21/07/2016 Asia Business Report


21/07/2016

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

:00:00.:00:16.

The US government seeks to recover $1 billion worth of assets from the

:00:17.:00:28.

Malaysian 1MDB fun. And, too many cooks, or in Singapore's case, not

:00:29.:00:34.

enough? Looking at initiatives to get more chefs into training.

:00:35.:00:42.

Good morning, it is Thursday, glad you could join us. US authorities

:00:43.:00:50.

have filed a lawsuit to recover assets worth more than $1 billion

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bought with money linked to a state fund in Malaysia. They say the money

:00:55.:01:01.

came from 1MDB, a fund set up and overseen by Prime Minister Najib

:01:02.:01:04.

Razak, but he has denied any wrongdoing. I asked our

:01:05.:01:09.

correspondence to explain the details.

:01:10.:01:25.

We have just received in the past hour a statement

:01:26.:01:28.

from the Malaysian Prime Minister's office.

:01:29.:01:29.

The spokesperson for the Malaysian Prime Minister,

:01:30.:01:31.

Najib Razak, says that the Malaysian government is ready to co-operate

:01:32.:01:34.

The Prime Minister has consistently talked

:01:35.:01:37.

about the fact that he has denied any wrongdoing,

:01:38.:01:40.

but if anything it is proven to have been done wrong,

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the full force of the law will be enforced.

:01:43.:01:55.

We have also received a statement from the production

:01:56.:01:57.

company Read Granat, co-founded by the Malaysian Prime Minister's

:01:58.:02:00.

The allegation is that money stolen from

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1MDB was used to finance the making of this film,

:02:02.:02:04.

as well as to buy a number of massive and luxurious

:02:05.:02:07.

The US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, in her news

:02:08.:02:12.

conference detailing all the allegations in this report,

:02:13.:02:14.

said that the Malaysian people have been

:02:15.:02:16.

The producers of The Wolf of Wall Street have denied that they have

:02:17.:02:26.

used illegitimate money to produce the film, but on the other hand, how

:02:27.:02:37.

could this controversy impact the reputation of Malaysia as a

:02:38.:02:43.

destination? In this court filing, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, who,

:02:44.:02:48.

as you said earlier, was the man who set up 1MDB, he is never directly

:02:49.:02:52.

implicated or cited in this court ruling. But Malaysian official

:02:53.:02:58.

number one, that is what the court filing calls him, calls a

:02:59.:03:03.

high-ranking Malaysian official, it pretty much clearly identifies with

:03:04.:03:07.

all of the evidence in this court filing that it is Prime Minister

:03:08.:03:13.

Najib Razak. I think it will raise lots of questions about how deeply

:03:14.:03:16.

he has been involved in this particular case, and I think that a

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lot of investors looking at Malaysia will be very concerned about the

:03:22.:03:26.

reputational damage to the country's economy, and Malaysians themselves

:03:27.:03:30.

will be asking questions about the levels of corruption within their

:03:31.:03:33.

country, within their government, and just how deep it goes.

:03:34.:03:42.

Atop HSBC executive has been charged with fraud in the US. The company's

:03:43.:03:51.

global head of foreign exchange trading, Mark Johnson, and his

:03:52.:03:56.

colleague, are accused of profiting from a $3.5 billion currency deal.

:03:57.:04:01.

HSBC has so far declined to comment. Following the failed coup, the

:04:02.:04:07.

Turkish lira is weakening against the US dollar. Its credit outlook

:04:08.:04:17.

has also been lowered to negative. So far, the Turkish lira has lost

:04:18.:04:21.

70% of its value against the greenback. Quarrel, is reporting

:04:22.:04:29.

strong results, with shares rising in after hours trade. -- Qualcomm.

:04:30.:04:41.

The bank of Indonesia meets today to consider another rate cut after it

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lowered the cost of borrowing four times this year by a full %. The

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board's position could be a pointer for other banks aimed at boosting

:04:55.:05:02.

growth. So far, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the

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Philippines have all cut rates, China has remained steady, and rates

:05:07.:05:11.

are already zero in Japan. They have been very busy this year trying to

:05:12.:05:16.

revive growth, but we now actually expect them to stay on the sidelines

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in this monetary policy meeting. There are a number of reasons to

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this. Firstly it is the last such meeting since they introduced a new

:05:26.:05:28.

reference rate. That will be lower than what we currently are seeing at

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6.5%. This 4% of rate cuts this year, hasn't already been impacting

:05:36.:05:38.

the Indonesian economy? That is where the problem has been, and

:05:39.:05:42.

impairment with the current policy rate. There has been a transmission

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from the policy rate is too lending rates, so we haven't actually seen

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banks passing on those cuts to consumers. If anyone has a true

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group on cyber security threats, you would have to imagine it is the FBI.

:05:59.:06:04.

So what are the major threats that exist to businesses and financial

:06:05.:06:08.

institutions, and are they more of a challenge in this region? We spoke

:06:09.:06:14.

with the FBI's head of security for investigations. As technology

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expands it provides law enforcement with more tools and more tools to

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defend themselves. At the same time it expands the attack surface, so

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the more items that are connect it to the internet, cars,

:06:31.:06:37.

refrigerators, the internet of things, the more we are connected to

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more surface there is. You are headed cyber security criminal

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investigations at the FBI. Where do you believe the greatest risk is

:06:46.:06:50.

here, what keeps you awake at night? The targeting of critical

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infrastructure would be on the leading edge of that. Are we in a

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situation where we have actors that are targeting electrical grids or

:07:00.:07:05.

the like to conduct crime? Again at the end of the day, this is a human

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oriented problem, so it is a human that the bad guy is targeting, and

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it doesn't have to be the most technical. It can be essentially

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e-mail to an unsuspecting person that contains malicious code, and

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when they click on the link the unsuspecting person, the actor then

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can facilitate a compromise. This can happen everyday, and it is a

:07:32.:07:39.

real problem, so it us up. Today, Mitchell and launchers for

:07:40.:07:42.

the first time here in Singapore. The citystate has long been a

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destination for food lovers from around the world. The industry has

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been served mainly by foreign workers, but no longer. Curbs on

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foreign labour are causing huge headaches for the hospitality

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industry -- Michelin. The challenge is to find more local employees.

:08:00.:08:06.

This man is only 18 but he knows what he wants to be when he is

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older, and who he wants to be like. My mindset is fixed on wanting to be

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a chef, having a very big restaurant and inspiring others. Like Gordon

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Ramsey has inspired me, he is one of the famous people that I look up to.

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So enthusiastic is he about a career as a chef, he enrolled at the

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Singaporean: preschool. Jelly will saute onions now. That will be the

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start of your carrot soup, that is fantastic. He and his classmates

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don't just have dreams to become the next celebrity chef, they are also

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here to fulfil a crucial need in Singapore, where there has been a

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shortage of chefs and service staff to cater to the burgeoning

:08:50.:08:55.

hospitality industry. A cut in the number of foreign workers restaurant

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in hotels can hire, and expensive levies to employ them, has made the

:09:00.:09:04.

problem especially acute. So, the government has introduced chaining

:09:05.:09:14.

-- training programmes, to sign up chefs and service staff. The chief

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executive of the culinary school, who is also a director at the

:09:22.:09:25.

Singapore hotel association, says attitudes are changing. Interest now

:09:26.:09:31.

for the younger generation is that they want to pursue their dreams, it

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is not just what my parents want. I think that is fantastic. The rise in

:09:36.:09:40.

her school's intake could go a little way to fixing the problem,

:09:41.:09:43.

but it will take many more young people with enthusiasm to help

:09:44.:09:49.

reduce Singapore's reliance on foreign labour. It has some of the

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highest proportions of foreigners among its population in workforce in

:09:55.:09:56.

the world, and weaning itself off the stoop recruit home-grown talent

:09:57.:09:58.

will continue to be a big challenge. Before we go, a quick look at the

:09:59.:10:08.

markets. Asia is back to its winning ways in positive territory in early

:10:09.:10:13.

Thursday trade after US stocks took a modest step forward. Several

:10:14.:10:19.

companies reported profits that were stronger than expected. The Nikkei

:10:20.:10:24.

is up by 210 points, and the All Ordinaries gaining 35. Hong Kong

:10:25.:10:32.

will be opening in about 15 minutes. Thank you for investing your time

:10:33.:10:33.

with us. Sport Today is next.

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