:00:17. > :00:30.To whether China's Huawei can compete with Apple and Samsung and
:00:31. > :00:39.can tourism change its stripes? How one Indian state is on the prowl for
:00:40. > :00:46.more tourist dollars. Welcome to Asia Business Report, I am Ali
:00:47. > :00:51.Moore. China's tech giant Huawei may not be a household name but it is in
:00:52. > :00:54.fact the third biggest smartphone maker in the world, following
:00:55. > :01:01.Samsung and Apple. We will find out how the firm performed last year in
:01:02. > :01:05.a few hours' time but at home it has been earning more consumers than its
:01:06. > :01:09.rivals. I spoke with Duncan Clark, a tech analyst in Beijing. There is
:01:10. > :01:15.every reason to think that they can in that they are a very deep
:01:16. > :01:20.company, they have a lot of R and 180,000 employees. -- research and
:01:21. > :01:24.development. That means they have a fundamental base in ship service and
:01:25. > :01:29.others which competitors in China lack. So the key thing to maintain
:01:30. > :01:37.scale and momentum is that depth of experience and the global spread
:01:38. > :01:41.they have -- chip service. They are a global player but not a recognised
:01:42. > :01:45.name as we said. They might be big at home but they have struggled to
:01:46. > :01:49.get themselves out there as a consumer brand, haven't they? You're
:01:50. > :01:53.right, the company will be 30 years old next year and I have been
:01:54. > :02:00.covering them since the mid-19 90s. They have been overseas for two
:02:01. > :02:04.decades now. Alibaba is a famous Chinese company, easier to pronounce
:02:05. > :02:08.than Huawei. It is a difficult company to get to know. It is a
:02:09. > :02:14.private company, not listed. It has had huge in developing markets in
:02:15. > :02:24.Europe and across the world, but it's not rand, you will see it as --
:02:25. > :02:29.Honour brand is recognisable. If you look at Apple's new iPhone, the key
:02:30. > :02:36.market its mainland China. Will that give Huawei a run for its money? No,
:02:37. > :02:40.well, everybody wants to be Apple. It is not the largest but in terms
:02:41. > :02:44.of profits in the sector it is huge. It is like a Hoover of profits in
:02:45. > :02:53.the sector but Huawei has been doing very well, especially against
:02:54. > :02:56.Samsung. So the Chinese smartphone market, which is now 90% of all
:02:57. > :03:07.phones sold in China, it is increasingly moving. Huawei is on
:03:08. > :03:13.the right place in the right time in China. The Bank of Japan's sentiment
:03:14. > :03:17.survey has come in below expectations. Confidence in Japanese
:03:18. > :03:22.manufacturers worsened in the three months to March. It now stands at
:03:23. > :03:27.six, down from plus 12 three months ago. Businesses haven't felt this
:03:28. > :03:32.gloomy since the second quarter of 2013 when the Bank of Japan launched
:03:33. > :03:36.its easing programme. So what has got Japanese businesses feeling so
:03:37. > :03:40.grim? We are joined by the special adviser to Japan's Cabinet office.
:03:41. > :03:46.Thank you very much for being with us. We have just gone through the
:03:47. > :03:49.latest numbers. If you look at inflation stalling, consumer
:03:50. > :03:53.spending weakening, it is not a pretty picture, is it? It looks
:03:54. > :03:57.superficially not so good but I think the quarter numbers just
:03:58. > :04:02.reflect real uncertainty. And I think this particular quarter,
:04:03. > :04:06.businesses really are trying to digests what negative interest rates
:04:07. > :04:10.mean to them and these things. So this uncertainty is causing a little
:04:11. > :04:14.bit of consternation, at I would say that given today is actually the
:04:15. > :04:19.start of the fiscal year in Japan and looking at the news broadcast,
:04:20. > :04:24.it doesn't have that gloominess, foreboding here. So I think more of
:04:25. > :04:29.this is really the uncertainty based on some of the rate policies that we
:04:30. > :04:33.have seen. You have interest rates, but what makes you optimistic? What
:04:34. > :04:36.else can the government do to get this economy moving? They have
:04:37. > :04:42.pretty much thrown everything at it that they can so far. I am impressed
:04:43. > :04:46.at some level, I am disappointed in others but there are a lot of
:04:47. > :04:51.externalities which are out of Japan's control, whether it is
:04:52. > :04:59.currency, we are off the lows, at having swings that happen where you
:05:00. > :05:02.have seven or 8% swings in a few weeks, that will cause some
:05:03. > :05:06.uncertainty. Oil prices have stabilised, but obviously the China
:05:07. > :05:11.News and the stability that, that is hard to read for a lot of Japanese
:05:12. > :05:15.people. The volumes have gone down and we are not seeing those kinds of
:05:16. > :05:19.quote unquote fires. We are seeing more confident in that there are
:05:20. > :05:25.fewer variables moving around in the last few weeks. But in terms of
:05:26. > :05:29.domestic factors, is the pressure now really on Prime Minister Abe to
:05:30. > :05:33.hold off on the sales tax increase next year? Retail sales seem to be
:05:34. > :05:37.still recovering from the last increase. Yes, that is hard to say.
:05:38. > :05:41.There are a lot of things in play. We have an election coming up, there
:05:42. > :05:46.are all these events between now and the election and how the election
:05:47. > :05:51.itself will play out, these things are very hard to say. I really can't
:05:52. > :05:54.comment on how the tax rates and the consumption tax will change, but
:05:55. > :05:59.this is all on the table and this is all being debated. And more
:06:00. > :06:04.stimulus, do you think that is also on the cards? Yes, when you have
:06:05. > :06:08.situations like this, I think the government will definitely pull the
:06:09. > :06:12.stops and see what they can do. Stimulus in the right areas is not a
:06:13. > :06:20.bad thing and something that is probably a good debt. Thank you for
:06:21. > :06:25.talking to us. -- good bet. The fast food giant McDonald's has plans for
:06:26. > :06:28.a major expansion in Asia. McDonald's plans to add 1000
:06:29. > :06:34.restaurants in China over the next five years which would make it the
:06:35. > :06:38.countrycompany's second-biggest market after the US. It also plans
:06:39. > :06:44.outlets in Hong Kong and South Korea over the same period -- company's
:06:45. > :06:51.second-biggest market. China has withdrawn a takeover offer for a
:06:52. > :06:56.hotel company. The consortium cited various market considerations for
:06:57. > :07:02.its decision not to proceed. The decision freeze them up to proceed
:07:03. > :07:06.with its $13 billion merger deal with Marriot International, creating
:07:07. > :07:14.the world's largest hotel chain. fallen slightly as low oil prices
:07:15. > :07:22.continue to keep prices down. It now stands at 1%. Inflation for
:07:23. > :07:25.industrial products declined 09%, the only category to fall. In a sign
:07:26. > :07:36.that consumption may be recovering, service prices rose compared to the
:07:37. > :07:40.same time last year -- zero .9%. India has the largest population of
:07:41. > :07:44.tigers in the world. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors
:07:45. > :07:54.each year because in some parks tourist can spot the big cat in the
:07:55. > :08:00.wild. -- tourists. A bumpy ride into the wild. Slowly, the residents of
:08:01. > :08:07.this central Indian Forest begin to show themselves. A big herd of
:08:08. > :08:12.Indian boar, and black faced monkeys eating Breakfast. Suddenly a deer
:08:13. > :08:21.sends out an alarm call. A predator is on the move. The cars stop and
:08:22. > :08:33.wait with bated. Then, out it comes. -- hated -- baited breath. The King
:08:34. > :08:37.or Queen of the jungle, a five-year-old tigress. The means to
:08:38. > :08:51.earn a living for some. This man lives in a village just
:08:52. > :08:56.outside the Jungle. TRANSLATION: I have grown up here. I love the
:08:57. > :09:01.Jungle. They survive only because of it and the Tigers. There are hardly
:09:02. > :09:04.any jobs in this remote area. In the past five years, the number of
:09:05. > :09:08.tourist is coming here have more than doubled and foreign visitors
:09:09. > :09:12.who usually prefer the more popular jungles are also setting their
:09:13. > :09:16.sights on this area. That is mainly down to a rising tiger population.
:09:17. > :09:23.There is a tiger sleeping in those bushes there. I can just about see
:09:24. > :09:26.it through my binoculars. It has been lying there for about an hour
:09:27. > :09:30.and everyone here is waiting, hoping that it will wake up and then
:09:31. > :09:35.perhaps we will get a better look at it. Spotting tigers in the wild is
:09:36. > :09:39.an activity that requires a lot of patience. It is unbeatable and it
:09:40. > :09:44.costs money. You have to book this car, the guide, and you have to pay
:09:45. > :09:47.a fee to enter the Jungle as well. But it is also addictive. You can
:09:48. > :09:53.just see the kind of crowds here that have gathered to get a glimpse
:09:54. > :09:56.of the tiger. Too many people would scare the wildlife here.
:09:57. > :10:00.TRANSLATION: We restrict the number of tourists by restricting the
:10:01. > :10:04.number of cars allowed to navigate the Jungle. Only 68 vehicles are
:10:05. > :10:11.allowed to the forest at any given time. It is difficult, though, to
:10:12. > :10:18.walk the line of mutual respect between the Tigers and the humans
:10:19. > :10:23.who come to see them. Time for a quick check of markets. You can look
:10:24. > :10:28.at how Asia has opened. The All Ordinaries down quite a lot, almost
:10:29. > :10:33.2% and the Nikkei has just opened, also opening lower. Wall Street
:10:34. > :10:35.ended lower overnight. That's it from this edition of Asia Business
:10:36. > :10:36.Report. Thank you for joining