:00:00. > :00:00.they've held for almost 50 years, beating UKIP into second place.
:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:22.How low can or you'll go? Now at $40 per barrel, we will look at the
:00:23. > :00:27.reasons why. And what happens when reviewers of
:00:28. > :00:39.one of the world's most prestigious food guide tuck into street food.
:00:40. > :00:44.Welcome to Asia Business Report. For the past year, the oil producing
:00:45. > :00:49.members of opaque have driven down prices in an attempt to elbow aside
:00:50. > :00:56.competitors from other nations. But could it be about to change course?
:00:57. > :01:05.OPEC meet amid a backdrop of prices that have fallen to $40 per barrel.
:01:06. > :01:10.Arabia is reportedly set to argue for cuts of up to 1 million barrels
:01:11. > :01:16.per day. One member is hoping to join the organisation. I asked an
:01:17. > :01:21.oil analyst with the reversal is likely.
:01:22. > :01:27.Saudi Arabia is the leader of this strategy. It has a short window of
:01:28. > :01:30.opportunity to show other members of the organisation that to this
:01:31. > :01:36.strategy works. That window is basically next year. When the
:01:37. > :01:43.production is forecast to fall. It is unlikely we will see a U-turn at
:01:44. > :01:49.this point. And a lot of this depends on Saudi Arabia. They might
:01:50. > :01:55.consider cutting oil production by 1 million barrels per day. How
:01:56. > :02:02.realistic is that? We saw prices rise just a tad. That shows the
:02:03. > :02:08.degree of division in OPEC and within Saudi Arabia about this
:02:09. > :02:13.strategy. With the financial strain that is generating on all of these
:02:14. > :02:20.economies. They have to balance their budgets with prices of $120
:02:21. > :02:25.per barrel, except for Kuwait and Qatar, who can balance their budgets
:02:26. > :02:32.with $60 or a bit less. The pressure is growing to a level that pushes
:02:33. > :02:43.these countries to call for a cut, but they are not in a position to
:02:44. > :02:47.cut themselves. That is where the once to pump as much as possible, as
:02:48. > :02:53.well as Iraq, to compensate for the low price. The lower price was part
:02:54. > :03:02.of the strategy a year ago to try and price out US shale. The notion
:03:03. > :03:09.they could go a lot cheaper. Shale production is a lot more expensive.
:03:10. > :03:13.Has the tactic worked? If you look at the numbers, it is too early to
:03:14. > :03:17.say whether it is working. We suspect next year OPEC production
:03:18. > :03:26.will fall by about 500,000 barrels per day. If you think in the global
:03:27. > :03:31.context, that is less than 0.5% of output. OPEC's market share in China
:03:32. > :03:37.continues to decline. If you look these numbers, it does not look like
:03:38. > :03:45.the new strategy has worked. And very briefly, what are the changes
:03:46. > :03:50.in Indonesia? The organisation is much more than a cartel trying to
:03:51. > :03:56.defend prices, it is cooperation between consumers and corporations.
:03:57. > :04:03.Now you see the benefit to come back.
:04:04. > :04:08.In other news, the euro searched to a one-month high and stock markets
:04:09. > :04:11.in Europe and the US tumbled after the European Central bank announced
:04:12. > :04:21.a stimulus package that fell short of expectations. It is extending its
:04:22. > :04:26.stimulus programme in a move aimed at full strength the eurozone
:04:27. > :04:33.economic recovery. Many analysts forecast much tougher measures.
:04:34. > :04:37.Three electronic Japanese giants are considering merging their
:04:38. > :04:47.operations. Cheaper, Fujitsu and Sony aim to combine as a company
:04:48. > :04:56.next April. The three electronic sons were not available for comment.
:04:57. > :05:05.A US court has rejected a bid by Kaunda to turn out a class action
:05:06. > :05:07.case involving a -- Karabakh and platers.
:05:08. > :05:16.The Japanese companies have agreed to undisclosed settlements.
:05:17. > :05:21.China's rapid development over the past few decades has been helped by
:05:22. > :05:25.billions of dollars spent on infrastructure. Now African
:05:26. > :05:31.countries are pinning their hopes on a similar strategy, with help from
:05:32. > :05:37.China for ambitious building projects. One example is a massive
:05:38. > :05:41.shopping mall in Nairobi. Our Africa correspondence in this report.
:05:42. > :05:47.Once a poppy plantation, now a construction site.
:05:48. > :05:55.This massive mall is part of a string of projects with
:05:56. > :06:01.The Chinese state corporation has a 40% share. We are going on to a
:06:02. > :06:12.construction site, so the obligatory hardhat. They have not seen anything
:06:13. > :06:15.like this before, shops, gyms, restaurants, bars, luxury
:06:16. > :06:20.accommodation and office suites. All on 100 acres of prime real estate.
:06:21. > :06:27.There are some 2000 people working around the clock to get things ready
:06:28. > :06:33.for the opening date of March next year. There has been criticism that
:06:34. > :06:38.it has been mainly Chinese labour used in the past. But for every 20
:06:39. > :06:46.of the local workers, there is one Chinese super -- supervisor.
:06:47. > :06:52.Eventually, they want to mirror the skills of the Chinese.
:06:53. > :06:54.Christopher's team are putting the finishing touches to the flooring in
:06:55. > :07:00.what will eventually be a restaurant. With thousands of people
:07:01. > :07:06.expected here every single day and was Kenya's history of terrorist
:07:07. > :07:11.attacks, security is one of the key considerations. $12 million has been
:07:12. > :07:17.invested into the latest state-of-the-art technology to make
:07:18. > :07:22.sure this place is safe. In many ways, this is a metaphor for an
:07:23. > :07:24.increasingly confident, globalised Kenya. An image of the Chinese
:07:25. > :07:34.partners are keen to endorse. China says it will cut emissions in
:07:35. > :07:41.the power sector by 60% by 2020. The state news agency says there will
:07:42. > :07:48.also reduce animal carbon dioxide by 180 million tons at the same time.
:07:49. > :07:55.This week an orange level alert was issued for the smog in Beijing.
:07:56. > :07:59.Australia thinks bigger is better when it comes to exports. This is
:08:00. > :08:05.believed to be the largest export grain train in Australian history.
:08:06. > :08:13.It is more than one kilometre long and will reduce costs by up to $10
:08:14. > :08:19.per ton for Australian growers. What is in a star? That is a
:08:20. > :08:26.question that Singapore will be asking as it will be covered by the
:08:27. > :08:29.Michelin guide. It can change the fortunes of a restaurant every
:08:30. > :08:35.night, and it is not just about fancy establishments as I met
:08:36. > :08:41.Michael Ellis. It is premature to say. You can have
:08:42. > :08:47.a team of inspectors here over a week. They have confirmed that there
:08:48. > :08:50.are some exciting things going on. What percentage will be from the
:08:51. > :08:54.whole selection is too early to tell. When the inspectors come in
:08:55. > :09:03.they do not have any preconceived guidelines or rules. They are all
:09:04. > :09:08.full-time employees, food experts, they eat anonymously and they always
:09:09. > :09:12.pay their bill. This formula has been the way we have been
:09:13. > :09:18.functioning for over a century now. I have no guarantees, but I think it
:09:19. > :09:25.will certainly be a part of the selection for 2016. How much will it
:09:26. > :09:33.transform Singapore's Street culture? We do not keep statistics
:09:34. > :09:37.on the impact of being in the Michelin guide. I can tell you
:09:38. > :09:41.this, travels around the world, the Michelin guide rings and
:09:42. > :09:44.international spotlight when any restaurant is featured in the
:09:45. > :09:53.selection. It will bring people from all over the world. You said
:09:54. > :10:03.yourself that a lot of the focus is on Asia. Where next? China? Asia
:10:04. > :10:06.today is one of the regions that has the most dynamism and interest in
:10:07. > :10:12.food. We have a number of different projects and they cannot confirm
:10:13. > :10:16.anything today, but I see a long and exciting future for the Michelin
:10:17. > :10:25.guide in Asia. A quick look at
:10:26. > :10:29.tracking Wall Street after that disappointing decision from the
:10:30. > :10:31.European Central bank. That is it for Asia Business Report. Thank you
:10:32. > :10:38.for watching.