:00:14. > :00:20.Searching for clues and. Wilbert Federal Reserve chair dropped any
:00:21. > :00:27.hints about a rate rise? -- will the. And look, no hands. The world's
:00:28. > :00:36.first self driving taxis hit the road in Singapore -- drop. --
:00:37. > :00:39.searching for clues. Welcome to Asia Business Report, I'm Sharanjit Leyl.
:00:40. > :00:45.It's the speech that is being billed by Wall Street as must see TV. This
:00:46. > :00:49.lady, the US central bank governor Janet Yellen will be speaking at
:00:50. > :00:55.Jackson hole symposium later today. Markets have been eerily quiet.
:00:56. > :01:00.Investors are waiting for any hints of a next rate rise. Let's look at
:01:01. > :01:03.how US markets closed on Thursday, fairly flat and in fact Asian
:01:04. > :01:10.markets have opened in a similar way. For his views earlier I spoke
:01:11. > :01:14.to a representative from the national university of Singapore.
:01:15. > :01:19.Today's meeting isn't a ratesetting meeting but it's about looking for
:01:20. > :01:23.clues as to what Janet Yellen says. The expectation is there's just over
:01:24. > :01:27.a 50-50 chance there will be one hike this year, it could be in
:01:28. > :01:31.September but more likely December. The bigger question is not whether
:01:32. > :01:36.there will be one more hike or not, the bigger question is what is the
:01:37. > :01:41.Fed up to? I think the Fed needs a radical reboot in its communication
:01:42. > :01:45.strategy, it's forward guidance hasn't been very helpful, it's been
:01:46. > :01:49.worse than no guidance at all and I think something needs to be done to
:01:50. > :01:54.communicate the framework they are using for these decisions, even more
:01:55. > :02:00.than whether they will all want at the next meeting. Ultimately traders
:02:01. > :02:09.are focused on interest rates -- will all white. 42% chance of a rate
:02:10. > :02:12.rise in December -- will or won't. You say it's more about these
:02:13. > :02:16.communications, what should they be doing? Something structural has
:02:17. > :02:20.happened to interest rates, the natural habitat for interest rates
:02:21. > :02:26.is a lot lower now than it used to be, even three or four years ago. We
:02:27. > :02:30.haven't seen much indication the Fed has accepted that, that the stable
:02:31. > :02:38.rate of interest is somewhere much lower. And therefore we flip-flopped
:02:39. > :02:46.between dovish and hawkish. I think they need to say that we do have a
:02:47. > :02:51.backdrop of growth that isn't fantastic, we have a problem with
:02:52. > :02:58.global inflation. It is buying to be behind the curve than trying to jump
:02:59. > :03:02.the gun and do something too drastic to quickly. It's about the global
:03:03. > :03:06.concerns and what is interesting is you have policymakers from places
:03:07. > :03:11.like Europe, and Japan, where there's negative interest rates.
:03:12. > :03:15.What is the impact really globally, how do you see it briefly? Complete
:03:16. > :03:20.divergences, the rest of the world are smack in the middle of their
:03:21. > :03:23.stimulus programmes, negative rates, negative yield on about a third of
:03:24. > :03:27.the world's government bonds right now so that's another reason why the
:03:28. > :03:33.Fed and the US can't divert and breakaway entirely. It's also
:03:34. > :03:39.important to see what the Fed does because the global economy is
:03:40. > :03:41.concerned with the dollar and the dollar is what matters.
:03:42. > :03:48.The world's first self driving taxis hit the road right here in Singapore
:03:49. > :03:51.this week and the company behind it has said they have actually beaten
:03:52. > :03:57.other ride hailing services like Bluebird to roll out these
:03:58. > :04:00.autonomous cars. But it is still a limited trial with select passengers
:04:01. > :04:06.riding for free on select roots in a small area -- Uber. A fully fledged
:04:07. > :04:11.service would be launched for two years. We caught up with Doug Parker
:04:12. > :04:15.and asked him how the ride compares to a regular taxi.
:04:16. > :04:24.They are fairly conservative and they might drive like your
:04:25. > :04:29.grandmother might drive. They are careful, stop for pedestrians and
:04:30. > :04:34.pass slowly. How can a passenger be confident the cars are safe? We have
:04:35. > :04:38.driven hundreds of thousands of kilometres, we have a good safety
:04:39. > :04:43.record especially around collisions with other cars and pedestrians. It
:04:44. > :04:46.will make the right choice, it has a 360 degrees view continually, it
:04:47. > :04:50.sees what's going on in the world and it acts at the speed of a
:04:51. > :04:58.computer, not at the speed of a human. How does the technology work?
:04:59. > :05:00.It is a robot and it has to do three things, see the world, decide what
:05:01. > :05:07.to do and then decide to move an act. Those are the sensors you see
:05:08. > :05:10.on the outside. Today they are very expensive lasers, camera and radar
:05:11. > :05:18.to create a detailed image of the world. It is continually updating
:05:19. > :05:22.itself 20 times a second or more 360 degrees, creating a detailed picture
:05:23. > :05:26.of pedestrians, trucks and buses, all the things a car sees, and it
:05:27. > :05:32.builds a map of it. Then we have a decision engine that decides
:05:33. > :05:36.navigating. How can the business model be applied outside Singapore,
:05:37. > :05:38.especially when the government highly restricts how many cars are
:05:39. > :05:44.here and there is lots of regulations? First it will develop
:05:45. > :05:47.in places like Singapore with well structured streets, well marked
:05:48. > :05:52.streets, people generally obey the rules of the road. We think we can
:05:53. > :05:56.find appropriate markets but we probably won't start with downtown
:05:57. > :06:00.Manhattan Orman by. How hard will it be to get insurance for these cars?
:06:01. > :06:06.We have a global insurance policy that covers all our operations
:06:07. > :06:12.around the world -- Manhattan or Mumbai. We will get more safety
:06:13. > :06:18.records as we get more kilometres. What kind of reaction do you expect
:06:19. > :06:22.from the industry? There will be an amazing amount of disruption. If you
:06:23. > :06:27.think about it, we will be launching fleets of cars that will replace
:06:28. > :06:33.your individual car. That will mean fewer personal car sales and
:06:34. > :06:37.insurance and maintenance. All those things for individuals will be
:06:38. > :06:40.disrupted. Drivers will also be disrupted initially and that's what
:06:41. > :06:44.we need to work with, especially with governments to make sure that
:06:45. > :06:46.drivers and other people that are disrupted in the industry have a
:06:47. > :06:53.safe landing. Doug Parker from the company behind
:06:54. > :07:00.those driverless taxi is. In other news, Air New Zealand profits are at
:07:01. > :07:05.42%. The airline posted record profits of $330 million -- taxis.
:07:06. > :07:10.That is due to a tourism boom to New Zealand. The country had 3.3 1
:07:11. > :07:16.million visitors in the last year, up 11% from last year.
:07:17. > :07:19.India's Tata motors is set to report its latest results, once again
:07:20. > :07:25.expected to show strong sales for the carmaker. You are seeing other
:07:26. > :07:28.brands doing reasonably well as well, so what is behind the
:07:29. > :07:34.resurgence? We have more from Delhi. Buying a
:07:35. > :07:37.car in India is much like bringing a new member of the family home. Cakes
:07:38. > :07:46.are cut and congratulations are offered. And carmakers are more than
:07:47. > :07:50.willing to give out big discounts to help woo customers like Ranjit, who
:07:51. > :07:55.is upgrading his old vehicle to a bigger model. Right now there are
:07:56. > :08:00.good schemes in the market, the best thing I thought they are taking my
:08:01. > :08:04.old car back, which is value for money, and interest rates are also
:08:05. > :08:09.low right now. After a slow few years for India's
:08:10. > :08:20.car market, sales are powering ahead. The nation's top-selling
:08:21. > :08:28.carmaker Maruti Suzuki had growth in the last quarter, as did Heidi and
:08:29. > :08:32.I. Indian customers are traditionally ones who buys smaller
:08:33. > :08:39.cars and stick with their purchase for years -- as did Hyundai. Now
:08:40. > :08:48.people are being courage to buy more. They include Hyundai, which
:08:49. > :08:54.has ten models in India with over 100 variations, ranging from $5,000
:08:55. > :09:00.to nearly $50,000. So what is the Indian customer looking for? He is
:09:01. > :09:04.seeking global products, global quality, global designs, global
:09:05. > :09:12.features. But yes, he is also seeking strong value for money but
:09:13. > :09:17.packed with strong assurances and reliability. The scale of the
:09:18. > :09:21.challenge was highlighted last month when Tata motors and said it was
:09:22. > :09:25.rethinking a $1 billion investment into India as it reassessed which
:09:26. > :09:29.cars could do well in the local market. There are now strong rumours
:09:30. > :09:36.it will try to sell one of its two factories here. And Nissan,
:09:37. > :09:39.Volkswagen and Ford are increasingly seeing India as a manufacturing hub
:09:40. > :09:49.as they struggled for domestic market share. -- struggle. Ranjit
:09:50. > :09:55.hopes that his car is a sign of more prosperity to come and for India's
:09:56. > :09:58.car makers, a fast moving economy and booming middle-class promises
:09:59. > :10:02.plenty of good times for those who know what their customers want.
:10:03. > :10:10.Let's have a look at the markets before we go because Asian markets
:10:11. > :10:19.have opened reasonably unchanged, as you can see, the Nikkei down 1%, the
:10:20. > :10:23.all All Ords down as well. We waiting for the Hang Seng. On Wall
:10:24. > :10:29.Street overnight there was a lot of caution and wariness ahead of the
:10:30. > :10:32.symposium, that is echoed here. That is the meeting where the Fed
:10:33. > :10:39.potentially hints at interest rates. That's it for the show.
:10:40. > :10:50.There's been an unprecedented rise in killings in the Philippines