:00:15. > :00:24.Water cannon Asian businesses do to get more women in positions of
:00:25. > :00:26.power? We debate the issue now on International Women's Day -- can.
:00:27. > :00:29.Tie when his efforts to encourage young people to drink tea the
:00:30. > :00:45.traditional way -- Taiwan's. Good morning, Asia,
:00:46. > :00:49.hello world. Glad you can join us. Japan's latest growth numbers are
:00:50. > :00:56.out. They reveal the economy shrinking at an annualised 1.1% over
:00:57. > :00:58.the last three months of 2015. Let's look at the comparisons. That is
:00:59. > :01:06.better than the reading of negative 1.4%. One way Japan's government is
:01:07. > :01:11.trying to spur growth is encouraging women to join the workforce. Today
:01:12. > :01:17.is International Women's Day. We are looking at how they are faring. More
:01:18. > :01:22.Japanese women are entering the workforce all the time. Only a tiny
:01:23. > :01:29.fraction of them hold senior positions. While it is great news
:01:30. > :01:34.and progress to see women working in Japan, we still have many females in
:01:35. > :01:39.decision-making leadership positions, the government, directors
:01:40. > :01:45.on private company wards at -- we still do not have many. The Prime
:01:46. > :01:52.Minister had said he wanted to fill 30% of senior jobs with women by
:01:53. > :01:56.2020. He has now/ that target with latest research showing Japanese
:01:57. > :02:01.women hold just 8% of roles in companies compared with a global
:02:02. > :02:06.average of 22% -- slashed. Many struggle to balance their careers
:02:07. > :02:11.with motherhood. TRANSLATION: I agree with the government's approach
:02:12. > :02:15.that those who take maternity leave me to return to work. But there is a
:02:16. > :02:22.lack of discussion about how to apply this to real working
:02:23. > :02:28.situations. Last week, there was much fanfare as Japanese girls were
:02:29. > :02:31.celebrated on Girls' Day. The challenge now is to create an
:02:32. > :02:38.environment where young people can grow up to fulfil their hopes and
:02:39. > :02:43.dreams, whatever they may be. So, what is the situation in the rest of
:02:44. > :02:50.Asia compared with Japan? I spoke with an advisory company. And with a
:02:51. > :02:57.senior partner and champion of diversity. The world economic forum
:02:58. > :03:03.statistics says it will take 117 years to achieve gender parity. That
:03:04. > :03:08.is a long way to go. Here in Asia, in Singapore, we are woefully short
:03:09. > :03:14.of where we need to be. If we look at the level of female participation
:03:15. > :03:21.of boards it is 9.5%. That is the average for the whole of ASEAN.
:03:22. > :03:27.Across Asia in total there is only Malaysia, Australia and New
:03:28. > :03:31.Zealand... (CROSSTALK). Those single digit numbers are disappointing. Why
:03:32. > :03:37.aren't we seeing enough women in top positions in the region? S I think
:03:38. > :03:41.what happens is women start in great numbers at the junior levels and
:03:42. > :03:48.then they taper off dramatically -- I think. You already have a talent
:03:49. > :03:53.pool which is limited. By the time it gets to this senior roles, it is
:03:54. > :04:01.clear. Are they only looking for positions in certain industries, and
:04:02. > :04:05.not willing to go into a profit and loss, revenues, other types of
:04:06. > :04:11.businesses? I can share my experience in wealth management
:04:12. > :04:14.across countries. Women start looking at support functions. The
:04:15. > :04:18.first preference would be human resources, accounting or
:04:19. > :04:22.compliance. That is because I think they feel that education and
:04:23. > :04:30.qualifications will match and they will deliver excellence. In profit
:04:31. > :04:37.and loss or revenue lines, it is a grey area. Why are women in Asia
:04:38. > :04:42.only looking for jobs in structured positions, why not something more
:04:43. > :04:47.unstructured? If you look at the way people have been working over the
:04:48. > :04:50.last few decades, it has been about structured operations, and females
:04:51. > :04:55.have maybe struggled with managing work-life balance. I think as we
:04:56. > :05:00.move forward, we have to look at new ways of working to increase female
:05:01. > :05:03.participation and give males more flexibility in the workforce. If
:05:04. > :05:08.males have more flexibility in the workforce, that allows females to
:05:09. > :05:14.have more flexibility. You are saying that men should play a big
:05:15. > :05:18.role in terms of promoting women empowerment? Gender diversity and
:05:19. > :05:23.parity is a male issue as much as it is a female issue. As we move
:05:24. > :05:30.forward, business leaders, the 90%, have a huge role to play. The
:05:31. > :05:34.thinking of many people is that you have to work from nine to five, you
:05:35. > :05:39.have to work overtime, to be able to get the job done. But with what
:05:40. > :05:46.Jonathan has said, technology plays a major role for women to get into
:05:47. > :05:50.leading positions. They should embrace technology. The stage is
:05:51. > :05:55.set. They can do this out of home and out of the workplace. There is
:05:56. > :06:02.no 95 role, I am afraid, in wealth management. It is very much nine to
:06:03. > :06:16.12 or longer -- 95 role. You need to change the mindset. -- nine to five
:06:17. > :06:23.role. Technology is very much an enabler right now. Could commodity
:06:24. > :06:29.prices be turning around? Oil prices have surged higher, pushing Brent
:06:30. > :06:33.above $40 per barrel. Saudi Arabia, Russia and Qatar agreed to freeze
:06:34. > :06:38.output at January levels last month if other producers followed suit.
:06:39. > :06:46.Iron ore prices are staging a turnaround, with a near record 19%,
:06:47. > :06:54.and investors have hopes with Chinese positives. For disk you will
:06:55. > :06:58.have a stake in the company from Brazil with a Mac in the quality of
:06:59. > :07:04.iron ore produced by the rival Rio Tinto, which is seen as a benchmark
:07:05. > :07:09.in mainland China. The memoranda of understanding could see Vale
:07:10. > :07:13.purchase 15% of the rivals' shares -- with a jump in the quality. If
:07:14. > :07:19.you are watching us, maybe you are drinking a cup of tea. Did you know
:07:20. > :07:25.that it is worth $4.5 billion to the economy of Taiwan? It was once one
:07:26. > :07:29.of the island's best-known and most consumed products. These days coffee
:07:30. > :07:34.and sugary drinks are more popular. Some businesses are trying to revive
:07:35. > :07:42.appreciation for once was once an integral part of society. These
:07:43. > :07:48.hills used to be covered with tea farms. When tea was a prized
:07:49. > :07:53.commodity, an essential part of life in Taiwan. Now, only small plots
:07:54. > :07:56.remain, and mostly middle-aged and elderly farmers tend the field. That
:07:57. > :08:02.is because there are fewer people drinking tea. This is how most
:08:03. > :08:08.Taiwanese people drank tea. It is carefully brewed and one sit at a
:08:09. > :08:11.time from tiny cups. But nowadays it is hard to find young people
:08:12. > :08:18.drinking tea the traditional way. In fact, they call this all people's
:08:19. > :08:23.tea. This is what is popular to date, especially among young people,
:08:24. > :08:28.cold drinks that include Taiwan's world-famous bubble tea. They can be
:08:29. > :08:32.found everywhere and make up two thirds of earnings in the tea
:08:33. > :08:38.industry. They contain very little tea and sugar is almost always
:08:39. > :08:45.added. Bottled tea meanwhile rakes in 20%, and tea leaves and amount to
:08:46. > :08:50.only 13% of total revenue. But some tea lovers are trying to reverse
:08:51. > :08:55.this trend. This cafe doesn't serve coffee, only tea. The aim is to
:08:56. > :09:04.entice young people to not only by the cans of leaves to take home but
:09:05. > :09:10.stay here to enjoy Taiwan's famous oolong and other blends.
:09:11. > :09:13.TRANSLATION: In Europe I noticed Europeans really enjoy drinking tea
:09:14. > :09:16.but when I came back to Taiwan I found young people think drinking
:09:17. > :09:24.tea is old-fashioned. I want to make tea trendy again and make Taiwanese
:09:25. > :09:28.tea known around the world. Third generation farmers like this man are
:09:29. > :09:38.also trying to repackage tea to make it more appealing. His soft soil ice
:09:39. > :09:42.cream, made from green tea, and his tea latte, are very popular.
:09:43. > :09:49.TRANSLATION: At selling side products made from TI meet 50% more
:09:50. > :09:55.revenue but I still focus on tea as a business. It is part of culture
:09:56. > :10:00.and we want to preserve this culture for our children and grandchildren
:10:01. > :10:04.-- tea. Tea farms are turned also into tourist attractions to boost
:10:05. > :10:11.earnings for the industry and raise interest. Brightening the horizon
:10:12. > :10:17.for the island's homegrown brew. In the markets, as you can see, the
:10:18. > :10:22.market boards are lacklustre, after over the last couple of days, with
:10:23. > :10:27.dips in US stocks as momentum fades after a four-day winning streak. You
:10:28. > :10:32.have the stronger yen pushing exporter stocks down 1.2%. Thank you
:10:33. > :10:33.so much for investing your time with