:00:00. > :00:00.Koh Tao. Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from
:00:00. > :00:13.Singapore. Raising the stakes ` e`commerce
:00:14. > :00:20.giant Alibaba hikes its price, days before its listing. And why India
:00:21. > :00:30.looks set to become the world's fastest`growing exporter. Hello and
:00:31. > :00:37.welcome to Asia Business Report on BBC World News. I'm Rico Hizon.
:00:38. > :00:40.China's e`commerce giant Alibaba has boosted the price of its US share
:00:41. > :00:43.flotation to between $66 and $68 per share, in a sign there is strong
:00:44. > :00:51.investor demand for its initial public offering. This news comes as
:00:52. > :01:01.the Alibaba roadshow arrives in Singapore. Our reporter Ashley
:01:02. > :01:05.Ngheim has been looking at this huge share sale, and why it matters. She
:01:06. > :01:17.joins us now live from outside the venue for today's investors' lunch.
:01:18. > :01:21.Good morning, Rico. From outside the Ritz Carlton hotel, where as you say
:01:22. > :01:26.we believe investors would be treated to a special lunch and
:01:27. > :01:30.perhaps even an appearance I Alibaba's chief executive. Not a lot
:01:31. > :01:36.of detail has been revealed about this share sale information session,
:01:37. > :01:46.but what we do know is that if this price between 66 dollars and $68
:01:47. > :01:49.goes ahead, Alibaba stands to raise up to $25 billion in its share
:01:50. > :01:52.listing. It was already set to become the biggest in history, and
:01:53. > :01:55.despite the huge investor interest, many people still don't know about
:01:56. > :01:58.it. With just days to go until Alibaba's stock listing in New York,
:01:59. > :02:02.it is the talk of investors from Hong Kong to Wall Street. While it
:02:03. > :02:05.may be based in China, it is the world's biggest e`commerce company.
:02:06. > :02:11.In fact, more than 80% of online sales in China happen on an Alibaba
:02:12. > :02:14.site. But how big it is it outside its home market? We hit the streets
:02:15. > :02:19.of two of the world's biggest shopping meccas to ask whether they
:02:20. > :02:29.had heard of Alibaba. First to London. Alibaba? A long time ago.
:02:30. > :02:41.Aladdin. And the 40 thieves. Have you heard about Alibaba? The kebab
:02:42. > :02:44.shop? No. And then to New York. I am from China and I have never heard of
:02:45. > :02:49.it. It is actually an Arabian fairy tale, it is not Chinese. I have
:02:50. > :02:52.heard of it, but have never been to the site. Of course, the closer you
:02:53. > :02:56.get to China, people not only know Alibaba and shop on its site, but it
:02:57. > :02:59.has also been an inspiration for entrepreneurs, like this 29`year`old
:03:00. > :03:01.who has teamed up with the Chinese tech giant to sell more than one
:03:02. > :03:04.million products. We solve the problems in terms of language, in
:03:05. > :03:24.terms of payments, in terms of inspection, in terms of shipping. So
:03:25. > :03:28.they have four parts we do better. Alibaba and its offshoots may not
:03:29. > :03:30.yet be household names, but once its shares hit Wall Street, that may
:03:31. > :03:41.change ` something the entrepreneur is banking on, as he looks to expand
:03:42. > :03:44.his own business. The countdown is on, and all details will be revealed
:03:45. > :03:57.on Friday. From Singapore, the roadshow heads to London, and then
:03:58. > :04:05.goes to Chicago. A lot of excitement with Alibaba. Thank you for joining
:04:06. > :04:08.us, Ashleigh Nghiem. In other news making headlines, Microsoft has
:04:09. > :04:10.purchased the Swedish company behind the popular videogame Minecraft, for
:04:11. > :04:13.$US2.5 billion. More than 50 million copies of the game have been sold,
:04:14. > :04:16.which allows players to build objects with Lego`style blocks, as
:04:17. > :04:24.well as battle other players and explore a map. The three founders
:04:25. > :04:31.however are leaving the company, but have told investors everything will
:04:32. > :04:34.be OK. The famous French fashion house Jean`Paul Gaultier says it is
:04:35. > :04:37.to stop making ready`to`wear clothes for men and women. The fashion house
:04:38. > :04:40.said it will be concentrating on exclusive custom`made clothes from
:04:41. > :04:46.now on, as well as its perfume lines. Mr Gaultier launched his
:04:47. > :04:53.business in the early 1980s, and is one of the world's best known
:04:54. > :04:56.fashion designers. Some positive news for India this morning, with
:04:57. > :04:58.the country tipped to become the world's fastest`growing exporter.
:04:59. > :05:01.HSBC says global trade is heading for long`term growth, after a period
:05:02. > :05:03.of stagnation triggered by the global financial crisis. Our
:05:04. > :05:06.correspondent has more. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his
:05:07. > :05:08.Independence Day speech recently, he coined a new catchphrase ` make in
:05:09. > :05:19.India. Sell anywhere, but manufacture here, he said. But in
:05:20. > :05:22.reality he knows the true potential is to sell abroad. Despite its size,
:05:23. > :05:25.India is only the world's 14th`largest exporter, and needs to
:05:26. > :05:34.grab a much larger slice of what it makes, especially as domestic growth
:05:35. > :05:38.has slowed down. At the moment, Indian exports are worth more than
:05:39. > :05:42.$440 billion, though about a third of that is from services like IT,
:05:43. > :05:44.rather than manufacturing. Selling more products overseas partly
:05:45. > :05:46.depends on economic conditions, investing, and economies improving,
:05:47. > :05:54.and those countries having the appetite for Indian`made goods. But
:05:55. > :05:57.that is not the only battle. Other countries in the region are
:05:58. > :05:58.developing their export sectors. Bangladesh makes garments,
:05:59. > :06:01.Philippines electronics, Thailand and Vietnam machines and computer
:06:02. > :06:12.parts. The competition is getting tougher. I spoke earlier to HSBC's
:06:13. > :06:14.regional head of global trade Simon Constantinides about the bank's
:06:15. > :06:17.report, and started by asking about India's projected growth, and if
:06:18. > :06:24.Prime Minister Modi would be one of the main drivers behind it.
:06:25. > :06:27.Certainly the reforms that we expect Narendra Modi to put into place will
:06:28. > :06:30.help that, but India has got a growing middle`class economy, it has
:06:31. > :06:34.got a competitive Labour rate still, and it has a good hi`tech sector in
:06:35. > :06:43.the pharmaceutical area, and we are going to see pharmaceuticals grow.
:06:44. > :06:50.At the same time, India has been very much a domestic`driven economy.
:06:51. > :06:59.And we see that this is certainly going to change. But these reform
:07:00. > :07:02.policies are indeed promises, and you still have a high`interest`rate
:07:03. > :07:05.environment in India. Do you think Narendra Modi can deliver? The
:07:06. > :07:08.general sense that I get from speaking with clients in India is
:07:09. > :07:10.there is really a very, very positive momentum in place.
:07:11. > :07:13.Companies are getting very much set, from capital structures and their
:07:14. > :07:20.balance sheets, to take advantage of the growth they expect coming out
:07:21. > :07:25.next year. Well, who controls the Internet? The answer right now is,
:07:26. > :07:28.no single organisation. But there is increasing concern about what could
:07:29. > :07:31.happen if governments demand more say in how the Internet works. It is
:07:32. > :07:34.an issue being discussed by ICANN, the group responsible for assigning
:07:35. > :07:42.the billions of Internet domain names and IP addresses in existence
:07:43. > :07:45.today. Ali Moore caught up with their chief executive Fadi Chehade,
:07:46. > :07:49.and asked them about the risk of governments wanting to write the
:07:50. > :07:52.rules. It is a threat because if we do not give answers to governments
:07:53. > :07:55.on how we can together ensure that we have an Internet that allows
:07:56. > :07:58.limitless and permissionless innovation, but also is secure, if
:07:59. > :08:01.we do not give government mechanisms or parts to participate in the
:08:02. > :08:04.policy setting to do that, I think it is a threat, because governments
:08:05. > :08:16.have a duty to protect their people, and their citizens. But in reality,
:08:17. > :08:22.don't governments really control the Internet today? I mean, for example,
:08:23. > :08:24.they control access that their populations have. They may control
:08:25. > :08:30.the access, but they do not control the Internet, because the Internet
:08:31. > :08:34.is far more than access. The Internet is content. The Internet is
:08:35. > :08:37.policies on how things get managed. And it is that space that so far
:08:38. > :08:40.today has been managed by what we call the multi`stakeholder community
:08:41. > :08:42.` IT, governments, business, civil society, academia, technical people,
:08:43. > :08:52.come together and make these policies. So how are you satisfy
:08:53. > :09:00.governments? How do you ensure that they stay on the sidelines? We need
:09:01. > :09:03.to show governments that the multi`stakeholder model works, and
:09:04. > :09:05.that they can have an active, participatory role in it. Regarding
:09:06. > :09:08.privacy of citizens, protection of children, cyber security,
:09:09. > :09:19.governments have a role, and we need to have them at the table. If you
:09:20. > :09:24.don't appease them, however, what are the risks of governments getting
:09:25. > :09:28.more involved? Fragmentation. You will find that if the Internet is
:09:29. > :09:31.not working for those who are in power, and they are unable to
:09:32. > :09:40.contribute to how it is run, we will see a fragmentation of the Internet.
:09:41. > :09:43.And fragmentation is not just at the physical level, meaning possibly
:09:44. > :09:50.having multiple Internets, but it is also at the policy level. So if you
:09:51. > :09:53.are operating on the Internet, you will find that being able to render
:09:54. > :09:55.your services in one country becomes completely different from another
:09:56. > :09:58.country, and that fragmentation takes away, frankly, what made the
:09:59. > :10:18.Internet the massive engine of growth it is. Fadi Chehade, speaking
:10:19. > :10:24.to Ali Moore. Markets feeling the effects of China's weak economic
:10:25. > :10:28.data, Hong Kong as you can see shut today due to the Thai firm. Thank
:10:29. > :10:38.you for investing your time with us. `` typhoon. The top stories this
:10:39. > :10:41.hour: US planes have targeted Islamic State militants close to the
:10:42. > :10:50.Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in the first attacks under President Obama's new
:10:51. > :10:53.plan to combat the group. The attacks follow agreement among 30
:10:54. > :10:59.countries agree to support the Iraqi government's campaign against
:11:00. > :11:00.Islamic State. The high street chain Phones 4U has gone