:00:00. > :00:00.slavery. Theresa May says she will make it her mission to help rid the
:00:00. > :00:00.world of what she has called a barbaric evil.
:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News, all the latest business live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:22.Security and corruption in Malaysia, Wildey 1MDB scandal drives investors
:00:23. > :00:27.away from the country? Last hours among golden temples. We
:00:28. > :00:29.find out who is benefiting from Phnom Penh's building boom. -- will
:00:30. > :00:38.be. Good morning, Asia and hello, world.
:00:39. > :00:43.It's Monday, the start of a new trading week and glad you could join
:00:44. > :00:47.us for this edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Rico Hizon. More fallout
:00:48. > :00:52.from the corruption scandal surrounding Malaysia's state
:00:53. > :00:56.investment fund, 1MDB. The man in charge of investigating the Prime
:00:57. > :01:01.Minister Naji Razak's finances is reportedly stepping down due to
:01:02. > :01:06.political pressure. If confirmed Abu Kassim Mohamed will be leaving his
:01:07. > :01:10.post more than two years early. Some critics have suggested that Malaysia
:01:11. > :01:20.is new security laws are partly aimed at containing the fallout from
:01:21. > :01:22.the 1MDB saga -- Malaysia's. Still, Malaysia does better than many
:01:23. > :01:24.neighbours when it comes to measurements of corruption. Word
:01:25. > :01:30.??DELWOR the corruption the perspective index ranks Malaysia 55
:01:31. > :01:32.globally, considerably better than Indonesia, the corruption the
:01:33. > :01:34.perspective index ranks Malaysia 55 globally, considerably better than
:01:35. > :01:38.Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and other south-east Vietnam and
:01:39. > :01:43.other south-east Asian neighbours. What could be behind the our
:01:44. > :01:46.Malaysiaour Malaysia analyst gave us his view.
:01:47. > :01:53.You could argue he left for personal reasons but this is still the
:01:54. > :01:59.undercurrent we have in Malaysia and politics at this juncture. Is it
:02:00. > :02:07.because you think of the 1MDB scandal? I certainly think one can
:02:08. > :02:10.point to that as a possible reason. The whole issue about the
:02:11. > :02:16.investigation and corruption has been in the forefront of many minds
:02:17. > :02:20.both internally and externally of Malaysia itself. Certainly I would
:02:21. > :02:24.say one can look at the possible introduction of a new security act
:02:25. > :02:29.as another catalyst. But at the end of the day, who knows? It is really
:02:30. > :02:34.part and parcel of the development you want to see over the past few
:02:35. > :02:39.years in Malaysia. It's all happening at the same time, the 1MDB
:02:40. > :02:45.scandal, the investigation of the anticorruption agency then this new
:02:46. > :02:48.security act, could this impact the credibility of Malaysia as an
:02:49. > :02:52.investment destination? Interesting question. We have seen investment in
:02:53. > :02:56.the region slowing down but when you look closely at Malaysia, despite
:02:57. > :03:00.what's been happening on the political front, money is still
:03:01. > :03:07.coming through, not as much as it used to be. One source of funds that
:03:08. > :03:11.we see being invested in Malaysia, Singapore, traditionally has been,
:03:12. > :03:15.and I think it still is, seeing funds coming from outside the
:03:16. > :03:24.region. China for instance in best in King infrastructure from roads to
:03:25. > :03:29.schools and universities as well. -- investing in. Life goes on in
:03:30. > :03:34.Malaysia. That's why from an overall law and order respective in
:03:35. > :03:41.Malaysia, things are remaining relatively stable. What about on the
:03:42. > :03:44.corruption issue? In the transparency international survey it
:03:45. > :03:52.ranks high in terms of transparency compared to neighbours. It is one of
:03:53. > :03:57.these things that is unique about Malaysia, there is plenty of noise
:03:58. > :04:01.outside of the country itself. Domesticly you are still finding
:04:02. > :04:07.that as long as there is a job and food on the table, life goes on for
:04:08. > :04:11.most Malaysians. They take all these things in their stride.
:04:12. > :04:19.Shares in Japanese electronic giant Sony are up by 2% in early Tokyo
:04:20. > :04:23.trade despite its 74% fall in profits reported last week. Net
:04:24. > :04:29.profits plummeted by more than 200 million US dollars, they came in
:04:30. > :04:33.better than expected. A production halt following a major earthquake in
:04:34. > :04:37.Japan and a stronger yen against the dollar were blamed for the slump.
:04:38. > :04:42.Sony's Mobile group is also now in the black, although now by the
:04:43. > :04:46.slimmest of margins. Preliminary data out of South Korea
:04:47. > :04:50.shows exports for July falling 10% compare to a year ago, this is a
:04:51. > :04:54.much bigger drop than expected. China is South Korea's largest
:04:55. > :05:00.export market followed by the US. Last month the bank of Korea revised
:05:01. > :05:03.its outlook for 2016 with expectations economic growth and
:05:04. > :05:08.inflation would be lower. In a further indication of the strain on
:05:09. > :05:11.its economy from sluggish global growth.
:05:12. > :05:16.Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy has laid out its economic
:05:17. > :05:21.policy, much of it will depend on reforming the country's investment
:05:22. > :05:25.climate. Myanmar has spent several years opening up but new laws aimed
:05:26. > :05:29.at putting foreign and local companies on a similar footing could
:05:30. > :05:36.have an impact. Jester is a regulatory expert at a law firm and
:05:37. > :05:37.he explained how the regulations will impact both local and foreign
:05:38. > :05:44.businesses. They have the inherent advantage,
:05:45. > :05:47.which clearly the new government is trying to make sure that the foreign
:05:48. > :05:52.companies don't feel discriminated in terms of coming into the country.
:05:53. > :05:56.Of course there is some concern about the smaller companies.
:05:57. > :06:00.Absolutely. If there would be a level playing field for them against
:06:01. > :06:04.the big boys in the foreign investment community and the local
:06:05. > :06:09.investment companies. The concern is for the smaller companies in terms
:06:10. > :06:13.of access to finance. There's probably something that the new
:06:14. > :06:17.economic policy doesn't seek to address as fully as what we would
:06:18. > :06:20.have liked. But certainly when it comes to foreign companies I think
:06:21. > :06:24.you are looking at the type of reforms that have been going on for
:06:25. > :06:28.the past few years. The new government will continue that I
:06:29. > :06:32.think and open up the economy to more foreign investors. Having
:06:33. > :06:35.practised there for a number of years, what would your advice be to
:06:36. > :06:42.the smaller companies who also want to make it big in Myanmar? One is
:06:43. > :06:46.obviously the homework they need to do before going into a country like
:06:47. > :06:50.Myanmar. Second obviously is understanding how the system works,
:06:51. > :06:58.the cultural dimensions of how businesses are done in the country.
:06:59. > :07:03.And I think the familiarity with the laws and regulations is a key
:07:04. > :07:07.criteria. Chester, in terms of industries and sectors, where should
:07:08. > :07:11.there be more focused on right now? Currently there's way too much focus
:07:12. > :07:18.in terms of the Natural Resources the Ashmore focus. What I hope to
:07:19. > :07:22.see is certainly the government trying to encourage more
:07:23. > :07:26.manufacturing -- national resort sector -- Focus. This is where they
:07:27. > :07:30.will have an advantage with low labour costs -- Natural Resources
:07:31. > :07:39.sector. Ambo dear's capital Phnom Penh is on
:07:40. > :07:44.the rise. Glass, steel and concrete mega structures are beginning to
:07:45. > :07:48.dominate the city's skyline. But as the capital grows there are concerns
:07:49. > :07:52.many of Phnom Penh's residents will be squeezed out by the frenzy of
:07:53. > :07:52.construction projects. Nick Wood reports.
:07:53. > :07:58.Ten years ago much of this wasn't even here. Phnom Penh's
:07:59. > :08:03.transformation from a sleepy lowrise city on the banks of the Mekong to a
:08:04. > :08:07.rapidly modernising Southeast Asia and Metropolis has been staggering.
:08:08. > :08:10.The city once known as the Pearl of Southeast Asia has doubled its
:08:11. > :08:17.population in just four years. That's led to a building boom of
:08:18. > :08:21.almost unprecedented scale. As you come through you will see the
:08:22. > :08:25.kitchen, the dining area, the living space and also the balcony all in
:08:26. > :08:30.one open floor plan. Our market tends to be a little bit on the
:08:31. > :08:34.higher end, we have customers who are coming back to Cambodia.
:08:35. > :08:38.Entrepreneurs, business owners, high-level executives in companies.
:08:39. > :08:43.It's marketed towards people who kind of want that Western lifestyle.
:08:44. > :08:47.With foreign direct investment now at an all-time high combined with
:08:48. > :08:52.comparatively low land prices and cheap labour costs, Phnom Penh's
:08:53. > :08:58.building boom now rivals many of its ASEAN neighbours. In the first three
:08:59. > :09:02.months of this year, more than $1.6 billion was poured into construction
:09:03. > :09:08.projects in Phnom Penh. In terms of the number of individual condos
:09:09. > :09:12.expected over the next three years, it is 45,000 condos that are
:09:13. > :09:19.currently projected to come online, which is truly extraordinary growth.
:09:20. > :09:22.But not everyone's a winner, as demand for high-rise offices, malls
:09:23. > :09:26.and luxury housing developments crowd the skyline, many locals are
:09:27. > :09:32.being left behind. Derelict buildings like this for now at least
:09:33. > :09:35.remain home to of families. TRANSLATION: I would love to live in
:09:36. > :09:39.an apartment up either because it's a good environment. But we don't
:09:40. > :09:43.have enough money to afford those kinds of apartments. But at least
:09:44. > :09:50.living down here we can earn some money with our small businesses. The
:09:51. > :09:54.government isn't planning well. I don't think they could care less
:09:55. > :09:59.about the poor. If our country is really democratic they have to think
:10:00. > :10:04.about the poor people in their plan for the housing. If not maybe the
:10:05. > :10:09.poor people will not support the government any more and then they
:10:10. > :10:13.will vote for change. Cambodia's capital now has over 600
:10:14. > :10:17.large-scale construction projects either approve or underweight. The
:10:18. > :10:21.challenge for the government is how to spread the benefits of this
:10:22. > :10:23.massive construction boom. Nick Wood, BBC World News, Phnom Penh.
:10:24. > :10:31.A fast look at the markets, the Nikkei is down and the all ordinary
:10:32. > :10:33.is up. Thanks so much for investing your time with us. I'm Rico Hizon.
:10:34. > :10:44.Bye for now. -- all Ordinaries. I'm led bogus echo. The top stories
:10:45. > :10:45.this hour: