:00:07. > :00:13.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:23.Global concern: the US central bank says rates would rise as quickly as
:00:24. > :00:36.planned. Stand back! We will take a look at Indonesia's explosive
:00:37. > :00:39.approach to illegal fishing. Good morning Asia, hello world, it is
:00:40. > :00:46.Thursday, glad you can join us for this edition of Asia Business
:00:47. > :00:49.Report. We kick off with the US Federal Reserve and the central bank
:00:50. > :00:54.has done what everyone expected it to do. Holding interest rates
:00:55. > :00:59.steady. Janet Yellen's comments about the future outlook are drawing
:01:00. > :01:04.attention. Concerns about the state of the global economy means that the
:01:05. > :01:08.Fed's plans to raise rates several times this year have been pared
:01:09. > :01:14.back. Earlier I asked about the concerns over global growth. What
:01:15. > :01:17.you are seeing is a case where making a non- move by leaving rates
:01:18. > :01:22.on hold was actually quite significant, in part because the
:01:23. > :01:24.officials at the Federal Reserve went on to add in their statement
:01:25. > :01:31.and in the accompanying information they provide with the decision, that
:01:32. > :01:35.they are actually going to reduce the number of rate increases, or at
:01:36. > :01:39.least that is their expect patient, that the number of increases this
:01:40. > :01:45.year will be far fewer than previously expected in December. We
:01:46. > :01:52.are now looking at possibly two rate rises this year instead of four. The
:01:53. > :01:56.chair of the bank made it clear why. She said the main reason was
:01:57. > :02:02.concerns about slower global growth. You have seen a shift this time in
:02:03. > :02:09.most participants' assessment of the appropriate path for policy. As I
:02:10. > :02:16.tried to indicate, I think that this reflects a somewhat slower projected
:02:17. > :02:22.path for global growth, for growth in the global economy outside the
:02:23. > :02:28.US. Paring back the number of interest-rate hikes this year was a
:02:29. > :02:34.boon for Wall Street, but it hurt the US dollar. And that is because
:02:35. > :02:39.in part what you assume is that when rates are likely to go up, the US
:02:40. > :02:43.dollar goes up with it. Essentially, in some ways you could argue what
:02:44. > :02:49.the Federal Reserve was doing was monetary easing, so policy will be
:02:50. > :02:53.Lucifer longer. In other words, rates will stay lower for longer,
:02:54. > :02:57.and that will have the knock-on effect of putting downward pressure
:02:58. > :03:01.on the US dollar. That is perhaps less of a surprise that we saw the
:03:02. > :03:09.dollar fall, and the markets like what they hear with the S hitting
:03:10. > :03:16.a high. This latest data from Japan also reflect those global economic
:03:17. > :03:19.woes. Exports falling by 40% in February compared to eurozone
:03:20. > :03:26.levels. That is less of a decline than in January, but worse than
:03:27. > :03:33.affected. This ongoing slowdown could continue to hamper global
:03:34. > :03:38.growth for the Japanese economy. ZTE says it will delay publication
:03:39. > :03:44.of its annual results after the US put tough new export restrictions on
:03:45. > :03:48.at last week. US suppliers can no longer supply some crucial
:03:49. > :03:52.components to ZTE because Washington has accused the company of violating
:03:53. > :04:03.sanctions on Iran. The British Chancellor says he plans to back --
:04:04. > :04:08.crack down on corporations to minimise how much tax they pay. He
:04:09. > :04:13.also says some companies will be stopped avoiding paying tax anyway.
:04:14. > :04:17.Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago and its waters cover a
:04:18. > :04:22.vast area, making it difficult to stop illegal fishing. The government
:04:23. > :04:23.estimates it is costing them 20 billion US dollars every year in
:04:24. > :04:40.lost revenue. When Indonesian officials catch a
:04:41. > :04:47.boat fishing illegally, this is what they do with it. There is no legal
:04:48. > :04:57.process, they simply blow up the boats. These men are the frontline
:04:58. > :05:02.in Indonesia's fight against illegal and unregulated fishing. It is part
:05:03. > :05:08.of a task force set up a year ago, and their job is to control the vast
:05:09. > :05:16.waters of the archipelago. We have such a huge area to watch, with our
:05:17. > :05:24.capacity it is impossible, so that is the only way. So it is like a
:05:25. > :05:34.scare tactic? Yes, and it has really worked. How do you know that? As I
:05:35. > :05:43.don't think anybody is happy to have a boat blown up and sunk. Millions
:05:44. > :05:47.of Indonesians rely on fishing to survive, and the coast of Java is
:05:48. > :05:50.heavily fished. Fishing family say it is getting harder to make a
:05:51. > :05:58.living and they are being left behind in terms of technology and
:05:59. > :06:02.skills. TRANSLATION: We are angry. Who wouldn't be angry? Our fish are
:06:03. > :06:11.being stolen and it is getting harder for us. Their equipment is
:06:12. > :06:16.bigger and better than our. This is the most high profile capture by
:06:17. > :06:20.Indonesia. The ship as change its name and number of times, the last
:06:21. > :06:25.was the Viking. It was wanted by international police for many years
:06:26. > :06:32.for poaching vulnerable species of fish. This boat has been raping and
:06:33. > :06:46.pillaging the oceans. This capture is very significant. It's fishing
:06:47. > :06:48.days over, the Indonesian government turning it into a monument to their
:06:49. > :07:00.battle against illegal fishing. More people are travelling today
:07:01. > :07:06.than at any time in history. And of course, many are travelling for
:07:07. > :07:11.business. It is currently a 1.2 billion US dollars global market. At
:07:12. > :07:17.the moment, 39% of this is in Asia and the Pacific, and there is a
:07:18. > :07:23.suggestion Asian travellers stay close to home. Earlier I spoke to
:07:24. > :07:30.someone from American Express global business travel, asking why Asia was
:07:31. > :07:34.all over the top ten destinations. It is Asia, Asia, Asia. If we have a
:07:35. > :07:39.look at the top ten destinations in Asia, particularly Singapore, you
:07:40. > :07:45.have Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, and also Bangkok. What is interesting
:07:46. > :07:52.out of the list is what we have seen in banking and financial services,
:07:53. > :08:00.is that the financial centre hubs of Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong are
:08:01. > :08:03.still maintaining a position. People don't want to communicate via Skype
:08:04. > :08:09.or a conference call, they want to be where the action is. You have to
:08:10. > :08:18.be, because if you are not out there having a personal relationship, it
:08:19. > :08:23.can be a disadvantage. If you are not doing it, somebody else is.
:08:24. > :08:28.Despite the slowdown in the global economy, we have heard about huge
:08:29. > :08:38.numbers of people here in Asia, in the economic community, China and
:08:39. > :08:46.India combined, more than 2 billion. Global business is a huge area.
:08:47. > :08:51.China should replace the US as the number one travel market this year.
:08:52. > :08:55.I see more businessmen not at the front-end of the plane, but now in
:08:56. > :08:59.economy, so we are also seeing many companies budget conscious.
:09:00. > :09:02.Companies know they have to travel, they need to be travelling more, but
:09:03. > :09:07.they also don't want to spend more money. They are changing travel
:09:08. > :09:13.policies, looking at how the class of travel impacts, economy versus
:09:14. > :09:18.business or even premium economy. In Asia, the carriers have great
:09:19. > :09:24.connect 30. Is this kind of trend is likely to be sustained or will we
:09:25. > :09:28.see a shift going forward? I think in terms of a shift going forward,
:09:29. > :09:34.the shift we will see is a change in the global economy. Business is
:09:35. > :09:40.becoming increasingly global. Last year, 5% to four to 500 companies
:09:41. > :09:46.were out of Asian countries, and that will be 50% before long. --
:09:47. > :10:02.54%. Before we go, here is a quick look
:10:03. > :10:07.at the markets. Asia is in positive territory this morning, after US
:10:08. > :10:11.equities closed higher overnight, after the Fed left interest rates
:10:12. > :10:20.unchanged. The dollar lost ground against the yen. The Nikkei up 1.4%.
:10:21. > :10:43.The Hang Seng, 1.6%, the All Ordinaries 1.3%. Goodbye for now.