:00:10. > :00:14.Well Asian markets follow Wall Street's lead? We are watching how
:00:15. > :00:20.regional investors react to the upbeat investment forecast of the US
:00:21. > :00:21.economy. And how this Indian film about a two boot subject managed to
:00:22. > :00:33.get funding. -- to do. Welcome to Asia Business Report.
:00:34. > :00:40.Let's start with the markets, and a look at where Asian markets have
:00:41. > :00:45.started trade, especially in Japan. As you can see, it is up 2%.
:00:46. > :00:49.Australia fairly flat, and we will be watching the Hang Seng in Hong
:00:50. > :00:54.Kong in about an hour. All of them are taking stock of the Federal
:00:55. > :00:58.Reserve chair Janet Yellen's signals that the case for an interest rate
:00:59. > :01:02.rise has strengthened and she gave an upbeat assessment of the US
:01:03. > :01:09.economy at Jackson hole on Friday. She gave no clarity on when the hike
:01:10. > :01:15.would,, sparking volatility in US in European stock markets -- Jackson
:01:16. > :01:20.Hall. How this influence trading sentiment and strategies in terms of
:01:21. > :01:24.investment? The chief economist at the bank of Singapore gives me his
:01:25. > :01:27.view. It is a double edged sword and everyone is happy the US economy is
:01:28. > :01:31.doing well and creating jobs, but the markets have been driven by
:01:32. > :01:37.cheap money, borrowing for pretty much nothing. That money has flowed
:01:38. > :01:40.into bond markets and driven markets to relatively expensive levels.
:01:41. > :01:45.Markets will be nervous at any signs that that cheap money era is going
:01:46. > :01:49.to start to disappear. We know it is not just the Fed, we also had the
:01:50. > :01:55.Japanese central bank and central banks from Europe at Jackson Hall
:01:56. > :01:58.over the weekend. We know these are countries with negative interest
:01:59. > :02:03.rates. Are there expectations for more? In Japan, they have a meeting
:02:04. > :02:06.around the same time as the Fed at the end of the month, and the
:02:07. > :02:10.governor was saying there is ample room to be easing policy. They
:02:11. > :02:15.already have negative rates and huge market, but they can do more. The
:02:16. > :02:21.expectation in Europe and definitely in Japan is we will see more action,
:02:22. > :02:25.even as the Fed is tightening. We know there is a fairly uncertain
:02:26. > :02:28.global outlook, you make the case as well as the Fed that the US economy
:02:29. > :02:34.is strengthening. But the uncertain global outlook but on by unexpected
:02:35. > :02:38.events like Brexit, and the upcoming US elections, where will that put
:02:39. > :02:43.the cheap victory for US interest rates? It tells you they will be
:02:44. > :02:53.very slow and careful in raising rates. They have been raped hikes --
:02:54. > :02:58.rate hikes, and whether we do raise them or not, it will be a gradual
:02:59. > :03:05.process, back to normal. They used to say normal is to% and now maybe
:03:06. > :03:10.it is as low as 2%. -- normal is as low as 3%. It does seem like a
:03:11. > :03:14.normal detector. In other business news, Taiwan is sending in
:03:15. > :03:18.investigators to Panama and New York to inspect the banking branches of
:03:19. > :03:24.the state-run investment business mega financial. Taiwanese regulators
:03:25. > :03:27.have reportedly summoned the former mega financial chairman for
:03:28. > :03:33.questioning earlier this month, with the bank being fined millions of
:03:34. > :03:39.dollars by a New York state regular writer for violating anti- money
:03:40. > :03:44.laundering regulations. China's second largest oil refinery has been
:03:45. > :03:47.hit hard by lower oil and gas prices. Net profit for the first six
:03:48. > :03:53.months are at their lowest in eight years. They fell to $3 billion. That
:03:54. > :03:58.is down nearly 22% compared to a year ago. And Japan and South Korea
:03:59. > :04:03.have agreed to start talks on resuming a currency swap deal was
:04:04. > :04:07.that the North Asian neighbours began its agreement 15 years ago but
:04:08. > :04:11.it stalled after expiring early last year because of tensions between the
:04:12. > :04:15.two sides. The deal lets one nation secure dollars by giving its
:04:16. > :04:20.currency to the other, which acts as a cushion during times of market
:04:21. > :04:27.instability. Navigating the world of personal finance can be a daunting
:04:28. > :04:31.task, but one start-up is looking to signify the process in Asia. Much
:04:32. > :04:39.like searching for a flight online. The boss of the company, they have
:04:40. > :04:43.launched other businesses before, and we caught up with him and asked
:04:44. > :04:49.what got him onto the path of being a serial entrepreneur? I have always
:04:50. > :04:56.wanted to be my own boss, and I started a small business in selling
:04:57. > :05:00.peanuts in Germany, and then a few years later, I worked at a company
:05:01. > :05:07.that was kind of a middleman between the airline and the travel agent
:05:08. > :05:10.unity. I worked for a few years and thought, there is such a huge demand
:05:11. > :05:15.-- community. People will fly more and more. The way we organise it
:05:16. > :05:20.here can be done better. We need to use technology. Then I moved into
:05:21. > :05:28.the online travel industry and saw what was happening in the US, where
:05:29. > :05:32.it technology -- a technology company at the time set up the first
:05:33. > :05:37.online travel agent, and I thought, wow, I need to do that as well. Then
:05:38. > :05:43.with a business partner I started to build the first online travel agency
:05:44. > :05:49.in the Netherlands, and it is still the biggest travel agent, online
:05:50. > :05:53.travel agent, in the Netherlands. What inspired you to start GoBear? I
:05:54. > :05:57.wanted to buy car insurance, but before you buy, you want to compare
:05:58. > :06:03.products. There was no comparison website for insurance and banking
:06:04. > :06:11.products here. So that got me on the idea, let's start a new business
:06:12. > :06:15.online and bring it to customers what is already happening in other
:06:16. > :06:20.industries, to the Asian customer. What are some of the challenges you
:06:21. > :06:23.face in setting this up and expanding become any? It is a news
:06:24. > :06:28.business, there are always challenges. It is never easy.
:06:29. > :06:34.Finding the right online talent is a big challenge. In all markets,
:06:35. > :06:37.actually. And then making customers aware of the great service that is
:06:38. > :06:43.out there for them, that is a challenge. And in some countries,
:06:44. > :06:50.there are some regulatory obstacles, I would say, because laws have not
:06:51. > :06:53.caught up with modern times. They don't have anything for Internet
:06:54. > :06:59.companies. They are all all working on it, but the law has not caught up
:07:00. > :07:04.yet. Finally, how did you come up with the name GoBear and that cute
:07:05. > :07:09.icon you use? Of course you want a name that is short, memorable,
:07:10. > :07:16.likeable, powerful, and we found that in GoBear. A new Indian
:07:17. > :07:23.miniseries was released online over the weekend about two women who fall
:07:24. > :07:25.in love. This in a country where gay sex is illegal, and same-sex
:07:26. > :07:32.relationships are really portrayed in film. It is a subject hard to
:07:33. > :07:42.make into a commercial success. We have more from Mumbai.
:07:43. > :07:51.This is a story that almost never got made. The producers were not
:07:52. > :07:56.sure how Indian audiences would react to a lesbian love story. The
:07:57. > :08:02.initial response was very shocking for me, because the moment I said to
:08:03. > :08:12.girls in Love, he is scared. He is scared he could be attacked. Finally
:08:13. > :08:18.he agreed to produce, but they decided against it, but he was doing
:08:19. > :08:22.it without his parents knowing. They found out and they are not OK with
:08:23. > :08:27.that. This world, these will stomach she finally pitched the film on a
:08:28. > :08:31.crowd funding website, went to got the money she needed, she has only
:08:32. > :08:35.been able to self publish short episodes on YouTube, meaning it is
:08:36. > :08:37.unlikely to make that money back. The first time a same-sex
:08:38. > :08:42.relationship was portrayed in mainstream Indian cinema in 1998,
:08:43. > :08:48.there were violent protests by right-wing groups. It did lead to
:08:49. > :08:58.public debate on homosexuality and free speech, but 18 years later, the
:08:59. > :09:02.subject is still taboo. Earlier this year, a film that dealt with
:09:03. > :09:07.homophobia was released, but only online. After struggling to find
:09:08. > :09:11.producers and distributed. After a positive response from viewers, a
:09:12. > :09:19.sickle 's plan. There is a villain in the story. And this website has
:09:20. > :09:23.been set up for people to publish stories about relationships and love
:09:24. > :09:27.and says that produces and advertisers need to realise there is
:09:28. > :09:29.a market. It is not something that has been incorporated into
:09:30. > :09:35.mainstream media storytelling for some time now. There is a hesitation
:09:36. > :09:41.about what the market is for it. Money comes more with a sense of
:09:42. > :09:44.what is the market, and people with money tend to be conservative about
:09:45. > :09:51.form, and only want to back that which is already known or has
:09:52. > :09:56.ensured profits. Despite gay sex being illegal in India, the LGBT
:09:57. > :09:59.immunity is trying to be vocal and visible, and changing technology is
:10:00. > :10:03.creating new ways for them to tell their stories, but only changing
:10:04. > :10:07.attitudes will make those stories financially viable as well.
:10:08. > :10:15.Let's take a look at the markets. We are seeing a strong gain for the
:10:16. > :10:18.Nikkei over in Japan. It is really due to the weakness in the Japanese
:10:19. > :10:23.yen, which is propelling exporters higher. So the US dollar strength in
:10:24. > :10:26.on those comments from Janet Yellen we told you about at the start of
:10:27. > :10:32.the programme. That is it for the show. Thank you for watching.
:10:33. > :10:35.The last BHS stores have closed for the final time,
:10:36. > :10:38.bringing to an end nearly 90 years of trading by the retailer
:10:39. > :10:44.The previous owners, Dominic Chappell
:10:45. > :10:47.and Sir Philip Green, have been criticised by MPs