:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore
:00:14. > :00:22.Asia looks at US jobs figures for pointers on when to expect the Nexus
:00:23. > :00:28.rate hike. And we're taking a dive into Mumbai's Sewers with those
:00:29. > :00:35.getting their hands dirty cleaning, often risking their lives.
:00:36. > :00:41.Hello and welcome to this Monday edition of Asia Business Report.
:00:42. > :00:46.Asian markets have opened flat at the start of this new trading week
:00:47. > :00:51.after the latest US jobs figures. This is how they're faring if we
:00:52. > :00:55.take a look at Wall Street, edging higher at the close on Friday. The
:00:56. > :01:03.boost coming after these better than expected employment factory data
:01:04. > :01:07.numbers from the US, the non-farm payroll increasing 250000 and the
:01:08. > :01:11.unemployment rate rising from an eight year low to 5%. But despite
:01:12. > :01:15.the muted response in Asia it seen as a sign of confidence in the job
:01:16. > :01:20.market because more people have continued to look for work. I am
:01:21. > :01:27.joined by David Crow in Singapore. As we mentioned, a fairly muted
:01:28. > :01:32.response in Asia to these jobs numbers, but obviously they are very
:01:33. > :01:36.optimistic numbers, why aren't Asian investors rejoicing? It takes a
:01:37. > :01:40.while for the market to digests all of this. You're right, it's a bit
:01:41. > :01:46.muted but muted is better than despondent. Each particular market
:01:47. > :01:51.has its own problems. As far as Japan is concerned, but survey they
:01:52. > :01:57.did is weighing down on sentiment in Japan. -- that. It will take a while
:01:58. > :02:02.before the Japanese companies start to grow in confidence. Elsewhere,
:02:03. > :02:05.Australia has problems with its banking industry. Whether or not
:02:06. > :02:09.some of the commodity countries will have to write off more bad debts,
:02:10. > :02:14.the banks that is, for these commodity companies. As the rest of
:02:15. > :02:21.Asia wakes up, especially in Singapore, things will pick up a
:02:22. > :02:25.little. Hopefully. These new numbers from the US suggest perhaps there's
:02:26. > :02:29.a stronger for an interest rate hike over in the US, could they hasten
:02:30. > :02:34.their pace perhaps and speed up the rate of hikes? I doubt it because as
:02:35. > :02:40.far as the American economy is concerned, it's what we all the
:02:41. > :02:43.Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold, not hot enough for the Federal
:02:44. > :02:47.reserve to think they need to increase interest rates
:02:48. > :02:51.immediately. They may do an interest rate hike sometime this year but I
:02:52. > :02:55.think it will be to the later end of the year. That will cheer the
:02:56. > :02:59.markets. And the American economy isn't cold enough to make people
:03:00. > :03:04.worried about a slowdown in the American economy. Then we have China
:03:05. > :03:09.as well. Things are beginning to stabilise in China. There's access
:03:10. > :03:15.of economic power between the East and West seems to be back in balance
:03:16. > :03:20.again -- this axes. The problems of January seem to be in the distant
:03:21. > :03:26.past. You say China is improving but generally the macro situation is far
:03:27. > :03:29.worse, it's beginning to slow, lots of structural problems going on in
:03:30. > :03:33.that country and you mention Japan, the survey by the Central bank
:03:34. > :03:38.showing the biggest decline amongst a large manufacturers in terms of
:03:39. > :03:44.sentiment in three years. Is Asia now heading off in its own
:03:45. > :03:50.direction, has it decoupled from the US? You could say that. One of the
:03:51. > :03:55.things that raised down on Asia and particularly Southeast Asia is the
:03:56. > :03:59.strong US dollar -- weighs down. It's unlikely the US Fed will
:04:00. > :04:04.increase interest rates. Maybe the US dollar won't run away as quickly
:04:05. > :04:09.and then that will give Asian economies a bit of breathing space.
:04:10. > :04:12.Breathing space is what China needs too. If it can stabilise the
:04:13. > :04:17.industrial side it will give the consumer and retail side the chance
:04:18. > :04:23.to pick up and then that rebalancing of the Chinese economy may soon
:04:24. > :04:28.materialise. All right, it will give you a chance to get some breathing
:04:29. > :04:31.space as well. Thanks very much. In other news, the British government
:04:32. > :04:38.has played down the impact on the UK steel industry of nude Chinese
:04:39. > :04:42.import tariffs of up to 46.3%. China lands to impose the levy on imports
:04:43. > :04:48.of high-tech steel from the EU -- new. South Korea and also Japan. It
:04:49. > :04:51.comes after Tata Steel announced it was selling its loss-making UK
:04:52. > :04:57.plants putting thousands of jobs at risk. Now, for many the pristine
:04:58. > :05:01.white sands and clear blue waters of the Maldives represent the picture
:05:02. > :05:06.perfect holiday destination. But lately it's been under the spotlight
:05:07. > :05:11.for political problems. This weekend Maldives police used peppers break
:05:12. > :05:19.to break up a protest about freedom of speech -- peppers break. It also
:05:20. > :05:21.included journalists, and it could affect the tourism sector which
:05:22. > :05:27.accounts for a large part of its economy. We found out if there was
:05:28. > :05:37.any opportunity to diversify. Yes, tourism remains the biggest job
:05:38. > :05:41.industry in the country. Given the political instability in the
:05:42. > :05:45.country, with the situation around the former president Nasheed, how
:05:46. > :05:51.has that been affecting tourism numbers? Do you see the situation
:05:52. > :05:59.resolving itself soon? We have a government willing to fix a framing
:06:00. > :06:04.economy due to the recent global downturn -- failing economy. We need
:06:05. > :06:09.job correction and fixing the social issues and it can only come through
:06:10. > :06:17.economic measures. Obviously when a negative image is being portrayed
:06:18. > :06:24.with political Peebles, being wrongly portrayed in the world, far
:06:25. > :06:30.from being the truth. It's obvious these are things that impact the
:06:31. > :06:39.tourism industry. Tourism is... It is very much prone to the
:06:40. > :06:42.international shocks, be it environmental threats existing in
:06:43. > :06:49.the world, tourism has always been such a sensitive issue and we are no
:06:50. > :06:54.exception. You have critics accusing the Maldives government of political
:06:55. > :07:00.repression, Newman said the uses and the overall threat in the increase
:07:01. > :07:05.in jihadis -- human rights abuses. What steps are you going to take to
:07:06. > :07:11.reduce this? I want to stress its not as black and white as it appears
:07:12. > :07:15.to be. This administration seeks the expertise and we are eager to engage
:07:16. > :07:23.with the international organisations, our partners in
:07:24. > :07:29.the... Like the UN, for example, the Commonwealth, Europe, Asia, and the
:07:30. > :07:35.world. The case about politics, the case of what terrorism for example,
:07:36. > :07:43.being linked heavily to the economy, is not going to serve us well. It
:07:44. > :07:49.has been negatively promoted as a country that promotes... That has
:07:50. > :07:54.political instability and terrorism. But I think the case is
:07:55. > :07:58.not as black and white as it appears to be. The
:07:59. > :08:05.Maldives economics Minister there. To India and sewers, they run
:08:06. > :08:09.beneath the streets and they are a central part of the infrastructure
:08:10. > :08:13.but keeping them free from blockages isn't just hard and unpleasant, but
:08:14. > :08:18.it can also be incredibly dangerous for the workers employed on a day to
:08:19. > :08:23.day basis. Often without safety gear. We have more from them by. --
:08:24. > :08:30.Mumbai. On most days of the year, this is
:08:31. > :08:34.where you will find this man. Under the ground removing sludge so that
:08:35. > :08:40.waste can flow freely to Mumbai sewers. Some days he has to go much
:08:41. > :08:46.deeper with only a rope to help him. And for all this he owns less
:08:47. > :08:52.than $5 a day. TRANSLATION: If I don't work then what would we eat?
:08:53. > :08:56.With the 5000 rupees I earn, we have to survive for at least a month so I
:08:57. > :09:01.have to steel myself and do the job. And the work can be dangerous.
:09:02. > :09:07.Unions claimed dozens die every year because they are not given any
:09:08. > :09:14.safety gear -- claim. The dangers of the job became a horrible reality
:09:15. > :09:19.for this family. This woman's husband had died while working in
:09:20. > :09:21.the sewers two years ago. She shows me his post-mortem examination
:09:22. > :09:25.report where a government doctor confirms the cause of death as
:09:26. > :09:29.drowning. TRANSLATION: We used to run our home with his earnings and
:09:30. > :09:35.mine put together. After his death my son had to leave college and go
:09:36. > :09:40.to work instead. His education has been left incomplete.
:09:41. > :09:45.Mumbai's municipal Corporation directly employs about 30,000 people
:09:46. > :09:48.to keep the city clean. But the more difficult and unpleasant job of
:09:49. > :09:53.cleaning the sewers is normally done by casual labourers hired on a
:09:54. > :09:57.day-to-day basis through subcontractors, and who aren't
:09:58. > :10:01.entitled to medical or insurance benefits. We tried to talk to
:10:02. > :10:05.authorities in the headquarters here about what they do to ensure worker
:10:06. > :10:08.safety and union claims about the dangers of the job, but they told us
:10:09. > :10:14.they didn't want to talk about the issue. In this protest there are
:10:15. > :10:19.several people who lost loved ones and are yet to receive any money.
:10:20. > :10:23.Labour work is critical to the government's big campaign to clean
:10:24. > :10:24.up in the. And while there will always be a hard job, it doesn't
:10:25. > :10:34.need to be such a risky one. That's it for this edition of Asia
:10:35. > :10:49.Business Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl in Singapore. Thanks for watching.
:10:50. > :10:53.A massive leak of confidential data from a law firm in Panama has