:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:31.A huge drop in profits and worries about China. Why is the boss of
:00:32. > :00:39.Caplan upbeat? And does flight mode now means staying connected? Good
:00:40. > :00:46.morning Asia and hello world. Glad you could join us for Asia Business
:00:47. > :00:52.Report. We start off with the real estate market and the head of one of
:00:53. > :00:58.Asia's largest companies, Singapore's Capital Land saying he
:00:59. > :01:03.is optimistic for 2016 despite the slowing of China. They have posted a
:01:04. > :01:08.near 40% fall in their fourth-quarter numbers compared to
:01:09. > :01:19.their year ago numbers and get its chief executive says its growth
:01:20. > :01:23.forecast remains positive -- yet. Despite the slowdown, we expect
:01:24. > :01:29.China to continue to grow at about 615%. There is a major change now in
:01:30. > :01:38.the composition of the overall GDP of the economy in that the focus is
:01:39. > :01:46.less on export and more on consumption. And consumption is
:01:47. > :01:51.growing in China. In our specific sector, we are looking at, for
:01:52. > :01:59.example, retail consumption which has grown. It is still growing in
:02:00. > :02:08.the double digits and we continue to enjoy high growth. In the case of
:02:09. > :02:15.the residential property sector, the government has been putting in
:02:16. > :02:21.policies that are encouraging homeownership insofar as people who
:02:22. > :02:29.are purchasing their first home or upgrading will be supported. It will
:02:30. > :02:33.underpin some of the real demand for property. What about how the
:02:34. > :02:38.authorities have been managing this situation? Not just the economy but
:02:39. > :02:41.the sharp falls we have seen in the stock markets? I think the stock
:02:42. > :02:45.market volatility is something that none of us want to see, including
:02:46. > :02:51.the Chinese authority. From what I can gather from all the different
:02:52. > :02:55.speeches made by the people responsible for looking after the
:02:56. > :02:58.economic sector, they are also very clear that they're learning from
:02:59. > :03:03.this whole experience. Going forward, I think there will be a lot
:03:04. > :03:11.more preparation in terms of dealing with this disruption in volatility
:03:12. > :03:15.in the market. In other business news making headlines, Japan's
:03:16. > :03:21.exports have fallen for a fourth month in a row. This January they
:03:22. > :03:26.were 12.9% lower than January last year. The data also revealed Japan
:03:27. > :03:30.is importing less. The situation is worse than forecast and confirms the
:03:31. > :03:33.economy is still showing signs of weakness amid concerns of the global
:03:34. > :03:41.economic slump and in particular, slowing growth in the mainland.
:03:42. > :03:44.Those concerns are reflected in the freshly released minutes from
:03:45. > :03:52.January's US central bank meeting. They show that members considered
:03:53. > :03:58.changing course in terms of raising rates for 2016. The decision to hike
:03:59. > :04:04.the cost of borrowing was made in December. Venezuela has devalued its
:04:05. > :04:12.currency and massively it -- back raised the cost of fuel. The
:04:13. > :04:15.exchange rate will be simple five and the cost of petrol which was
:04:16. > :04:20.practically free in the oil-producing country will increase
:04:21. > :04:32.the first time in 20 years. As of Friday, the cost of gasoline will
:04:33. > :04:35.increase more than 6000%. For a long time Australia got rich on the back
:04:36. > :04:38.of the mining boom but the collapse in global commodity prices have left
:04:39. > :04:43.the government struggling to balance its books. The price of coal has
:04:44. > :04:53.jumped by 60% over the last five years. Australian coal exports to
:04:54. > :04:57.China are down by 25% over the past year, reflecting a slowdown in the
:04:58. > :05:09.Chinese economy to which Australia is so strongly tied. Now we go to
:05:10. > :05:15.our correspondent. Dawn in central Queensland. Ground Zero for
:05:16. > :05:18.Australia's: history. The state has some of the largest coal reserves
:05:19. > :05:24.and was at the bottom of the country's mining boom -- coal. It is
:05:25. > :05:27.a boom at which hasn't gone bust yet but which these days is certainly
:05:28. > :05:34.providing a lot less bang for the buck. Coal continues to be pulled
:05:35. > :05:40.out of the ground here in Queensland on a massive scale but such has been
:05:41. > :05:50.the fall in the price of the product that many of the big mines are
:05:51. > :05:54.struggling to turn a profit. That has hit mining communities like this
:05:55. > :05:58.one hard. Nearly everyone here is connected to the coal industry but
:05:59. > :06:05.wages have been cut and jobs have been lost. I'm not quite sure where
:06:06. > :06:09.boom and bust originated from but it certainly is cemented into the
:06:10. > :06:16.mining industry in particular. We do need to work towards sustainability
:06:17. > :06:20.and more consistency. And this town has definitely not seen that. These
:06:21. > :06:26.houses don't look to flash but during the boom when miners were
:06:27. > :06:31.flushed with cash, this small, nondescript town had some of the
:06:32. > :06:37.most expensive real estate in all of Queensland. But in the last few
:06:38. > :06:42.years, many people have left and property prices have dropped by as
:06:43. > :06:46.much as 70%. The town is starting to struggle now because of the impact
:06:47. > :06:51.from the mines. You don't have the money to spend around the town. I'm
:06:52. > :06:56.always concerned about my family in the community's future. Hopefully it
:06:57. > :07:00.will come back. Always live in hope. We hope we will see a flattening and
:07:01. > :07:05.general increase in demand, but there is always that worry.
:07:06. > :07:09.Australia's coal reserves are not going to run out anytime soon but
:07:10. > :07:21.digging it up is one thing. Selling it for profit is another. Tomorrow
:07:22. > :07:25.we hear about Australia's boom in agricultural investment as Asia's
:07:26. > :07:29.middle classes demand more high-quality food. Over the weekend
:07:30. > :07:35.you can get a look at how Australia is repositioning itself in the new
:07:36. > :07:41.global economy on Talking Business at these times. Anyone who has used
:07:42. > :07:45.the Internet on a plane may have had a less than favourable experience.
:07:46. > :07:51.Low-speed, delays in loading, dropped connections, and all at a
:07:52. > :07:55.significantly higher cost than what can be purchased on the ground. Is
:07:56. > :08:01.there a future where we will all be surfing at 30,000 feet? We have
:08:02. > :08:05.details from the Singapore air show. We have all had those moments
:08:06. > :08:08.where we desperately need to send an e-mail or two before we get onto our
:08:09. > :08:16.flight and switch off our phones and laptops. That that is now changing.
:08:17. > :08:20.-- but. It was on multimillion dollar debts like this one that the
:08:21. > :08:23.idea of Wi-Fi was first pioneered and that is because the owners were
:08:24. > :08:26.the only ones who could afford it that technological advances mean
:08:27. > :08:34.that now commercial aviation can adopt it as well. By 2023,
:08:35. > :08:41.commercial aircraft with high-speed broadband communications are
:08:42. > :08:43.expected to reach more than 13,000 but passengers have had mostly
:08:44. > :08:49.negative experiences so far and the economics of it means that we saw
:08:50. > :08:54.headlines like passengers stung with $1200 bills or the crazy economics
:08:55. > :08:58.of in-flight Wi-Fi. Some airlines have also complained that they are
:08:59. > :09:03.not making money from the service. So does it still makes financial
:09:04. > :09:08.sense for airlines to install it? This company is one of the biggest
:09:09. > :09:14.makers of aircraft Wi-Fi equipment. It has a 20 year deal with a
:09:15. > :09:16.satellite provider to build a new global network for aircraft which
:09:17. > :09:23.they say will transform rapid connectivity. If you can imagine
:09:24. > :09:27.flying across the ocean, not dropping a signal, having the
:09:28. > :09:31.ability to actually stream video, it is a completely different parameter
:09:32. > :09:38.of customer experience that has never been touched before. Carriers
:09:39. > :09:41.here at the Singapore air show are keen to show they're investing in
:09:42. > :09:46.this type of technology to keep ahead of the competition. Indonesia
:09:47. > :09:50.says first and business class passengers don't have to pay for
:09:51. > :09:57.onboard Wi-Fi and that in economy it is about $25 for 20 hours of use.
:09:58. > :10:01.But you after member that airlines will have different types of
:10:02. > :10:07.networks as well as price data plans because ultimately they all have
:10:08. > :10:12.different bottom lines. And over the last few minutes we have heard from
:10:13. > :10:25.China on their inflation numbers. The CBI measure of inflation, say it
:10:26. > :10:29.has risen to 1.8% which is less than expected. Thank you for spending
:10:30. > :10:35.your time with us and goodbye for now.