:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:23.Australia tries to sell more than just commodities and beach holidays
:00:24. > :00:26.to the Chinese. And Singapore drills deep, beating up Britain for a
:00:27. > :00:39.contract to build oil rigs for Scotland. Welcome to Asia Business
:00:40. > :00:46.Report. It is the biggest trade delegation ever from Australia to
:00:47. > :00:48.China for all of this week. 1000 business representatives and the
:00:49. > :00:53.trade minister are touring China to boost ties between the two
:00:54. > :00:58.countries. Bilateral trade still at just under $100 billion last year.
:00:59. > :01:01.It is especially crucial for Australia because China is its
:01:02. > :01:08.biggest trading partner in both exports and imports. More from
:01:09. > :01:12.Shanghai. How do you sell Australia to the Chinese? It looks like this.
:01:13. > :01:17.A hunky men holding to mobsters and trips on the barbie. A bit
:01:18. > :01:21.old-fashioned, but it works. Plenty of Chinese go to holiday in
:01:22. > :01:26.Australia. Plenty send their children to be educated there. As
:01:27. > :01:28.trade mission over the following few days, and it is a massive effort, is
:01:29. > :01:33.aimed at broadening their relationship. They are trying to get
:01:34. > :01:39.the Chinese to buy more services from Australia. We have leaders from
:01:40. > :01:45.1000 Australian businesses coming in this delegation and senior
:01:46. > :01:47.politicians. They are trying to sell not just tourism but education as
:01:48. > :01:53.well, and the agriculture business. What does say about the relationship
:01:54. > :01:56.between Australia and China? It has changed a lot. The days of the
:01:57. > :02:01.Chinese buying everything up in Australia are over. This is about
:02:02. > :02:06.time to sell far more services to the people of China from Australia.
:02:07. > :02:10.It is very important. No underestimation to say the future of
:02:11. > :02:14.the study's economy depends in part on its trade relationship with this
:02:15. > :02:19.country. How much do they reckon they will raise? Last time they did
:02:20. > :02:24.this in 2014, the government said it led to an injection of some 3.5
:02:25. > :02:30.billion US dollars. They want the same or more this time around.
:02:31. > :02:34.Cambodia is another country which counts on growing investment from
:02:35. > :02:39.China. Its economy is rapidly growing but remains one of the
:02:40. > :02:42.poorest in the region. It is struggling with its violent past and
:02:43. > :02:46.political uncertainties. What are its prospects for the future?
:02:47. > :02:51.Earlier I spoke with the US ambassador to Cambodia. Cambodia is
:02:52. > :02:57.a very dynamic and very positive economic growth story. It was a
:02:58. > :03:01.positive development story. They have had 7% economic growth now for
:03:02. > :03:05.more than a decade. Very strong growth in manufacturing,
:03:06. > :03:10.construction, and tourism as well as agriculture. At the same time, and
:03:11. > :03:14.not surprisingly, their social indicators have done very well.
:03:15. > :03:19.Health, education. Very positive. Now Cambodia is a much better
:03:20. > :03:24.trained and healthier workforce than before. Police are starting to take
:03:25. > :03:28.notice. You say companies are taking notice and it is a positive
:03:29. > :03:33.development, but there is a fair share of corruption, ranking among
:03:34. > :03:35.one of the most corrupt countries according to transparency
:03:36. > :03:40.International. How can investors look to it in spite of all these
:03:41. > :03:43.problems? Corruption is a problem in Cambodia and other countries as
:03:44. > :03:47.well. The government has acknowledged that. They have taking
:03:48. > :03:51.interesting steps that directly impact on business like setting up a
:03:52. > :03:55.single window as well as online business registration. They reduce
:03:56. > :03:58.the amount of business interaction with government. They have a long
:03:59. > :04:03.way to go, especially improving their court system. As this is not
:04:04. > :04:05.yet have doubled taking cases to court. They have to go to
:04:06. > :04:12.international arbitration. That is expensive. Politically the
:04:13. > :04:16.government has not really changed since the 1990s. The president is
:04:17. > :04:21.very much keen on Chinese investment. Is it perhaps too late
:04:22. > :04:25.for the Americans and others? They have had the same government in
:04:26. > :04:28.place for quite a few years. They have elections every five years,
:04:29. > :04:32.though, and over that period there has been that peace and stability
:04:33. > :04:38.that they are proud of, and that underlies growth. China is really
:04:39. > :04:44.the major official investor in Cambodia now. They have helped to
:04:45. > :04:48.build a network of roads, the power generation grid. That has been
:04:49. > :04:52.positive for the country. Cambodia made the right choice there. The
:04:53. > :04:56.question now is what kind of factors or they put next to those Chinese
:04:57. > :05:02.roads? -- factories. What products with a specialising? Hour they take
:05:03. > :05:05.that next step in development? American and European investors are
:05:06. > :05:09.important in that. That was the US ambassador to Cambodia. Japan has
:05:10. > :05:14.sought to reassure investors it is willing to intervene in the currency
:05:15. > :05:18.market. The move follows a recent pledge by the G20 nations to consult
:05:19. > :05:22.on foreign exchange markets as well as avoid competitive currency
:05:23. > :05:26.devaluation. The yen has gained more than 10% against the dollar this
:05:27. > :05:32.year, which worries the government. It increases export earnings and
:05:33. > :05:36.effect low inflation. The biggest gas discoveries in the North Sea are
:05:37. > :05:42.being built right here in Singapore. It is a project worth $4.5 billion,
:05:43. > :05:46.and the Danish firm was given the UK government approval last year. As
:05:47. > :05:49.our Scotland correspondent reports, some people are asking why the
:05:50. > :05:54.platforms are being built in Asia instead of the UK.
:05:55. > :06:03.It is a tradition in Singapore for a line dance to wish a project well.
:06:04. > :06:09.The gasfield in the North Sea is a boost for Singapore, but has left
:06:10. > :06:13.fabricators in Britain upset. The cutting of the first steel for a
:06:14. > :06:17.deal with thousands of jobs. But for the high-pressure wells involved,
:06:18. > :06:25.the company says the work had to go overseas. This is specialised
:06:26. > :06:28.construction, and something like this in Singapore is specialised and
:06:29. > :06:33.have the capacity and expertise to do this project. We could not really
:06:34. > :06:39.finite capacity and expertise unfortunately in the UK. -- find
:06:40. > :06:44.that capacity. It may be the first steel, but the project is ready well
:06:45. > :06:47.under way. In a yard across the island, this early construction
:06:48. > :06:51.project is nearing completion. In the next few months, this drilling
:06:52. > :06:57.rig will begin the 7000 mile journey to the North Sea. It will take about
:06:58. > :07:02.45 days to get there, but it is expected to be on site by the end of
:07:03. > :07:07.this year. The company says some of the work is being carried out in the
:07:08. > :07:12.UK. The development will produce 400 direct jobs and support 6000 more.
:07:13. > :07:17.There has been quite a bit of discontent that a lot of the work
:07:18. > :07:22.was placed outside the UK. That is among UK fabricators. They have not
:07:23. > :07:28.been happy about the situation. Especially in light of the fact that
:07:29. > :07:33.they have been given tax assistance by the UK government. Noted
:07:34. > :07:37.touring. This would have provided much-needed engineering jobs in the
:07:38. > :07:41.UK, but the company says in the long-term it will be worth billions
:07:42. > :07:49.to the Exchequer. -- no point tiptoeing.
:07:50. > :07:52.You may have heard about the biggest e-commerce businesses, but have you
:07:53. > :07:56.heard of their rival? Freycinet it has become the first Indian
:07:57. > :08:02.e-commerce firm ever to list its shares on the stock exchange. While
:08:03. > :08:04.it is an industry that has attracted billions of dollars from private
:08:05. > :08:10.investors, firms are struggling to make money. More from Mumbai.
:08:11. > :08:25.Congratulations! The first day of trading for shares in cigarette.
:08:26. > :08:31.This is the first test of faith investors have -- Infibeam. Most of
:08:32. > :08:35.any's e-commerce firms are fast with private investors. Some are
:08:36. > :08:39.considering tapping the stock markets to help finds their
:08:40. > :08:45.expansion. The decision will be made partly on how well Infibeam's shares
:08:46. > :08:50.do, and that is why many are calling this public listing as a moment of
:08:51. > :08:54.truth for the industry. Last year, India's e-commerce firms attracted
:08:55. > :08:59.more than $5 billion of private money. But they are burning to that
:09:00. > :09:06.cash, offering hefty discount tried to grab market share. The three
:09:07. > :09:11.biggest players lost about $750 million last year. Is this about a
:09:12. > :09:13.change? Last month the government announced tabs on the sort of
:09:14. > :09:22.discount online sellers can offer. -- caps. If you were making money
:09:23. > :09:28.offering discounts, it was incurring a loss. Now when these companies are
:09:29. > :09:32.not in a position to offer good discounts, to that extent, there is
:09:33. > :09:40.no dent in profitability. It means the profit margins will go up. By
:09:41. > :09:43.2020, it is expected Indian 's will spend $100 billion online as
:09:44. > :09:48.Internet access, especially through smartphones, grows. Little wonder
:09:49. > :09:53.global players like Ali Barber have more of a dent. But firms that do
:09:54. > :09:55.not start focusing on profits may be forced to pack up operations in this
:09:56. > :10:05.highly competitive market. Let's take a quick look at the
:10:06. > :10:09.markets. Japan's Nikkei has opened two losses, down over 1%. This is
:10:10. > :10:14.due to the strength of the Japanese yen. We told you about that earlier,
:10:15. > :10:17.the government trying to talk down the strength of the yen but not
:10:18. > :10:22.really succeeding. We also had machinery data out of Japan showing
:10:23. > :10:26.a fall of the study markets despite the rallying of Will prices and
:10:27. > :10:31.resource stocks on Friday. -- oil prices. The prices they are
:10:32. > :10:35.currently flat. And that is how the US close on Friday. That is it for
:10:36. > :10:36.this edition of Asia Business Report.