:00:00. > :00:16.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:17. > :00:23.Alibaba reports better-than-expected earnings despite the slowdown in the
:00:24. > :00:25.Chinese economy. And we find out why Asian companies are spending
:00:26. > :00:36.millions of dollars to sponsor big sporting events.
:00:37. > :00:42.Glad you could join us for this Friday edition of Asia Business
:00:43. > :00:47.Report. China's biggest online retailer, Alibaba, is feeling the
:00:48. > :01:01.effects of the slowdown in the country's economy. Their GMB rose 3%
:01:02. > :01:07.to $147 billion. Revenues were better than expected but the volume
:01:08. > :01:11.of growth was not. Earlier I spoke with an analyst to say another
:01:12. > :01:18.factor was rising competition. I would think that overall the
:01:19. > :01:22.economy's slowdown would have some impact on Alibaba but the truth is
:01:23. > :01:27.that there is a move from off-line shopping patterns to online. So the
:01:28. > :01:30.impact will be less. It is more from the competition because the
:01:31. > :01:41.competition is actually getting more varied, and that is interesting. I
:01:42. > :01:47.want to see how the competition will perform later in the year. How do
:01:48. > :01:51.you think they will be able to remain competitive and keep their
:01:52. > :01:56.competitors on the sidelines? Will they continue to grow organically or
:01:57. > :02:11.will they make more acquisitions? I think the expansion of the roadmap
:02:12. > :02:15.from business to consumer was done well, but now they're looking at
:02:16. > :02:20.acquiring online financial business and moving into healthcare. The
:02:21. > :02:25.different industries they need to tap into, they will need to consider
:02:26. > :02:37.building up their business model. Another thing they need to look at
:02:38. > :02:44.is business-to-business, they use cloud computing and that is the
:02:45. > :02:50.focus. They also need to stay within sight of China, but also to conquer
:02:51. > :03:00.international markets. These will be the major roadmaps that Alibaba need
:03:01. > :03:06.to tap into. Shares of Amazon have tumbled 14% in after-hours US trade
:03:07. > :03:11.as investors were spooked by a sharp spike in operating expenses even
:03:12. > :03:16.though the online giant posted its third straight quarter profit with
:03:17. > :03:20.sales rising by 22% to $36 billion in the final three months of the
:03:21. > :03:29.year, pushing its overall sales past the first time. Taiwan's economy is
:03:30. > :03:36.expanding at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis with its
:03:37. > :03:39.GDP expanding by just .85% in 2015, dragged down by the slowdown in
:03:40. > :03:45.China which is its biggest export market. Based on recent data, some
:03:46. > :03:47.economists now believe Taiwan has fallen into a recession. Japan may
:03:48. > :03:59.name and you economy minister today. The past minister resigned on
:04:00. > :04:04.Friday over claims that he had received bribes from a construction
:04:05. > :04:07.company. He admitted meeting the company's decorative and accepting
:04:08. > :04:12.cash and gifts as political donations. To major sporting events
:04:13. > :04:16.are taking place in Asia this week, tennis stars are in Melbourne for
:04:17. > :04:22.the Australian Open which is sponsored by Korean automaker Kia,
:04:23. > :04:31.and another is taking place in Japan. What influences these
:04:32. > :04:37.companies to sponsor the sporting events? I asked a ahead of business
:04:38. > :04:41.consultancy in Asia. The real risk in sponsoring these events is the
:04:42. > :04:47.return on investment. It is very hard to track any kind of return
:04:48. > :04:52.from a very large multimillion dollar investment. Reports last year
:04:53. > :04:57.show that only a third of these companies tracked at all. Some of
:04:58. > :05:01.them had a negative return. What about the return for their
:05:02. > :05:09.sponsorships? Do they see concrete results? They see more brand
:05:10. > :05:14.awareness. But there is a long difference between that and purchase
:05:15. > :05:18.power. Just knowing about something doesn't mean you like it. Over the
:05:19. > :05:24.past couple of years we have seen the slowdown in the global economy
:05:25. > :05:28.and it is impacting Asia. Has this affected corporate enthusiasm for
:05:29. > :05:30.supporting sporting events? One of the first things that gets
:05:31. > :05:39.jettisoned when a country goes through financial crisis is sporting
:05:40. > :05:42.events, it gets seen as an indulgence and Asian brands and
:05:43. > :05:46.companies are much less likely to indulge those practices and are more
:05:47. > :05:51.likely to put their money towards things that actually benefit the
:05:52. > :05:55.customer, service, packaging, in-store experience a new product.
:05:56. > :06:00.It also doesn't help that you have controversies hounding some major
:06:01. > :06:05.sporting events. Corruption issues, match fixing, drugs. Does this
:06:06. > :06:13.impact the appeal of sport? Absolutely. The brands want their
:06:14. > :06:17.messages reflected and they want the great Halo effect. All of these
:06:18. > :06:23.things damage the brand and with instant access through the Internet,
:06:24. > :06:27.everything is going on to tarnish that appeal. What about diamond in
:06:28. > :06:33.the rough sporting events that sponsors haven't been looking into?
:06:34. > :06:40.Where do potential -- what are the potential sports? In Korea, millions
:06:41. > :06:45.of people go online to watch a video gaming. It is one of the biggest
:06:46. > :06:49.viewing sports in Asia now. You look at Indonesia and badminton is huge.
:06:50. > :07:05.China has table tennis and Drome racing that is very exciting. --
:07:06. > :07:11.drone. Now we're talking about the traditional Indonesian wedding
:07:12. > :07:18.outfit, prices start off very high. We're looking at how the process of
:07:19. > :07:26.making address works. Beautiful, glamorous and expensive. This
:07:27. > :07:31.traditional Indonesian dress for women has been modernized and is
:07:32. > :07:36.mostly born by Indonesian elites. In order to get a dazzling dress like
:07:37. > :07:41.this, one needs to order months in advance. In addition to patients,
:07:42. > :07:47.customers also need to have deep pockets because the dress like this
:07:48. > :07:50.costs around 5000 US dollars. It is out of reach for the average
:07:51. > :07:55.Indonesian but the designer herself has a very good reason for the high
:07:56. > :08:03.price point. One dress is made by around 25 workers. TRANSLATION: I
:08:04. > :08:07.don't need to explain further why I have put a certain price point on my
:08:08. > :08:10.dresses, because even the ugliest dress has a market value and it is
:08:11. > :08:15.proven even though many have imitated my dresses from Western
:08:16. > :08:24.Asia to East Indonesia. I still have customers. At her workshop in
:08:25. > :08:27.central Java, an hour from the capital of Jakarta, she is also
:08:28. > :08:32.training women to become designers and is giving lessons for free.
:08:33. > :08:37.Those who don't have any experiences in design will be given a monthly
:08:38. > :08:41.salary after training of around $70. It is less than the average salary
:08:42. > :08:47.of around $140 at the salary will increase as their skills improve.
:08:48. > :08:52.She never attended fashion school. She picked up her skills from her
:08:53. > :08:59.mother, also a fashion designer. Her big breakthrough came when her dress
:09:00. > :09:03.was worn by Ms. Indonesia in 1996. The fame also came with critics who
:09:04. > :09:06.have judged her designs as being too modern and some have accused the
:09:07. > :09:13.fashion designer of the training the Indonesian culture. TRANSLATION: I
:09:14. > :09:18.felt really sad when I heard that. But I know I have to be strong and
:09:19. > :09:21.make my mother proud. That pushed her to devote her talent and
:09:22. > :09:30.financial resources to children. She said that this organisation to treat
:09:31. > :09:35.children with medical conditions in 2012. Over the years come of the
:09:36. > :09:38.foundation has provided medical treatment for over 1000 children and
:09:39. > :09:44.they come from all over the country. She's also working on
:09:45. > :09:52.pursuing her big dream. To set up a hospital in the near future. And
:09:53. > :09:57.before we go, here is a look at the markets and Asia is currently
:09:58. > :10:04.lackluster, moving sideways in early Friday trade despite gains overnight
:10:05. > :10:13.as Facebook's earnings drove market higher. Was also a bounce back in
:10:14. > :10:21.all will prices because industrial output was lower than expected in
:10:22. > :10:25.the month of December. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ
:10:26. > :10:30.finished almost 1% higher. Amazon shares plunged 14% and Microsoft
:10:31. > :10:32.beat expectations. Thank you for investing your time with us, goodbye
:10:33. > :10:36.for now. Rebellion in Myanmar
:10:37. > :10:41.in the new political era, the BBC's exclusive report on
:10:42. > :10:49.the militia groups still persecuted The World Health organisation says
:10:50. > :10:53.there could be 4 million cases of