:00:00. > :00:25.Building the future, we find out if India's economic growth is
:00:26. > :00:41.delivering for its people. And India overtake America as the world's most
:00:42. > :00:46.competitive place to do business. Glad you could join us for this
:00:47. > :00:50.edition of Asia Business Report. We start off with India, and one of
:00:51. > :00:54.Asia's largest economies will reveal in several hours how rapidly it has
:00:55. > :00:57.grown over the past year. The country has become one of the
:00:58. > :01:05.fastest expanding economies in the world, and the IMF has estimated
:01:06. > :01:09.that growth of 7.5% will be recorded for this financial year. Despite the
:01:10. > :01:17.strong performance, job creation is still a major challenge.
:01:18. > :01:24.This has become a common sight outside most suburban train stations
:01:25. > :01:29.in Mumbai. These men are not travellers but out of work
:01:30. > :01:33.construction labourers who have lost jobs, due to a slowdown in the
:01:34. > :01:37.sector. They assemble here daily in the hope of getting jobs like
:01:38. > :01:42.repairing or painting to earn some money. This is the spot where
:01:43. > :01:46.residents from the area come to hire temporary manpower for the
:01:47. > :01:53.housework. Most of these men left farming and moved to Mumbai to
:01:54. > :01:58.become construction workers. This man is one of them. He came to the
:01:59. > :02:00.city in 2007, but lost his construction job two years ago, and
:02:01. > :02:07.since then has been struggling to survive. TRANSLATION: Are used to
:02:08. > :02:12.earn $200 every month, but now I barely get one third of that by
:02:13. > :02:16.doing temporary jobs. In fact, I am planning to move back to my village
:02:17. > :02:21.soon. At least then I will be able to earn more as working as a farm
:02:22. > :02:26.labourer. Despite strong economic growth, creating jobs is still a
:02:27. > :02:28.major challenge for India. The construction industry is the second
:02:29. > :02:35.largest employer in the country after agriculture. But there are
:02:36. > :02:39.concerns that the slowdown in the sector could push many people back
:02:40. > :02:43.into farming. This project has been under construction for more than two
:02:44. > :02:49.years. The developer has been struggling to find buyers, and now
:02:50. > :02:53.that there is a shortage of funds work at the site has been stalled.
:02:54. > :02:57.So you find all kinds of construction material and equipment
:02:58. > :03:01.here, but no workers. It is not just the housing sector that is affecting
:03:02. > :03:05.jobs. Stalled infrastructure projects are also contributing to
:03:06. > :03:11.the problem. Business is blamed slow government approvals and redtape.
:03:12. > :03:18.The approval part of the projects are been delayed very much. And
:03:19. > :03:26.construction work is being delayed by a lot. This leads to a loss of
:03:27. > :03:29.confidence by purchases. India has one of the youngest populations in
:03:30. > :03:32.the world and it needs to create 10 million jobs every year for the new
:03:33. > :03:36.people entering the workforce. Achieving that target will be the
:03:37. > :03:38.key for Asia's third-largest economy to realise its long-term growth
:03:39. > :03:51.potential. Earlier, I asked if India's strong
:03:52. > :04:02.growth numbers reflect positive conditions. That is the big question
:04:03. > :04:05.on everyone's minds. This is the fastest growth rate of any major
:04:06. > :04:09.economy in the world, and you would expect to see the other data points
:04:10. > :04:13.in India start to match up with those kinds of expectations. The
:04:14. > :04:18.thing is, they are not. What we are actually seeing is that experts have
:04:19. > :04:21.fallen, how much India sells to the world, for about 17 months in a row.
:04:22. > :04:26.Factories are not reducing as much as they could or should. By some
:04:27. > :04:32.estimates, we are seeing factories producing 30% less than what they
:04:33. > :04:36.could be producing, and the problem is that the way India has calculated
:04:37. > :04:40.its growth figures changed a couple of years ago. Critics of these
:04:41. > :04:47.revisions point to the fact that this is just PM Modi's way of making
:04:48. > :04:50.the Indian economy look like it is doing better than it actually is.
:04:51. > :04:55.His government says there are structural reforms that are put into
:04:56. > :04:59.place, they will take time, but the trajectory is moving upwards.
:05:00. > :05:03.Whether that is reflective of what is actually happening on the ground
:05:04. > :05:07.is beside the point. The figures are moving in an upward direction. Two
:05:08. > :05:13.years now in office, what should be the priorities of PM Modi today? I
:05:14. > :05:16.think the major priority for any Indian government has to be the
:05:17. > :05:20.reduction of the poverty rate. A fifth of the country still lives
:05:21. > :05:24.below the poverty line, and the PM has made it clear that that is very
:05:25. > :05:28.much part of his agenda. He has also pointed to the fact that in his two
:05:29. > :05:33.years in office he recently defended himself in an article in the Wall
:05:34. > :05:38.Street Journal, that he has opened the world to farmers. I think that
:05:39. > :05:42.is correct, but at the same time there are two key pieces of
:05:43. > :05:45.legislation that his government has not been able to pass. That is the
:05:46. > :05:49.goods and services tax as well as the land acquisition bill. He is
:05:50. > :05:54.hoping to pass that at some point this year.
:05:55. > :06:00.Hong Kong has toppled the US as the world's most competitive economy,
:06:01. > :06:06.according to a new survey. The US had led the business School's world
:06:07. > :06:12.competitive ranking for three years in a row, but now it has dropped to
:06:13. > :06:19.sixth place, with Switzerland ranked second. I asked why the city ranked
:06:20. > :06:22.so highly. It is a fact that Hong Kong is the conduit, the link
:06:23. > :06:27.between China and the rest of the world. The fact is that the
:06:28. > :06:30.infrastructure between Hong Kong and the rest of the world, ports,
:06:31. > :06:35.airlines and communication, is extremely good. It also has good
:06:36. > :06:39.communications into China as well. It is probably that linkage to the
:06:40. > :06:43.rest of the world that drives the efficiency of Hong Kong doing
:06:44. > :06:46.business. Basically two major rivals here in Asia in terms of
:06:47. > :06:51.competitiveness. You have Hong Kong and Singapore, which is ranked
:06:52. > :06:55.fourth. If you take a look at the overall survey, many other Asian
:06:56. > :07:00.economies have slipped in the rankings. Why do you think this is
:07:01. > :07:03.happening? Hiding a lot of that is to do with economic performance,
:07:04. > :07:08.which is one of the factors they take into account, and obviously a
:07:09. > :07:11.lot of these countries in Asia are exporters, and they have suffered
:07:12. > :07:18.with a global slowdown. I think a lot more of what Hong Kong does is
:07:19. > :07:22.infrastructure, finance, which has had less of a slowing process than
:07:23. > :07:35.other countries. Asia's biggest technology show opens
:07:36. > :07:38.today in Taipei. For more than three decades its annual exhibition has
:07:39. > :07:44.been focused on computers, but against a backdrop of declining
:07:45. > :07:49.sales, attention has turned to more ambitious technology, including
:07:50. > :07:57.robots and virtual reality. I am joined by our correspondent from
:07:58. > :08:04.inside the exhibition area. I know many of these technology companies
:08:05. > :08:10.are facing some major challenges. Yes, what is happening is that the
:08:11. > :08:15.staff from some 1600 companies are exhibiting here, and are setting up.
:08:16. > :08:19.The show will open to the public in about an hour. They are quickly
:08:20. > :08:23.trying to set up their laptops, smart phones, wearables, and all
:08:24. > :08:29.kinds of gadgets, trying to entice consumers to buy. That is what the
:08:30. > :08:33.companies here need, because computer sales have been declining
:08:34. > :08:44.for the past two years, I5-6% globally. That is really hurting the
:08:45. > :08:53.industry. If this continues this year and next year, this will be bad
:08:54. > :09:03.news for many companies like Acer, and global brands like Dell and
:09:04. > :09:07.Lenovo. They are trying to encourage people to buy things they have ever
:09:08. > :09:11.bought before, like household robots and virtual reality headset. That is
:09:12. > :09:16.the buzz right now in many computer shows all over the world, virtual
:09:17. > :09:25.reality and robots. The big question is, will the man on the street, will
:09:26. > :09:30.ordinary consumers, by these new consumer other than smart phones and
:09:31. > :09:37.personal computers? We are seeing even with smartphone sales, sales
:09:38. > :09:41.are flat so far this year. Analysts told me that consumers feel like
:09:42. > :09:43.they have all the hardware and they need, so unless the companies come
:09:44. > :09:49.up with really amazing product that people feel they need, they won't
:09:50. > :09:55.feel the need to spend the money. There might be some products that
:09:56. > :09:59.might convince people to buy, like household robots. They can unlock
:10:00. > :10:10.doors, read stories to kids, we have to see whether the consumers will be
:10:11. > :10:18.convinced. Thank you very much. Before we go, a quick look at the
:10:19. > :10:24.Asian stock markets. Currently, as you can see, they are mixed at this
:10:25. > :10:30.hour. The Nikkei down by 2.5, and the all ordinaries lowered by 34.
:10:31. > :10:32.This is after the US and UK financial markets were closed
:10:33. > :10:46.overnight due to the bank holiday.