:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:39.The US Treasury Secretary begins his trip to Asia. An industry buzz: We
:00:40. > :00:45.look at the lies be exported trade. -- live bee. Glad you could join us
:00:46. > :00:49.for this Thursday edition. The United States has accused several
:00:50. > :00:56.Asian nations of manipulating the value of their currencies, including
:00:57. > :00:59.China, Japan and South Korea. The weakest, South Korea, is likely to
:01:00. > :01:03.be high on the agenda when the US Treasury Secretary visits Seoul
:01:04. > :01:11.today and meet the country's Finance Minister. Earlier I spoke with an
:01:12. > :01:19.analyst in Seoul. I think the level of the Korean yuan is very fair, and
:01:20. > :01:24.in the case of career it is declining even more than the current
:01:25. > :01:27.level. It is not a currency issue, it is about having the right
:01:28. > :01:34.products and targeting the right export markets. This political
:01:35. > :01:37.football, that is a fair phrase. It plays well at home even though it is
:01:38. > :01:46.not supported by the reality overseas. The fact of the matter is
:01:47. > :01:52.that the US is actually a very poor exporter of its goods and services.
:01:53. > :01:57.It is not very competitive at exporting, even though it is a great
:01:58. > :02:00.importer of other goods and services. For the likes of South
:02:01. > :02:06.Korea, it is not just about trade with the US, but with their other
:02:07. > :02:10.major partners such as China and the Japanese. With the strength of the
:02:11. > :02:18.Korean yuan, they have remained uncompetitive with the Chinese and
:02:19. > :02:28.Japanese products? Yes. For Korean exporters, in the range of
:02:29. > :02:32.comparison from the yuan to the dollar, any comparison would be
:02:33. > :02:37.hurting them. The biggest problem is the volatility of the Korean yuan.
:02:38. > :02:45.It would be far better if it were more stable. -- won. They are
:02:46. > :02:53.frightened of incurring the wrath of the US Treasury by failing to manage
:02:54. > :02:58.the stability of the Korean won. Staying with South Korea, there
:02:59. > :03:01.economy grew I half a percent in the first quarter this year. That is
:03:02. > :03:11.according to the latest figures from the Central Bank. The GDP expanded
:03:12. > :03:14.by 2.8%. Construction grew by 4.8%, with increases in building,
:03:15. > :03:26.construction and civil engineering. Services expanded by half a percent.
:03:27. > :03:29.Uber has raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia's wealth fund. They
:03:30. > :03:36.will be expanding into the Middle East. The investment was part of
:03:37. > :03:45.Uber's latest financing round. It valued the company at 62.5 billion.
:03:46. > :03:51.Its rival companies have also reported major investments this
:03:52. > :03:56.year. It started as one of the most serious risks facing the economy,
:03:57. > :04:01.the Brexit and the possibility of the UK voting to leave the EU.
:04:02. > :04:07.Voting takes place in three weeks. I asked a professor about the
:04:08. > :04:12.likelihood of a vote in favour of exiting the EU and what it could
:04:13. > :04:17.mean for Asia. If the referendum were to take place today, I would
:04:18. > :04:27.say there was probably a fairly strong likelihood that Britain would
:04:28. > :04:30.vote to remain. Around 53% -47%. However, the opinion polls tend to
:04:31. > :04:35.be unreliable. The referendum is still three weeks away. It is
:04:36. > :04:42.difficult to estimate what kind of turnout will take place on the day
:04:43. > :04:47.of the referendum. Some events could take place that could influence
:04:48. > :04:51.voting behaviour on the voting day. Right now, it is almost impossible
:04:52. > :04:58.to predict any outcome with certainty. What if there is an exit
:04:59. > :05:02.from the EU? What are the implications for Asian economies in
:05:03. > :05:10.terms of businesses with British ties? The economies most strongly
:05:11. > :05:13.affected will be those that trade heavily with Britain, such as
:05:14. > :05:20.Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea. They will be the most
:05:21. > :05:22.strongly affected. What about the economies that don't have extensive
:05:23. > :05:29.relationships with reduced businesses and have more enterprises
:05:30. > :05:33.connected with the United States? Will they also be affected in one
:05:34. > :05:39.way or another by a Brexit? I think the primary impact of the Brexit
:05:40. > :05:47.would be felt through its effect on the world economy. If there is a
:05:48. > :05:50.strong and powerful knock-on effect, if there was a consequence for
:05:51. > :05:54.Britain opting to leave, other countries might think of doing the
:05:55. > :05:59.same thing. This danger is not immediate, but it could lead to the
:06:00. > :06:05.unravelling of the EU. That would certainly have a depressing and the
:06:06. > :06:11.stabilising effect on the economy in general. If the UK does leave the
:06:12. > :06:21.EU, would they have to start negotiating every trade agreement
:06:22. > :06:26.from scratch. A sickly, yes. The WTO was saying that the UK will have to
:06:27. > :06:32.renegotiate its trade deals with the rest of the world more or less from
:06:33. > :06:38.scratch. This would be an extremely burdensome undertaking given that
:06:39. > :06:43.since 1973, the EU has been responsible for the external trade
:06:44. > :06:48.relations of the United States. Basically, Britain will have to
:06:49. > :06:54.negotiate its trade arrangements with EU member states and the rest
:06:55. > :07:01.of the world. They play eight key role in food production, pollinating
:07:02. > :07:09.about a third of the world's crops. I am talking about bees. Populations
:07:10. > :07:12.are in decline because of disease. Tasmania is one of the few places in
:07:13. > :07:18.the world that has not seen a decline. It has been lucrative to
:07:19. > :07:24.sell these live bees overseas. We spoke about shipping these bees to
:07:25. > :07:31.Canada. Wherever I go and people asked me what I do, I tell them I'm
:07:32. > :07:37.a beekeeper. I tell them that we export like bees to another country.
:07:38. > :07:42.They are amazed that we send lies bees. They are very surprised. My
:07:43. > :07:49.name is Lindsay Burke and I am the president of the Tasmania
:07:50. > :07:57.beekeepers' Association. I am the largest exporter of lies bees in
:07:58. > :08:08.Australia. Canadians have a problem with the terrible mite that has
:08:09. > :08:15.spread right around the world, except Australia. So they are very
:08:16. > :08:24.happy when these come to them from our healthy environment -- live bees
:08:25. > :08:32.-- bees. We have to continually smoke the highs and use mallets and
:08:33. > :08:43.is that nature to get the to come to the top -- get the bees. -- things
:08:44. > :08:48.of that nature. Then we put them in a box and carefully into a little
:08:49. > :08:58.container. That is ?3, that is the measurement. Then it's put into a
:08:59. > :09:03.little bee box, with some food to last them on their journey, then the
:09:04. > :09:11.queen is putting. That is a package. We send them to Launceston, they are
:09:12. > :09:17.carefully packaged and then sent overseas. Within two or three days,
:09:18. > :09:22.they arrive. Sometimes the temperatures are very cold, but they
:09:23. > :09:32.put them out and away they go. Last year, Australia exported 17 pallets.
:09:33. > :09:36.Eight of those came from my farm. We know that we have a surplus of bees
:09:37. > :09:41.and other people need them, so we can send them off for export. We all
:09:42. > :09:45.do things for money, but it's very nice when you're doing something
:09:46. > :09:55.that other people really appreciate. And we know that our Canadian
:09:56. > :10:03.beekeepers really appreciate the very healthy bees that we send from
:10:04. > :10:08.Tasmania. Indeed, a very successful bees-ness. Having a look at the
:10:09. > :10:26.markets. You can see that Asia is in negative territory.
:10:27. > :10:39.Thank you so much for investing your time with us.
:10:40. > :10:42.The top stories this hour: A British man is facing a life sentence
:10:43. > :10:45.after pleading guilty to more than seventy charges