18/04/2016 Asia Business Report

They've been named locally as Elizabeth Edwards

Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

The world's top oil producers fail to freeze production despite lower

prices. Even with the biggest stars of the game is their money to be

made from rugby in Asia? -- there. Welcome to this Monday edition of

Asia Business Report. Leading oil producers have failed to come up

with an agreement to cap production to stabilise prices. They met in

Doha on the weekend to thrash out a deal. In the end they conceded they

needed more time. Earlier I asked an oil analyst what the failure to

reach a deal meant for the industry. The market will be looking for signs

of support. At the moment we have news of an important strike in

Kuwait, capping production about 1.6 5 million barrels per day. In

context, this is the total production from the area -- Libya

before the war -- 1.54 million. This might help drop prices and support

the market. This massive strike helped the market rebalanced in

2002, 2003, when Venezuela had a strike of this size, which could

support prices. The failure of agreement is a big disappointment

overall to those who have been buying into this rally. Indeed. If

we watch the outcome from the meeting, Saudi Arabia trying to get

Iran on-board, encouraging them to cut production as well. What are the

odds of it happening? At the moment, Iran is not comfortable about any

output freeze or reduction output. As we go forward we have seen they

have added 600,000 barrels per day of additional exports. Whenever they

are close to the level where they are comfortable, and within the

realm of OPEC, we may see agreement to reduce production. Let's look at

the Saudis. Sceptics say this is what they want exactly. They want

prices low and they want production up so they can hang onto the

monopoly. And so it OPEC can hang on. Prices are at $40 per barrel,

which makes it US jail production relatively economical in areas,

which could stabilise US jail production -- US shale production.

-- US shale production. That is equivalent to the output in Iran in

three months. It is a race against time. Eventually it's going to be

impossible to stop the growth in shale oil production. In other news,

as rescue efforts continue in southern Japan after recent

earthquakes, factories having impacted. Toyota has suspended

production across the country with a shortage of parts from suppliers,

and Honda has suspended work at a motorcycle plant. Sony has halted

operations at an image sensor plant in the city. Since India has

overtaken China as the fastest growing economy in the world, there

has been a focus on Delhi's drive aimed at in -- boosting investment.

Despite gloomy predictions for the global outlook. India's Finance

Minister told us about future growth. Within the present

limitation of the world economy going slowly, volatility,

unpredictability, commodity prices being low, I think, if we have a

good monsoon, if we can address several domestic reforms, including

strengthening the Indian banking system, which is what we are trying

to do, for us to grow over 7.5% we have reached is reasonably possible.

That is the Indian Finance Minister. The Indonesian President

is set to freeze permits for palm oil and mining operations. Indonesia

has faced international criticism for using fires to clear land for

palm oil production. Toxic smoke also billows across the ocean to

neighbouring Thailand and Singapore. Earlier I asked our correspondent

what it means. Making the announcement at a conservation

island at the same time as releasing turtles into the sea, it is an

environmental statement. He is making efforts in Indonesia to try

to stop the annual haze as you mentioned. Those forest fires are

often blamed and caused by the opening of land, peat land

particularly for palm oil. At the same time members in the government

have told me that they want to become smarter in the way palm

oil's industry is running in Indonesia, the largest exporter of

palm oil. At the moment they are producing too much, flooding the

market. They want to intensify production on land they do have.

Indonesia is far behind Malaysia when it comes to that. We know this

also impacts mining as well. How will this hit Indonesia's rich

resources industry and its economy? It is not mining concessions as a

whole but what the Indonesian government is saying is they won't

release mining permits in forested areas, areas of high conservation or

highly forested areas. Now, this is something which has been said

before. It is targeted at illegal mining. The actual mining industry

as a whole would not be affected by this but it is targeting illegal

mining, which environmentalists and the industry have said should have

happened a long time ago. The President Joko Widodo is in Europe

right now. What reflection is that? It is interesting, the pressure on

Indonesia to create a more sustainable palm oil industry has

come from Europe, so he has made this announcement just before he

leaves. He is visiting countries like Germany, the UK and the

Netherlands, with a lot of consumers wanting to see a sustainable palm

oil product. The industry is under pressure to do that. He has made

this announcement before the visit, hoping to put a greener and cleaner

front on the industry. The HSBC world -- World Rugby 7s is beginning

after a ten year hiatus. It is designed to boost crowd size. As we

report, it is just getting popular in Asia and sponsors are following

after the inclusion in the Olympics. The New Zealand All Blacks are not

just a force to be reckoned with on the field, they are considered the

most powerful brand in rugby. Star players like Sonny Bill Williams are

playing a Sevens series, returning to Singapore after a ten year break.

Buzz around the game is reaching fever pitch. There are only two

Asian cities on the Sevens circuit and there are hopes that this short

format will help it catch on elsewhere in the region. Football is

by far the most popular sport in Asia but with rugby's inclusion in

the Olympics for the first time this year there are hopes the sport will

grow exponentially along with business opportunities to go with

it. Rugby is the fastest growing team sport in the world. The

governing body has spent $10 million in the region over the last five

years. The popularity is expected to grow ahead of Japan hosting the

rugby World Cup in 2019. World Rugby chairman Byrne art has been crucial

to the growth of the game, believing it has been crucial to grow in Asia

-- Bernard Lapaset. Rugby is not the same in Africa or Europe, South

America or North America and it will be different in China and in Asia.

Alibaba chairman Jack Ma is betting big on the sport as well. His

company recently signed a deal to develop rugby in China over the next

ten years. There has also been a rush for the broadcasting rights.

Tim Martin is spending millions of dollars in this area, launching a

digital platform called Rugby Pass on the expectation that numbers will

spike in audience numbers. Rugby is perhaps the most exciting sport in

terms of commercial development potential. Before -- but football is

in the billions, which is amazing. Rugby is emerging so there is a

chance to pull this together and aggregate content. Once it is done,

there are opportunities that are gone. Local interest in rugby starts

here in the schools. The game has been played in Asia for decades but

on a competitive level it has been mostly dominated by the expatriates

community, although that looks set to change with the hope that

eventually these kids can play in the big leagues. Let's look at the

markets before we go because oil prices continue dipping in Asian

trade after no agreement in Doha are amongst OPEC producers. They were

down as much as 7.6% and they are now pairing with those losses.

Looking at Asian markets, the Nikkei is reacting to the earthquake over

the weekend. And that is it for