:00:16. > :00:23.Asian markets open lower following the attacks in Paris. Myanmar will
:00:24. > :00:36.have a new government but how will it run the economy? Good morning.
:00:37. > :00:42.Welcome to Asia Business Report. We start with markets. Asian markets
:00:43. > :00:48.have opened lower this morning after the Paris attacks which left 129
:00:49. > :00:53.dead. Japan and Australia are trading with Japan down 1%,
:00:54. > :01:00.Australia down .5%, Hong Kong has started trading as well. On Friday,
:01:01. > :01:06.US shares fell with disappointing earnings and we saw oil prices
:01:07. > :01:10.continuing to fall. It saw the biggest weekly loss in eight months
:01:11. > :01:17.because of oversupply. After the Parisian attacks, gold prices are
:01:18. > :01:24.rebounding from five-year lows as it is a safe haven investment. The
:01:25. > :01:33.prospect of a rate rise in the US Fed is compounding uncertainty. I
:01:34. > :01:39.asked an economist if that will affect sentiment in Asia. After the
:01:40. > :01:47.events of Friday it was almost certain there would be a negative
:01:48. > :01:52.impact this morning. The Leeds from America were quite weak to be honest
:01:53. > :01:58.so it was written much of their -- leads. It will take time for
:01:59. > :02:02.investors to really work out what the reaction will be -- there. We
:02:03. > :02:12.have seen a number of attacks around the globe over the last few years.
:02:13. > :02:16.There is a little expectation that is how events will happen and it is
:02:17. > :02:23.how governments will respond to that. The G20 meeting will hopefully
:02:24. > :02:26.guide markets going forward. It is added uncertainty at this time,
:02:27. > :02:33.likely playing on volatility we have seen, and perhaps impacting the Fed
:02:34. > :02:39.in December. What does it mean for commodity prices? Does it mean to
:02:40. > :02:43.save haven aspect of gold might be appealing? We have seen that this
:02:44. > :02:50.morning in the currency markets, with the yen strengthening. Safe
:02:51. > :02:55.haven is starting to be attractive to investors once again. Golf might
:02:56. > :03:02.find resilience and support around these levels. However, the move
:03:03. > :03:06.below 1100 was key from a technical perspective. We have seen
:03:07. > :03:11.consolidation around that mark at the moment. These fundamental
:03:12. > :03:18.factors might play on the next move, however the overall complex
:03:19. > :03:22.has looked weak. For the last, well, quite a long while, and so whether
:03:23. > :03:29.it creates a change in investor sentiment will have to be seen. In
:03:30. > :03:34.other news, Japan's economy slipped into a technical recession, two
:03:35. > :03:40.consecutive quarters of negative growth after the economy shrank 1%
:03:41. > :03:45.in the months between July and September. It came in weaker than
:03:46. > :03:52.expected because of slowing domestic spending and uncertainty about the
:03:53. > :03:56.global outlook. Now to Myanmar, one week after defeat in the elections,
:03:57. > :04:01.the president of the country has promised to hand over power to the
:04:02. > :04:06.government smoothly and calmly. We are still waiting for the final
:04:07. > :04:13.results. The opposition party has won more than 80% of the contested
:04:14. > :04:15.seats, so the focus is on what kind of government the National League
:04:16. > :04:21.for Democracy will have and how it will handle the economy. I put that
:04:22. > :04:29.question to 28 political analyst. -- I put that question to a political
:04:30. > :04:36.analyst. They have a manifesto published and they talk about things
:04:37. > :04:41.like reducing poverty, focusing on developing agriculture, which is 70%
:04:42. > :04:45.of the economy, they are interested in investment in manufacturing,
:04:46. > :04:51.which is less than 1%, but there is not a lot of details, they haven't
:04:52. > :04:56.put it together. Foreign investors have flooded the market after the
:04:57. > :05:01.economy started to open. Should they be worried, given the lack of
:05:02. > :05:08.experience in running the economy? It is a concern. In five years we've
:05:09. > :05:10.seen tenfold in investment. A lot have been waiting to see what will
:05:11. > :05:15.happen with the election and with the policies generally. There is
:05:16. > :05:21.interest in the extract is, with tourism and hotspot but we just
:05:22. > :05:27.don't know how it will be governed and what the policies will be --
:05:28. > :05:31.extractives. Import leak, the political risk hasn't gone away. We
:05:32. > :05:37.don't know how the military will work together -- importantly. We
:05:38. > :05:44.have seen some good signs. This is an unprecedented time and there is a
:05:45. > :05:48.lot investors don't know. They like more than anything certainty. You
:05:49. > :05:52.would expect a pause in foreign investment into Myanmar? I think
:05:53. > :05:57.they have been sitting on the sidelines for a time and they will
:05:58. > :06:02.continue to do so. We won't see the parliament sit until
:06:03. > :06:06.January-February and then they elect the president and then the President
:06:07. > :06:11.elect the Cabinet. It is early days and I don't think we will see
:06:12. > :06:14.investment until at least spring. They want to see who will be running
:06:15. > :06:21.everything and how the policies will shape our. Here in Singapore, global
:06:22. > :06:24.security and law enforcement experts for the environment are gathered
:06:25. > :06:31.this week to discuss issues ranging from wildlife to pollution -- shape
:06:32. > :06:37.out. Fires are still blanketing parts of Indonesia. The conference
:06:38. > :06:41.is being brought into focus. Earlier I spoke with the head of the
:06:42. > :06:46.Interpol environmental security unit and asked why the haze is continuing
:06:47. > :06:49.to affect the region yearly stop yellow we are trying to work with
:06:50. > :06:58.the government to look at the ongoing course -- yearly. In some
:06:59. > :07:06.cases the cause is deliberate firing. If it is arson, we need to
:07:07. > :07:12.investigate and try to take those out of the chain altogether. We had
:07:13. > :07:18.a correspondent who was asking people what happened, and they said
:07:19. > :07:22.it was just natural. Even if a law is there, if it is not enforced,
:07:23. > :07:28.what is the point? Don't take the first response you get as part of
:07:29. > :07:32.the investigation. Law enforcement will conduct a thorough
:07:33. > :07:38.investigation. Are they a vested interest and corruption on behalf of
:07:39. > :07:43.the government? You must acknowledge, yes there will be. You
:07:44. > :07:52.have to pursue those undermining the response. Government officials
:07:53. > :07:56.contributing to the degradation of the environment, with fraud or
:07:57. > :08:02.corruption, should be dealt with by the full extent of the law. It is
:08:03. > :08:08.early in the week, but with alcohol in India, whiskey is the most
:08:09. > :08:14.popular, the spirit which has its origins in Scotland, but as we have
:08:15. > :08:19.found out, trade is going both ways. Whiskey is one of Scotland's's most
:08:20. > :08:24.valuable exports. 90% of what it makes is sold overseas. France and
:08:25. > :08:31.the US are the biggest markets. But India is catching up. 80 million
:08:32. > :08:36.bottles were shipped to India last year and demand is growing. There
:08:37. > :08:42.are limitations on growth, not least price. Local taxes and import duty
:08:43. > :08:49.means this bottle of Scottish whiskey costs 5900 rupees, about
:08:50. > :08:57.$90, twice what you would expect to pay in the UK. Whiskey is the much
:08:58. > :09:03.cheaper locally made variety. Some are looking at Indian made whiskey
:09:04. > :09:09.differently. A decade ago this distillery started producing single
:09:10. > :09:15.malt aimed at the international market, initially. Half what it
:09:16. > :09:22.makes here is sold in Europe, America and Australia. They are
:09:23. > :09:26.seeing more locals trying it. There is an element of snobbery that
:09:27. > :09:32.Scotch whiskey is what people want to drink. Nevertheless, when I see
:09:33. > :09:42.the consumer profile of people drinking whiskey, they are people in
:09:43. > :09:45.the age bracket of 30-40. They are buyers in my generation which is
:09:46. > :09:51.probably not coming in the next. The humidity helps whiskey mature more
:09:52. > :09:57.quickly than in cooler climates, like Scotland. It also means more is
:09:58. > :10:03.damaged in the process and has to be thrown away. They say that means
:10:04. > :10:09.prices won't be cheaper than imported rivals, even if it doesn't
:10:10. > :10:12.contend with heavy import taxes. Competing on quality, not price, is
:10:13. > :10:21.what many whiskey makers are having a taste for. Let's recap the
:10:22. > :10:25.markets, because I can show you Hong Kong's Hang Seng has opened 2% lower
:10:26. > :10:29.after the Paris attacks on Friday night. That is it for this edition
:10:30. > :10:43.of Asia Business Report. In Europe, a huge manhunt is under
:10:44. > :10:47.way for one of the suspected