:00:00. > :00:00.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news
:00:00. > :00:19.Next up, Laos, the flats are ready but tough talk awaits President
:00:20. > :00:28.Obama at the meeting of south-east Asian leaders. And striking gold
:00:29. > :00:41.with cocoa, we meet a postman who quit to pursue life as a farmer.
:00:42. > :00:50.Good morning Asia, hello world, I am glad you can join us for this
:00:51. > :00:53.addition -- edition of Asia Business Report. President Obama heads to
:00:54. > :00:58.Laos to meet south-east Asian leaders for the last time before he
:00:59. > :01:02.leaves office. At home he is trying to sell the TPP to Congress, the 12
:01:03. > :01:06.nation free trade pact which has been agreed but has not been given
:01:07. > :01:14.the final sign off, and Americans are indeed divided. The Pew research
:01:15. > :01:18.centre reports 47 of all registered voters say free trade agreements
:01:19. > :01:22.like the TPP are bad for the US, while 45% say they are for the pact.
:01:23. > :01:30.Candidates for the presidential election don't agree on much, but
:01:31. > :01:35.both are against the TDP. In Asia the TPP is not the only trade deal
:01:36. > :01:45.in town. Our correspondent reports on the options. TPP, ASEAN, GDP, so
:01:46. > :01:51.many acronyms, so many options. Let's start with the TPP, the
:01:52. > :01:54.Trans-Pacific Partnership. It is a US backed trade club which 12
:01:55. > :02:02.Pacific Rim nations have signed up to, including Japan, Chile and Peru.
:02:03. > :02:09.If it goes through it could be worth 40% of the global economy that is
:02:10. > :02:14.massive. But, it is a big heart, the US Congress has to ratify it and the
:02:15. > :02:20.US appears to be against it. And notice who is not in the TPP party,
:02:21. > :02:28.China, the second largest economy, with its own trade deal on the trade
:02:29. > :02:36.deal, the RECP, the regional brands of economic partnership. Here is how
:02:37. > :02:40.it gets complicated, it includes ASEAN, the countries that have
:02:41. > :02:48.signed FTAs, free trade agreements with ASEAN, and the PRC, the peoples
:02:49. > :02:55.respond with China. If the RECP comes together it could make up 48%
:02:56. > :03:00.of the global population and be worth 24% of global GDP -- People's
:03:01. > :03:05.Republic of China. Who will end up with the biggest party? The US or
:03:06. > :03:10.China? We get close to that as leaders sit down for the ASEAN
:03:11. > :03:14.summit. The ASEAN summit comes on the heels of another leaders
:03:15. > :03:17.meeting, the G20, with Chinese President Xi jinking opening the
:03:18. > :03:25.meeting urging leaders to avoid empty talk. Did they succeed? We
:03:26. > :03:30.speak to a member of the lowly institute on international policy,
:03:31. > :03:39.he joined me earlier via webcam. I don't think we will be saying a lot
:03:40. > :03:44.of claims come in that this G20 was more than a talk shop, because I
:03:45. > :03:47.don't think economic lows will be addressed by leaders -- Lowy
:03:48. > :03:51.Institute. Indeed, economic worries and issues, the slowdown in the
:03:52. > :03:55.economy is what market watchers were looking out for in this meeting, if
:03:56. > :04:02.there would be any fiscal monetary policy decisions, even to jumpstart
:04:03. > :04:08.the global economy. Yes, yes, definitely. And one thing I think
:04:09. > :04:15.which is quite symbolic of this is it appears that the communique was
:04:16. > :04:18.actually drafted, the leader's statement was actually drafted and
:04:19. > :04:25.finalised before they had even sat around the table. So, at this point,
:04:26. > :04:28.how relevant is the G20? Is the organisation, in your view,
:04:29. > :04:33.effective in trying to solve global issues? It is certainly making
:04:34. > :04:37.progress in defined areas but it is clear, increasingly clear, in fact,
:04:38. > :04:41.that these are a very small subset of areas. It is all about
:04:42. > :04:46.cross-border economic governance. The real questions about whether or
:04:47. > :04:51.not the G20 and government are able to get out of the low growth, high
:04:52. > :04:55.unemployment, mounting risk, consistent and a result in a quality
:04:56. > :05:00.scenario that we find ourselves in, that is an open question. Tristram
:05:01. > :05:05.Sainsbury joining us earlier. Australian banks are among the best
:05:06. > :05:10.performing in the world since the financial crisis with the big four
:05:11. > :05:12.now facing allegations of rate reading and anti-competitive
:05:13. > :05:18.behaviour and slowness in adapting to new technologies. So, are their
:05:19. > :05:24.golden years over? Earlier, I spoke with Ben Pedley, director of
:05:25. > :05:27.investments that you see a funds management. I think the Australian
:05:28. > :05:32.banks have had it too good for too long and one of the problems is the
:05:33. > :05:36.four pillars policy which helped the banks become strong and whether the
:05:37. > :05:42.financial crisis is now a millstone around their necks. It is stifling
:05:43. > :05:45.innovation. It is also encouraging complacency and anti-competitive
:05:46. > :05:49.behaviour. And I think the latest example of that is of course this
:05:50. > :05:55.rate reading scandal, which is referred to as the BBSW scandal,
:05:56. > :06:00.similar to the LIBOR scandal. Is it time now for the government to get
:06:01. > :06:04.rid of the four pillars policy? I think the answer is probably yes,
:06:05. > :06:08.because I think the job it has done has been a very good one but it is
:06:09. > :06:14.very much outdated, and I think the latest evidence of that is the fact
:06:15. > :06:18.that, when Apple Pay came to Australia, the Australian banks said
:06:19. > :06:22.to them as a whole, you deal with us or else we won't allow you in, the
:06:23. > :06:25.and this is the value to respond to technological change and also
:06:26. > :06:28.competition that I think will ultimately hurt the banks and
:06:29. > :06:32.potentially hurt Australian consumers. So what will this mean if
:06:33. > :06:38.they break down this four pillars policy, what will it mean for the
:06:39. > :06:42.financial industry? It will give Australians more choice, which is
:06:43. > :06:46.good, and therefore better pricing for consumers, and it might also
:06:47. > :06:49.provide foreign banks more opportunities in Australia. One of
:06:50. > :06:53.the problems for the Australian banks is that all of this change
:06:54. > :07:00.occurs at a time when they have sought expansion overseas and failed
:07:01. > :07:04.in places like the UK, for example. They have also failed spectacularly
:07:05. > :07:08.in Asia. They have become inward looking. The Australian economy is
:07:09. > :07:13.adjusting to the end of the mining boom, so it is hard to see where
:07:14. > :07:16.they will get their profits. Is it possible we could see one of these
:07:17. > :07:20.four pillars failing? I don't think failing is the issue but I think
:07:21. > :07:25.that the earnings growth and the halcyon days they have seen for the
:07:26. > :07:28.last couple of decades are well and truly behind us. Yes, they still
:07:29. > :07:34.offer attractive dividends but if you are looking for growth, and that
:07:35. > :07:38.expansion and earnings growth to continue in the medium term, we
:07:39. > :07:44.think that is unlikely. And, as an ethical fund, we are will so saying
:07:45. > :07:52.this behaviour should not be rewarded. Well, Asia is one of the
:07:53. > :07:58.fastest growing consumers of chocolate with a market worth more
:07:59. > :08:01.than $18 billion in 2019 -- we are saying. The Philippines produces
:08:02. > :08:05.less than 1% of global supply of cocoa butter with the equatorial
:08:06. > :08:10.climate it has perfect growing conditions and entrepreneurs want to
:08:11. > :08:19.increase it tenfold in three years. We caught up with one farmer who is
:08:20. > :08:27.cashing in. I am a retired government employee of the
:08:28. > :08:33.Philippines. I decided to plant cocoa because I have six children
:08:34. > :08:39.and, if we just rely on our salaries, my wife is a classroom
:08:40. > :08:44.school teacher, I could not imagine how could I send these six children
:08:45. > :08:49.to college. At the very beginning, it is really my passion to love
:08:50. > :08:57.farming. During my off days and holidays I would go to my farm and
:08:58. > :09:04.started planting cocoa little by little, 100 trees, 200 trees, the
:09:05. > :09:07.only kind of tree that reduces fruit 24 months from planting. At the very
:09:08. > :09:14.beginning when I started cocoa farming it was only about 20 pesos
:09:15. > :09:22.per kilo and now it is quite high, 140- 150 pesos per kilo. I have a
:09:23. > :09:26.better income from cocoa farming. It is more or less 50 times my salary.
:09:27. > :09:33.And I am proud to say that I have even got one daughter who got into
:09:34. > :09:40.medicine. Even I myself did not expect that this would happen to
:09:41. > :09:46.myself. I have no experience before in cocoa farming. My father is not a
:09:47. > :09:53.farmer and my mother is not a farmer. Many times I have failed but
:09:54. > :10:00.if you fail you have to do something to overcome the failure. And that
:10:01. > :10:07.was a former postman and now a very successful cocoa farmer in the
:10:08. > :10:11.Philippines. Before we go, a quick look at the markets. This is where
:10:12. > :10:15.they are at the moment, lacklustre, moving sideways, because US markets
:10:16. > :10:20.were closed overnight due to a public holiday, so not a lot of
:10:21. > :10:26.liquidity in the Asia-Pacific markets today. The Nikkei is up
:10:27. > :10:31.slightly but the all ordinaries down by 16 points. Thank you so much for
:10:32. > :10:38.spending your time with us, I'm Rico Hizon. Sport Today is coming up
:10:39. > :10:41.next. You are watching BBC News.