:00:15. > :00:23.Forest fires alight once again in Indonesia and warnings they could
:00:24. > :00:27.cost the economy billions. Deadly struggle to keep cars off the road
:00:28. > :00:30.as it tries to fix catastrophic air-pollution.
:00:31. > :00:37.Glad you could join me for this Monday edition of Asia Business
:00:38. > :00:46.We start with Indonesia and the forest fires that have caused have
:00:47. > :00:52.across large parts of Southeast Asia last year which are indeed back. One
:00:53. > :00:54.province has declared a state of emergency and authorities are
:00:55. > :01:00.increasing efforts to fight the fires. The World Bank estimates the
:01:01. > :01:07.fires cost Indonesia a staggering 16 billion US dollars last year. What
:01:08. > :01:09.is in store for this year? I spoke with a director-general from the
:01:10. > :01:17.centre for international forestry research in Jakarta and ask whether
:01:18. > :01:20.lessons have been learned from 2015. First of all we are talking about
:01:21. > :01:26.agricultural fires that are coming back every year. The smoke and haze
:01:27. > :01:31.last year was about dry weather conditions caused by El Nino, which
:01:32. > :01:35.caused unusually high and a smoke. These lessons are being learnt and
:01:36. > :01:39.there are actions being taken to try to prevent it in future. At the same
:01:40. > :01:44.time it's coming back every year since several decades. Is the
:01:45. > :01:52.political will that to learn from these lessons and implement these
:01:53. > :01:55.policies? -- there. There are has been lost political action and
:01:56. > :02:02.arrangements to deal with the fires the conversion of land. We see new
:02:03. > :02:05.peatland agency setting up and dealing with the restoration of
:02:06. > :02:10.peatland. We have seen early action from the governor close to
:02:11. > :02:17.Singapore. What about the corporations that are also involved
:02:18. > :02:26.in these forest fires? Are very -- are they being held accountable? We
:02:27. > :02:29.will see. There is more of this holding individuals to account and
:02:30. > :02:32.we will see more action in this space, I firmly believe. I also
:02:33. > :02:38.think it is in the interest of most actors on the ground to follow the
:02:39. > :02:43.law and have less fires going. You mentioned about the actors. You have
:02:44. > :02:47.the Singaporeans, you have the Malaysians, you have the Indonesians
:02:48. > :02:53.- are they working as one cohesive unit to be able to resolve these
:02:54. > :02:57.issues, not only in the near term, but also in the long-term? That's
:02:58. > :03:01.been the discussion, to work across the borders on these issues for
:03:02. > :03:06.years. There is a great deal of interest to continue to do that, and
:03:07. > :03:09.as you said, this is not just a national issue. It is something that
:03:10. > :03:17.both concerns and involves several countries. In other news making
:03:18. > :03:22.headlines - the IMF has backed decisions by Japan and Europe to
:03:23. > :03:27.introduce negative interest rates to spur economic growth. The head of
:03:28. > :03:30.the IMF, Christine Lagarde, said unconventional monetary policies
:03:31. > :03:33.should continue if they are accompanied by structural reforms
:03:34. > :03:39.and low inflation. Her comments come ahead of the Bank of Japan's two-day
:03:40. > :03:46.meeting which starts today. And as central bankers meet, they have good
:03:47. > :03:49.news afresh in this morning. The machinery orders for the month
:03:50. > :03:54.rising by 15% a head of a 3% forecast. It is an indicator of
:03:55. > :03:59.rising business investment and hopes are that it could be a sign of
:04:00. > :04:05.economic growth to come. Less grounds for optimism in China. The
:04:06. > :04:09.country's economic slowdown is fuelling concerns over the global
:04:10. > :04:12.economic recovery with the latest data from Beijing revealing
:04:13. > :04:17.industrial output has slowed to its weakest since the financial turmoil
:04:18. > :04:20.in 2008. The UK Chancellor George Osborne said the slowdown in the
:04:21. > :04:27.mainland was one of a dangerous cocktail of risks. It is hampering
:04:28. > :04:31.recovery. Lingerie shopping in India has always been shrouded in secrecy
:04:32. > :04:36.with brands rarely advertising openly and a limited range. As
:04:37. > :04:39.Indian women become financially independent, that is slowly
:04:40. > :04:45.changing. One of the biggest names in this $3 billion market is an
:04:46. > :04:54.e-commerce site that says it sells two bras every minute and we ask why
:04:55. > :05:01.she chose to sell this lingerie. I had choices when it came to power
:05:02. > :05:04.when it came to outer wear but I did not care about lingerie and that set
:05:05. > :05:14.me thinking about what is happening in our country. Why is the
:05:15. > :05:18.experience so repressed? Women don't really go out to stores and by
:05:19. > :05:26.lingerie. How challenging is it to sell this to women? The television
:05:27. > :05:30.campaign had women of all size and shapes saying the word bra on
:05:31. > :05:36.national television. Right? We didn't show anyone in a bra, but it
:05:37. > :05:40.was a very refreshing change in the way it was approaching the category.
:05:41. > :05:45.Second thing, we believe it is, you know... People don't want others to
:05:46. > :05:50.see what they have bought. We ensure when the packet comes to you it is
:05:51. > :05:55.discreetly packaged. People will not know that it comes from Zivame at
:05:56. > :05:59.all. But of all what we have seen, being in the mainstream, being
:06:00. > :06:03.unapologetic about what we sell, we've seen people coming on social
:06:04. > :06:08.media, which is a big change for Indian consumers. As they start at
:06:09. > :06:13.you raised about $45 million so far. What have you spend this money on?
:06:14. > :06:17.We have spent it on creating an awareness, building the team,
:06:18. > :06:22.getting the right merchandise. Close to 65% of sales comes from politics
:06:23. > :06:27.we design and manufacture, we take complete control of the quality and
:06:28. > :06:30.fit. So, merchandise and product development is where we are also
:06:31. > :06:36.investing money. We manufacture products across the globe. Sri
:06:37. > :06:40.Lanka, China, Bangladesh, Latin America and parts of India, cotton
:06:41. > :06:44.from India. It is a global supply chain we are running. You have
:06:45. > :06:48.started opening stores like this one, where you can try out the
:06:49. > :06:53.lingerie, but you can't really buy any. Why is that? You can buy it. We
:06:54. > :06:59.have it delivered to you. You don't have to carry it to you. We have it
:07:00. > :07:03.delivered to you in 34 hours. The recently opened to fit store was we
:07:04. > :07:10.believe the category needed more resistance, more human assistance.
:07:11. > :07:14.-- assistance. We are offering sizes unavailable in the market. Only 5%
:07:15. > :07:19.of revenue comes from products for sizes which don't exist in the
:07:20. > :07:26.market. That was the founder of the e-commerce website Zivame speaking
:07:27. > :07:28.with the BBC. In India, Delhi is the most polluted city on the planet
:07:29. > :07:32.according to the World Health Organisation. Studies have shown car
:07:33. > :07:36.commissions are a major cause of the problem. The government is now
:07:37. > :07:42.trying to restrict the use of cars to bring the levels of pollution
:07:43. > :07:49.down, but is this enough? Our correspondent reports from Delhi.
:07:50. > :07:56.Just one among millions. It is morning rush hour in Delhi. Cars
:07:57. > :08:05.slowly inching. A city that is slowly choking. Diarra is five years
:08:06. > :08:15.old. She develops a serious cough every three months -- Diarra. Twice
:08:16. > :08:22.a day she has to have a masked releasing medicine directly into her
:08:23. > :08:24.lungs. To have a problem you cannot tackle is disturbing because I can't
:08:25. > :08:29.do much to control it and the pollution level seems to be rising.
:08:30. > :08:35.Delhi's air is the worst in the world. Its 25 times more toxic than
:08:36. > :08:40.the safe levels set by the World Health Organization. And cars are
:08:41. > :08:45.responsible for nearly half of the most dangerous pollutants -- it is
:08:46. > :08:49.25. Every week more than 3000 new cars are added to the roads of the
:08:50. > :08:52.city. The government has been trying to restrict their use and has banned
:08:53. > :08:58.cars that are more than 15 years old. Studies are available too deep
:08:59. > :09:03.to say that the maximal effect of air pollution is up to 500 metres
:09:04. > :09:09.from the roadside. When they apply that criteria to Delhi, they found
:09:10. > :09:14.that more than about 60% of Delhi's 17 million people actually live
:09:15. > :09:21.within that zone. 17 million people that need to get around. This is one
:09:22. > :09:24.of the city's main tube stations. You've literally got to battle
:09:25. > :09:28.through crowds to get onto a Delhi Metro train at rush hour, and this
:09:29. > :09:33.is when there are not any restrictions on car use in the city,
:09:34. > :09:38.so while the pollution problem might need urgent and perhaps dramatic
:09:39. > :09:42.measures to be taken, it could take years for there to be more public
:09:43. > :09:51.transport infrastructure for people to travel between their homes and
:09:52. > :09:56.workplaces. And before we go, here is a quick look at the markets, and
:09:57. > :10:03.so far so good. A positive day for the regional stock markets. The
:10:04. > :10:05.Nikkei 2%, 321 points, this is due to be better than expected
:10:06. > :10:10.manufacturing report and the IMF approving the move by the Bank of
:10:11. > :10:13.Japan of their negative interest-rate policy. The all
:10:14. > :10:17.ordinaries index is gaining three quarters of a percent because of a
:10:18. > :10:23.rising oil prices. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index is up about 1%,
:10:24. > :10:30.that's 172 points. Overall, it is a good day for the regional stocks.
:10:31. > :10:34.Thank you so much for investing your time with us. IM Rico Hizon. Sport
:10:35. > :10:35.Today is