:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:25.The Sharp sale, will it actually happened? Is Foxconn having second
:00:26. > :00:28.thoughts? -- happen. And a campaign for a national Goods and Services
:00:29. > :00:43.Tax is proving a hard sell. Hello, and welcome to Asia Business
:00:44. > :00:49.Report. I am in Singapore. Shares for Sharp have tumbled again,
:00:50. > :00:57.falling another 15% after opening this Friday. They accepted a
:00:58. > :01:02.takeover bid from Taiwanese Foxconn. Just hours later it was apparent
:01:03. > :01:11.that Foxconn may be putting it on hold. They received new information
:01:12. > :01:21.from Sharp. Investors are concerned. I spoke with a vice president. It is
:01:22. > :01:32.high drama. They have been in discussions since 2012. They want to
:01:33. > :01:41.make the deal happen. Suddenly this dramatic moment. No one likes
:01:42. > :01:48.surprises. What sort of extenuating material information do you think
:01:49. > :01:56.could possibly put Foxconn off Sharp? We know that Sharp is saddled
:01:57. > :02:03.with debt. Two things. Though I don't know if I want to gas. Quarter
:02:04. > :02:12.results. Getting into March and so forth. And then a regulatory
:02:13. > :02:19.hurdle. The ministry of economics and the trade ministry wanted to put
:02:20. > :02:26.together a consortium for alternative deals. You mentioned the
:02:27. > :02:33.Japanese government. How much, if this deal goes through, how much
:02:34. > :02:37.does it represent a huge mind shift in corporate Japan that they are
:02:38. > :02:42.finally letting in foreign investors into their technology sector. It is
:02:43. > :02:53.the sign of the times. Globalisation. Now they are facing
:02:54. > :03:03.the forces of that process. We have seen Citibank acquire Niko... That
:03:04. > :03:08.is the financial side, but this is the first real electronics...
:03:09. > :03:12.Certainly. Telecom is still a key industry for the Japanese. It is up
:03:13. > :03:24.there. There is probably still some dissatisfaction with this kind of
:03:25. > :03:28.deal. The prize is Sharp's LCDs. If this deal happened, it almost did,
:03:29. > :03:39.what would it mean for Sharp's other businesses? Renters, home
:03:40. > :03:48.appliances... -- priners. Foxconn does a lot of assembly for iPhone.
:03:49. > :03:56.The LCD screen is a key part of that package and they would have that as
:03:57. > :03:59.an asset portfolio. The G20 meeting of central bank governors and
:04:00. > :04:04.finance ministers is under way in Shanghai. At the opening, China's
:04:05. > :04:10.Finance Minister urged co-operation on economic policy and reducing
:04:11. > :04:15.trade barriers. It covers about 86% of the world's economies with two
:04:16. > :04:25.thirds of the world's population and the 5% of global trade. -- 75%. Are
:04:26. > :04:32.we likely to see co-ordinated action at this meeting? I am joined by
:04:33. > :04:44.Robert Brant, the Shanghai correspondent. A big story to start
:04:45. > :04:50.your tour of duty. We have heard from many speakers so far. Yeah. It
:04:51. > :04:55.was the Finance Minister who opened the first session here in the heart
:04:56. > :05:05.of Shanghai. The focus for him and the overall focus for the G20 is on
:05:06. > :05:09.structural reform. The tax frameworks, Social Security,
:05:10. > :05:15.supply-side reforms and labour markets, here in China and across
:05:16. > :05:20.the other 19 members. That is of course a huge undertaking and
:05:21. > :05:24.something that the G20 continues to aid its members to do. The backdrop
:05:25. > :05:34.to this was Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF. A Chinese economy
:05:35. > :05:43.that is growing but with a slowing rate of growth. The IMF has revised
:05:44. > :05:46.its forecast for the year ahead, cutting off 4.2% of how quickly it
:05:47. > :05:56.thinks the global economy will grow. These are gloomy times. Not 2008,
:05:57. > :06:00.the GFC that gripped the world then. But nevertheless, there is the
:06:01. > :06:05.worry about the fragility of growth, especially in China. There is
:06:06. > :06:10.concern with what the Chinese government is doing to stop the
:06:11. > :06:15.slowing rate and to make sure they have a soft landing. It is also the
:06:16. > :06:25.first big meeting under the presidency of China. How important
:06:26. > :06:32.is this that it is slowing? China is now the second biggest economy in
:06:33. > :06:35.the world. Everyone predicts that, given another generation, it will
:06:36. > :06:40.become the world's biggest and most important economy. But what we are
:06:41. > :06:45.seeing at the moment is the end of those periods of double-digit growth
:06:46. > :06:50.for this country, phenomenal over the last 20 years. They are moving
:06:51. > :06:58.towards what the Chinese government calls "normal times". They want to
:06:59. > :07:01.see it at 7%. It was at 6.9%. The key thing is how do you move on
:07:02. > :07:05.those double-digit figures to something more sustainable,
:07:06. > :07:13.something easier for the politicians and the people of this country to
:07:14. > :07:18.have. Thank you. In Shanghai, covering the G20 Summit. India is a
:07:19. > :07:26.country with a seat at the G20 table. But they only have a
:07:27. > :07:31.representative. The Prime Minister stayed home to prepare a plan. They
:07:32. > :07:36.want a Goods and Services Tax across the country. But it has proven tough
:07:37. > :07:45.to get state governments to give up their tax powers. We start our
:07:46. > :07:50.report in a northern state. Car parts, made in India, destined for
:07:51. > :07:58.factories in the. It sounds pretty simple. -- United States. We will
:07:59. > :08:04.find out the journey. They are ready to be driven 2300 kilometres to the
:08:05. > :08:12.port for shipping. And this is the route across India that the lorries
:08:13. > :08:18.will take. So far, so good. But here is the problem, the journey goes
:08:19. > :08:24.across separate states. You can see them on the map.
:08:25. > :08:32.At each state border you will find checkpoints like this. It is here
:08:33. > :08:38.that individual states levy taxes on goods moving across the boundaries.
:08:39. > :08:44.This makes it uncompetitive in the global market. At the moment,
:08:45. > :08:50.looking at exports, the goods leaving the factory, from here to
:08:51. > :08:57.Mumbai, it is probably higher from here to Europe or the US. You can
:08:58. > :09:03.imagine how we are suffering. It is not just about the cost. This is how
:09:04. > :09:11.to thirds of India's trade travels. By road and on trucks like this. It
:09:12. > :09:16.is a difficult journey, but only 15% of the time taken is driving, the
:09:17. > :09:21.rest is spent on border checkpoints, paying levies, and
:09:22. > :09:29.dealing with paperwork that varies from state to state. Bringing in the
:09:30. > :09:31.Goods and Services Tax, GST, a unified tax to simple thigh
:09:32. > :09:36.transactions, should make a difference. Not just getting tracks
:09:37. > :09:39.across borders quickly, today, firms often have more warehouses in
:09:40. > :09:45.separate states to minimise the taxes they pay. Clearly, something
:09:46. > :09:51.like GST is a game-changer for the government. It will help in moving
:09:52. > :09:57.cargo. It should make India into a free market as what is desired. Four
:09:58. > :10:04.days after the lorry left the factory the car parts are now
:10:05. > :10:10.approaching Chennai. The GST hopes to speed things up but it is still
:10:11. > :10:16.part of the logjam of India's Parliament. They want to get the
:10:17. > :10:27.country's economy moving a little faster. BBC News, India. That brings
:10:28. > :10:32.us to the end of this edition of Asia Business Report. I came
:10:33. > :10:33.Sharanjit