:00:20. > :00:25.Japan Post's share price soars ahead of its long-awaited stock market
:00:26. > :00:38.debut. And we need the woman making her mark in India's male dominated
:00:39. > :00:43.family businesses. Thank you for joining us on Asia Business Report.
:00:44. > :00:49.It is the world's biggest stock market debut this year and shares of
:00:50. > :00:53.Japan Post have started trading in Tokyo, jumping more than 16% from
:00:54. > :01:00.the initial floating price at the opening. Here is a look at the
:01:01. > :01:11.market right now in Tokyo pulls out as you can see, the Nikkei is up.
:01:12. > :01:12.Along with its insurance and bank subsidiaries, the Japan Post listing
:01:13. > :01:26.has raised nearly $12 billion. In Japan, postal workers have always
:01:27. > :01:29.done more than just delivering the mail. They have long been a mobile
:01:30. > :01:38.banking service, collecting savings and selling insurance. And it has
:01:39. > :01:43.been a popular place for Japanese people to put their money. The Post
:01:44. > :01:50.office hold savings of more than $1.5 trillion, making it in effect
:01:51. > :01:54.the world's biggest bank. Much of that has been invested in government
:01:55. > :02:01.bonds or used to fund public works spending. Ten years ago, the
:02:02. > :02:07.decision to privatise Japan Post was made by this man, the former prime
:02:08. > :02:10.minister, Junichiro Koizumi. He argued that the enormous assets
:02:11. > :02:13.would be spent more efficiently in private hands. It was a
:02:14. > :02:18.controversial move but it is finally going ahead. 80% of Japan Post is
:02:19. > :02:24.being offered to Japanese individuals, while the other 20% of
:02:25. > :02:29.the shares are sold to big institutional investors overseas. In
:02:30. > :02:34.this first round, the government is only selling down one tenth of its
:02:35. > :02:39.holding, but the plan is to gradually sell more of its shares.
:02:40. > :02:42.While it is a big change for Japan post, there is one service that will
:02:43. > :02:46.not be affected, and that is male and parcel deliveries. It's 24,000
:02:47. > :02:51.branches will continue operating business as usual.
:02:52. > :03:10.Thank you for joining us. Well, it has been ten years of political work
:03:11. > :03:16.and finally Japan Post is listed on the stock market. Are you impressed
:03:17. > :03:21.by the results? I think that it was pretty good. It was oversubscribed
:03:22. > :03:27.but it is doing very well, I think, considering that there have been
:03:28. > :03:30.lots of problems yet unresolved. It is strong but can it diversify
:03:31. > :03:36.overseas? What about regulations? Will they be good enough? And there
:03:37. > :03:41.are many governance problems as well. But despite all of that, it
:03:42. > :03:48.kicked off quite nicely. And answered questions... --
:03:49. > :03:52.unanswered. When do you think they will be answered? I think that what
:03:53. > :03:56.they have to do is deregulate in order to get the full benefit. They
:03:57. > :04:02.have to do the full listing as soon as possible. The thing is that they
:04:03. > :04:05.have so much power, so much potential, domestically but they can
:04:06. > :04:12.only release this potential won't rings are deregulated. -- once
:04:13. > :04:18.things get deregulated. Can they go overseas? These things have to be
:04:19. > :04:22.regulated. But again, that is only possible once they are fully listed
:04:23. > :04:28.and that is still a long way off. What comes next for Shinzo Abe and
:04:29. > :04:33.his reform programme? I think that he has to get the capital
:04:34. > :04:38.expenditure going or else the cycle of the Japanese economy will not
:04:39. > :04:41.really perpetuate. For him, in order to induce more spending back
:04:42. > :04:48.operations, that will be necessary and corporate tax cuts will help
:04:49. > :04:58.with that. -- induce more spending by corporations. Thank you.
:04:59. > :05:05.The Asia-Pacific region is an expanding market for everything from
:05:06. > :05:09.pharmaceuticals to consumer electronics. Is also a huge growth
:05:10. > :05:17.market for insurance. Asian companies are set to grow even more
:05:18. > :05:22.rapidly, up to three times current global growth rates. Lloyd's of
:05:23. > :05:27.London is hoping to take advantage of this. Its first female chief
:05:28. > :05:32.executive joined me earlier in Singapore. Insurance growth in some
:05:33. > :05:36.parts of the world, particularly in Asia, is almost double economic
:05:37. > :05:41.growth, so insurance is really expanding. People are buying
:05:42. > :05:44.insurance for the first time and business is growing and insurance is
:05:45. > :05:49.a critical part of the confidence required for businesses to
:05:50. > :05:54.invest... They are buying insurance against the slowdown in their
:05:55. > :05:57.economies and companies. They are buying insurance to support
:05:58. > :06:02.investment for the future. And there is so much growth and investment
:06:03. > :06:08.going on. And our speciality is all about writing those risks. And how
:06:09. > :06:17.important is the Chinese market to the company's growth? We have been
:06:18. > :06:20.in China for a few years and we are very pleased with how it is
:06:21. > :06:27.progressing. What kind of obstacles are you facing in the mainland?
:06:28. > :06:31.Actually, it is a really vibrant insurance market. We are in the
:06:32. > :06:38.specialist space, so we are adding value to businesses. We provide
:06:39. > :06:42.security for insurance companies in China. But what about insurance
:06:43. > :06:48.against cyber attacks? Has it become popular in Asia? Not yet. Most cyber
:06:49. > :06:52.insurance has been purchased by US businesses, even though we know that
:06:53. > :07:04.cyber attacks could cost the entire global economy up to $1 million per
:07:05. > :07:14.year. You recently came top of the power list of lesbian, gay, bisexual
:07:15. > :07:18.and transgender people. How do you get productivity in your workforce?
:07:19. > :07:21.Whatever you are, whatever your background, whatever you bring to
:07:22. > :07:28.work, we want you to bring your entire self to work. That will lead
:07:29. > :07:33.to more productivity and the company will be more successful.
:07:34. > :07:37.India's family-owned businesses account for almost two thirds of the
:07:38. > :07:43.company's GDP and in way over half of its workforce but very few are
:07:44. > :07:56.run by women, as male heirs usually inherit the business. Bucking that
:07:57. > :07:59.tradition is one woman in the south of the country.
:08:00. > :08:04.If your family has been running a business for over 100 years, it is
:08:05. > :08:08.probably fair to assume that you too would operate the business one day,
:08:09. > :08:13.but not in the case of this woman, who was married just 17 in keeping
:08:14. > :08:17.with tradition. As a woman, she was never expected to take over the
:08:18. > :08:29.family company. The industry associations had stalled what's been
:08:30. > :08:32.added 70 's and for them to see a young woman coming in and having an
:08:33. > :08:41.opinion, it was a bit humiliating for me in the early years that I was
:08:42. > :08:44.not taken seriously. Nearly 30 years ago, Rajshree was thrown into the
:08:45. > :08:49.family business when her father died suddenly. As part of the sixth
:08:50. > :08:54.generation of the group, she had to take over the running of several
:08:55. > :08:56.educational and philanthropic in dictation -- institutions in
:08:57. > :09:00.southern India but she was unprepared for the challenge. The
:09:01. > :09:05.banks came down very heavy on me and said, young lady, your father has
:09:06. > :09:11.gone and who is going to sign the personal guarantees? Who is going to
:09:12. > :09:18.make sure that the money is coming back to us? Decades later, she has
:09:19. > :09:21.expanded the company into textile mills, sugar and chemical industries
:09:22. > :09:27.and a string of businesses ranging from education to energy. But she is
:09:28. > :09:32.still among just a handful of women who run industries in India. Do you
:09:33. > :09:39.think that things have really changed? It is only by default that
:09:40. > :09:44.women if at all get into the business. In my own family business,
:09:45. > :09:53.I'm not allowed to sit on the Board of Trustees because I'm a daughter
:09:54. > :10:00.and not allowed to participate. Yes, it is still a feudal society.
:10:01. > :10:03.Despite her achievements, Rajshree Pathy says that as a woman in
:10:04. > :10:11.today's India, it is still a challenge to make your Mark.
:10:12. > :10:16.And most Asian stock markets are in positive territory after the US
:10:17. > :10:19.equities market moved solidly higher overnight, helped along by a rally
:10:20. > :10:28.by energy companies due to an advance in the price of oil. Thank
:10:29. > :10:35.you for joining us. Goodbye for now.
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