:00:00. > :00:00.years earlier than expected. She was to oversee the replacement of the
:00:00. > :00:00.BBC trust with the new board. More later, but let's catch up now with
:00:07. > :00:16.the latest business news in the Asia Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:25.Myanmar 's leader heads to Washington. Could the sanctions
:00:26. > :00:36.finally be lifted? And the Indian answer to what SAP. How the company
:00:37. > :00:42.is making money. Good morning Asia. Hello, world. It is Wednesday and we
:00:43. > :00:48.glad you could join us for this midweek edition of of Asian business
:00:49. > :00:58.week. Let's kick off in my and March and the de facto leader begins a two
:00:59. > :01:03.week tour to be United States. There are hopes that the Obama
:01:04. > :01:07.administration will ease sanctions. When most countries lifted all
:01:08. > :01:12.suspended sanctions against me an mark the United States kept many in
:01:13. > :01:15.place. There are targeted sanctions on individuals and companies that
:01:16. > :01:20.are closely connected to the military. There are about 100 on
:01:21. > :01:25.that list including the current vice president. Then there are
:01:26. > :01:31.restrictions on the import of gemstones. Jade and Ruby because the
:01:32. > :01:38.companies to mind them are almost all connect to the military. There
:01:39. > :01:44.are US companies here such as Coca-Cola and Gap that the US was
:01:45. > :01:52.tight restrictions on who those companies can do business with. The
:01:53. > :01:55.US will be seeking to balance rewarding the democratic transition
:01:56. > :01:58.that has already taken place and keeping leveraged over the army to
:01:59. > :02:10.encourage further progress. Dyson, the company who some would
:02:11. > :02:14.say reinvented a vacuum cleaner, does more trade with the rest of the
:02:15. > :02:20.world than it does with Europe. It is no surprise then that the
:02:21. > :02:24.companies leader is in support of Britain leaving the EU. He has been
:02:25. > :02:28.telling our economics editor why he is not too concerned about Britain's
:02:29. > :02:35.relationship with the rest of the EU. They sell ?100 billion worth of
:02:36. > :02:40.goods more to us than we do to them. They will not block British imports.
:02:41. > :02:45.Even if they did put in import duty on, it is a comparatively
:02:46. > :02:49.insignificant amount. I am not worried about that. We get along
:02:50. > :02:55.well with Europe and we export to Europe. That is 16% of our global
:02:56. > :03:00.market. Europe is 15% of general trade throughout the world so we are
:03:01. > :03:04.nicely balanced. There are very exciting markets outside of Europe.
:03:05. > :03:08.The Far East which is expanding at a phenomenal rate. We are happy to be
:03:09. > :03:15.globally -based and not focused in Europe. Europe is a good market for
:03:16. > :03:19.us, it has grown quite fast. I am not complaining, it is nice market
:03:20. > :03:26.for us and we have fantastic employees in Europe at half it is
:03:27. > :03:32.only 15% 15% of global trade. -- bike it is only 15%. You can hear
:03:33. > :03:47.more on the BBC website. You can catch a glimpse of the
:03:48. > :03:53.Eiffel Tower in Macau. It is an attraction in the world 's largest
:03:54. > :03:57.gambling hub. Corinthian themed resort cost 3 billion dollars to
:03:58. > :04:02.build. It also houses the convention centre and attractions for children
:04:03. > :04:07.in and attempt to lure holidaymakers are the than hard-core gamblers.
:04:08. > :04:12.Gambling revenue has taken a hit over the last few years as China
:04:13. > :04:19.clamps down on lavish spending. They are confident however that things
:04:20. > :04:24.will pick up in Macau. Domestically we have hit the bottom. Now is it
:04:25. > :04:30.sustainable for long time to come? I cannot answer that. But he's upon
:04:31. > :04:36.the pre- bookings we have, based upon the convention bookings we have
:04:37. > :04:44.I think we have essentially hit the bottom. In the business news, the
:04:45. > :04:49.former boss of American insurer and sty giant AIG will go on trial in
:04:50. > :04:54.New York this week more than ten years after civil charges were
:04:55. > :04:57.filed. The 91-year-old is accused of engineering bogus transactions to
:04:58. > :05:04.hide the company's financial difficulties. His charge alongside
:05:05. > :05:12.the formal CFO how would Smith. Both have denied the allegations. This is
:05:13. > :05:18.India's answer to What'sApp. It secured a fresh round of investment
:05:19. > :05:26.including from the owners of the successful chat programme in China.
:05:27. > :05:34.But even with millions of users, how will it for Philips potential? We
:05:35. > :06:22.put that question to the founder. -- fulfil its potential.
:06:23. > :06:31.We need to spend the next few years figuring out what our programme will
:06:32. > :06:36.be. That will define what sort of business will work. It is too
:06:37. > :06:41.premature to thrust to guess at what the future will be. It may be, is,
:06:42. > :06:57.payment, will virtual economy, we do not know. -- may be, commerce.
:06:58. > :07:06.Sooner or later, connectivity will become more affordable. We can see
:07:07. > :07:14.that two G usage is declining for the first time. Four G use is
:07:15. > :07:22.increasing. If you fast forward by a year, what will happen? That was the
:07:23. > :07:30.chief executive of hike messenger. In just over one week, more than 300
:07:31. > :07:36.people have tested positive for the Zika virus in Singapore. Thailand is
:07:37. > :07:40.also reporting a spike in cases. It has been linked to severe birth
:07:41. > :07:45.defects. Here in Singapore it has led to a run on insect repellents
:07:46. > :07:49.and many shops have struggled to keep up with demand. We went to
:07:50. > :07:50.speak to an entrepreneur who recently developed a new anti-
:07:51. > :07:58.mosquito formula. Singapore now has hundreds of cases
:07:59. > :08:02.of Zika virus. Authorities are fumigating and mosquito repellent is
:08:03. > :08:05.flying off the shelves. For some companies it presents an
:08:06. > :08:10.opportunity. I am here with the director of one of those companies,
:08:11. > :08:16.Theodore Khng who makes his own natural repellent. Can you tell us
:08:17. > :08:24.about what you have on this table? These products, especially the
:08:25. > :08:28.mosquito repellent, are manufactured locally here in the factory that you
:08:29. > :08:32.are standing in. We make creams with the machine over there. Our
:08:33. > :08:44.repellents are still handmade. Can you keep up with demand now that
:08:45. > :08:49.there is a seek out -- Zika virus outbreak? We are struggling at the
:08:50. > :08:54.moment but we are looking to increase production and satisfy
:08:55. > :09:02.demand. When health authorities are saying you should use products that
:09:03. > :09:08.have DEET, why should consumers opt for this instead? You can use DEET
:09:09. > :09:14.product is. They can last up to 12 hours. But with the epidemic at the
:09:15. > :09:20.moment you must use it everyday. If you are exposed to too much DEET,
:09:21. > :09:25.you will see side-effects. Why art health authorities saying to use
:09:26. > :09:32.this then instead of DEET products? The duration. We can only protect
:09:33. > :09:36.users up to four hours. For health authorities they always like to
:09:37. > :09:41.ensure that they can control the duration. Thank you very much,
:09:42. > :09:45.Theodore. The Zika virus outbreak here in Singapore is likely to be
:09:46. > :09:49.here for sometimes we will be keeping a close eye close eye on the
:09:50. > :09:54.popularity of products like these natural repellent. And before we go,
:09:55. > :09:59.here is a quick look at the market. As you can see on your screens, Asia
:10:00. > :10:09.is lacklustre, mostly on the negative side. A murky outlook for
:10:10. > :10:13.US monetary policy. Will they raise interest rates or will it be towards
:10:14. > :10:26.the end of the year? Here is the Nick Hay down by 4% -- 0.4%. That is
:10:27. > :10:43.that for this edition. Sport Today is coming up next.
:10:44. > :10:48.There has been a significant reduction in fighting in Syria one
:10:49. > :10:49.day into we country ceasefire.