mean for example

they control access that their populations have all stopped they

may control the access, but they do not control the Internet, because

the Internet is far more than access. The Internet is content. The

Internet is policies on how things get managed. And it is that space

that so far today has been managed I what we call the multi` stakeholder

community, IT governments, business, civil society, academia,

technical people, come together and make these policies. So how are you

satisfy government's? How do you ensure that they stay on the

sidelines? We need to show governments that the multi`

stakeholder model works, and that they can have an active but his

secretary role in it. `` active, participatory. Regarding privacy of

citizens, protection of children, cyber security, governments have a

role and we need to have them at the table. If you don't appease them

however, what are the risks of governments getting more involved?

Fragmentation. You will find that the Internet is not working for

those who are in power, and they are unable to contribute to how it is

run, we will see a fragmentation of the Internet. And fragmentation is

not just at the physical level meaning possibly having multiple

Internet 's, but it is also at the policy level. So if you are

operating on the Internet, you will find that being able to render your

services in one country becomes completely different from another

country, and that fragmentation takes away, frankly, what made the

Internet the massive engine of growth it is. That was ICANN's chief

executive speaking to Ali Moore. Before we go a quick look at the

markets, and US equities closed mixed overnight, leading investors

to play it safe ahead of the Fed meeting tomorrow. Markets are also

feeling the effects of China's week economic data. `` weak. The top

stories this hour: US planes have targeted Islamic State militants

close to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in the first attacks under President

Obama's new plan to combat the group. The attacks follow agreement

among 30 countries agree to support the Iraqi government's campaign

against Islamic