01/07/2016 Asia Business Report

decision on airport expansion in the south-east of England until a new

Prime Minister is in place. An announcement on projects at Heathrow

or Gatwick had been expected. As the financial turmoil following

Britain's leave vote, has it subsided? And, the sharp edge of the

deal. From today, the Japanese electronics giant belongs to a

Taiwanese company. Good morning, it is Friday, almost

the weekend. That you could join us for this edition of Asia Business

Report. Markets have been all over the place during the last week or

so. Creeping confidently up, tumbling down, gradually climbing up

again. It has been a week since the EU voted to leave the European

Union, with the pound getting a hammering. How bad has it really

been? Power Asia business correspondence is a look.

What a week it has been, some $3 trillion wiped off global markets in

the aftermath of the vote for Brexit. Asian markets were the first

to react to the news that the UK had voted to leave. Then the case or the

biggest one-day fall since the tsunami in 2011. Look at the damage.

It was the same across the UK, Europe and the US. But take a look

at this. The barring blue is the Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan,

and about five days after Brexit, Asian markets were still down, but

not as badly off as the rest of the world. It is the same theme after

other major natural events. Take a look at this chart. About a week

after the 2008 collapse of Lehman brothers, the world index was up

about 2.4%, but the Asia index was up even more. Then a month later, at

world stocks fell by 17%. Asia fell as well but not by as much. It is

the same story after a major national disaster, even if that has

taken place in Asia. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan,

stocks in Asia recovered to do three times as well as the rest of the

world. It is not just markets. Even though projections for growth this

year have been reduced, Asia is still expected to post 5% growth as

a whole. That is compared to low or negative growth in the developed

world. The Brexit decision is also likely to play out positively for

Asia. China's slowdown is having an impact, which is likely to be the

biggest risk for Asia in the months ahead.

In addition to stocks, investors are keeping a close eye on UK property.

Many developers and banks have investors in London, and a major

Singapore bank decided on Thursday to stop offering loans for London

property. Other Singapore banks are urging caution, but are some

investors looking for opportunities now that the pound is at record

lows? Earlier I spoke to the managing director for South East

Asia at the property giant. I think some investors will think so. I

think we can expect some discount in prices. The London residential

market had already come off about 5-10%, and it could come off more.

What about the commercial side? It is more resilient, underpinned by

some good strong fundamentals, it is at a 15 year low, vacancy. I think

the commercial market will be more resilient, but it is bound to be

more subjective, and there will be some concern on occupancy and where

rent is going. We can see some price adjustment as investors pull out of

the market we don't get as much investment capital. It has been a

week are now since the Brexit vote. What are the trends right now? I

think it is too early to say. I suspect over the coming months we

will see fewer transactions. The investors we were talking to are

starting to say that it could be an opportunity to enter the market at a

lower point. Along long-awaited tax amnesty scheme takes effect in

Indonesia today, lasting for five months, and the government will hope

this is bringing in billions of dollars in extra revenue it can use

to close its ongoing budget gap. Earlier I spoke to the editor of BBC

Indonesia, who took to the streets of the capital to see how locals

felt about the rules. They are hoping that by pardoning past tax

fraud and giving people low tax rates that they will get an extra

billion dollars they can put in the budget, particularly a focus on

infrastructure, growth and building, which are the key elements of Joko

Widodo's presidency, and an attempt to spur growth. The markets

responded positively to this move, strengthening the rupiah. When I

took to the streets of Jakarta people felt very uncomfortable.

TRANSLATION: I don't think it is a fair policy at all, it is completely

unfair. I work and I pay the right amount of tax. My tax comes out of

my salary every month at the same rate. I work very hard and pay my

tax on time to the government. It is a progressive public policy, but

will it benefit the people of Indonesia? What we need to make sure

of is that the tax money that does come back is not stolen by corrupt

officials. Everyone needs to be honest. It is not just, not paying

tax is a form of corruption. I fully understand how the process of

sending money overseas works. There is no way that large amounts of

tax-free money can be processed and sent overseas without some kind of

cooperation by government officials or knowledge. With this tax amnesty

we are being too obliging to people who run away with money that should

have gone to the government and used for the good of the people. There

have been a number of high profile tax corruption cases, one in

particular that involved a tax official who was helping effectively

smuggle money out of the country without paying tax. These kinds of

cases are in peoples minds. Across the country, quite startling figure

is that only 30 million people in Indonesia pay any form of tax, in a

country of 250 million. Sharp electronics will be overtaken today

by a Taiwanese company. There may be as many as 7000 job losses. How does

Japan feel about losing ownership over one of its iconic ransom? With

a pricetag of $2000, this robot is sharp's latest Android, which come

with features of the smartphone. It was unveiled as the firm agreed to

be taken over by Fox column, becoming the first electronic giant

to fall into foreign hands. Had if that one of the most iconic brands

in Japan being snapped up by China? China tends to copy other's

technology, so I am worried. I earn a lot of Sharp products, so I feel

sentimental. Sharp was once a crown jewel of the Japanese tech sector.

It was behind the first commercially produced TV set here, now it is on

the long list of recent Chinese acquisitions of foreign companies.

So what went wrong? Sharp netted on very large kilometres. Consumers

shifted their interest from large TVs too much smaller smartphone.

Sharp had a big factory for large skin televisions south of Osaka, and

made the big mistake that they financed it with bank loans instead

of shares. To make it profitable again they will need to tap into the

latent potential. The concern is whether its innovative spirit will

be able to move on under new management.

Before we go, a quick look at the markets. Asia gaining yet again for

a fourth straight session. It is up, up and away. The Nikkei up half a

percent, the All Ordinaries leading .4%, still in positive territory.

Wall Street investors feeling increasingly confident America will

not feel significant effects from Brexit. On Wall Street, the Dow

Jones soaring by 1.3%, and that is a gain of about 800 points in three

days. Thank you for investing your time with us, Sport Today is