:00:00. > :00:12.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:13. > :00:22.A boost to business. Find out how India's cash crunch led to a jump in
:00:23. > :00:23.mobile payments. And why Singapore's growing a lifeline to the troubled
:00:24. > :00:36.oil and sector. Hello and welcome to Asia Business
:00:37. > :00:39.Report, I'm Sharanjit Leyl. In this first public comments since hydrogen
:00:40. > :00:44.am in and know notes were withdrawn in India the central bank governor
:00:45. > :00:55.said he is keeping a close eye on the country's Kasia to Asian. --
:00:56. > :01:00.cash situation. India's largest digital wallet firm paid TM has seen
:01:01. > :01:05.a massive boost since the notes were withdrawn. We met its founder and
:01:06. > :01:10.chief executive and asked what he makes of the government decision.
:01:11. > :01:14.There's no doubt about it, India is 1 billion plus people and cash is a
:01:15. > :01:18.primary way to play and we are taking away a significant amount of
:01:19. > :01:23.that circulation. I believe the pain we are going through right now is
:01:24. > :01:27.eventually for long-term gain. View of a digital wallet where people can
:01:28. > :01:37.store muggy online and transact to buy things, what has the response
:01:38. > :01:42.been like? -- you offer a digital wallet. This was the way to go.
:01:43. > :01:46.Everyday we are offering 1 million users and this has kicked off a
:01:47. > :01:51.golden age for these companies in India. What about daily payments
:01:52. > :01:55.like a vegetable or fruit vendor, normally you would use cash, how do
:01:56. > :01:59.you convert such payments into a mobile payment? This is the amazing
:02:00. > :02:05.thing we have seen in this country these days. People in this shop,
:02:06. > :02:14.they are accepting mobile payments. I will ask for some oranges, and see
:02:15. > :02:21.what happens. I just opened my app. Click on pay and I'm going to scan
:02:22. > :02:26.this and I will pay 80 rupees. That's it. This is in urban India,
:02:27. > :02:31.in the national capital region so it's fairly easy but what about
:02:32. > :02:39.Harold India where people don't have online or mobile wallets, how do we
:02:40. > :02:43.convince them to go cashless? -- what about rural India. We have
:02:44. > :02:48.launched social campaigns and how to do videos in different languages so
:02:49. > :02:53.it can reach the role person you're talking about. We learned that rural
:02:54. > :03:03.people were eager to learn about technology. -- rural person. There
:03:04. > :03:09.are about 10,000 people in the field as we speak to help. What's next?
:03:10. > :03:13.Right now we're seeing rapid growth, will it stabilise, how will the
:03:14. > :03:18.company grow? There's a rush at the moment because of the currency
:03:19. > :03:21.crunch but from their we started to where we are and we should settle
:03:22. > :03:26.somewhere in between all where we are today because once they have
:03:27. > :03:31.experienced mobile payments they get hooked because it is convenient, it
:03:32. > :03:36.is superior and it works great. The chief executive of Pay TM. A long
:03:37. > :03:40.delayed trading link between the Hong Kong stock and Shenzhen
:03:41. > :03:44.exchanges will launch on the fifth of December. The decision was made
:03:45. > :03:51.after finalising all necessary regulatory approvals. The move will
:03:52. > :03:57.make 800 of China's fastest-growing companies open to foreign investors.
:03:58. > :04:01.The Singapore government is throwing a lifeline to local companies hurt
:04:02. > :04:05.by the prolonged slump in oil prices. Marine and offshore
:04:06. > :04:10.engineering firms can apply for government sponsored loans of up to
:04:11. > :04:14.$3.5 million and they are more than doubling the cap on loans for major
:04:15. > :04:19.projects in the industry. Earlier I spoke to John Driscoll, an industry
:04:20. > :04:24.analyst, to find out if the measures will counter the recent fall in oil
:04:25. > :04:27.prices. The conventional view is that the price slump will be
:04:28. > :04:34.prolonged. The offshore Marine services industry, shipyards,
:04:35. > :04:38.equipment suppliers, service providers have been especially hard
:04:39. > :04:42.hit in the upstream sector is. The price of oil has collapsed in the
:04:43. > :04:47.last two years, those companies providing these services to the
:04:48. > :04:52.industry has seen cutbacks in capital spending and cancellations
:04:53. > :05:03.of orders -- upstream sector is. -- upstream sectors. This is a
:05:04. > :05:09.proactive approach. It is not a stimulus. It is more of a financial
:05:10. > :05:12.assistance programme, bridging loans, internationalisation,
:05:13. > :05:16.financing schemes to help them weather the storm. I think the
:05:17. > :05:22.turnaround is going to be prolonged. It's not just support for the
:05:23. > :05:26.sector, is it? Ultimately this is the Singapore economy being reliant
:05:27. > :05:30.on this sector, it was the worst performing sector for the last
:05:31. > :05:35.quarter and we saw GDP contracting partially due to this. Is this a way
:05:36. > :05:40.to prop up the Singapore economy as well? It's an acknowledgement. This
:05:41. > :05:47.particular sector, the offshore Marine services sector... Singapore
:05:48. > :05:51.is a hub. While we are not a major oil producer, we provide this
:05:52. > :05:56.service to the upstream. We employ many people, there's lots of money
:05:57. > :05:59.being loaned by banks, the continuing health and survivor
:06:00. > :06:09.ability of the sector is important and I think that all the businesses
:06:10. > :06:15.have proactively recognise that. Looking more broadly, OPEC, the
:06:16. > :06:19.cartel, were due to me today but the meeting has been cancelled because
:06:20. > :06:23.Saudi Arabia isn't attending. -- recognised that. Where are they in
:06:24. > :06:29.terms of cohesion with their message? There's been a concerted PR
:06:30. > :06:33.effort with a number of OPEC and non- OPEC entities to forge a
:06:34. > :06:39.consensus, to come to an almost cosmetic deal. But when you see
:06:40. > :06:43.countries ramping up production, and the disclosure by Russia recently
:06:44. > :06:47.that a freeze is the best you're going to get, there won't be a
:06:48. > :06:53.cutback, that has undermined the credibility. It's always been an
:06:54. > :06:58.issue of compliance. John Driscoll speaking to me earlier. The day
:06:59. > :07:04.after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, has traditionally been the
:07:05. > :07:08.biggest shopping day on the US calendar but shoppers are also
:07:09. > :07:15.increasingly buying online and in the run-up to today, cyber Monday,
:07:16. > :07:19.when retailers offer supposedly more shopping deals, our Asian consumers
:07:20. > :07:23.hunting for online bargains as well? Pascal Martin is an industry
:07:24. > :07:29.consultant based in Hong Kong and he told me how this compares to China's
:07:30. > :07:34.single state. What we know already about Black Friday is that it was a
:07:35. > :07:40.very successful one in the US with a 21% increase over last year --
:07:41. > :07:45.singles Day. It was $3.3 billion in just one day. The forecast right now
:07:46. > :07:52.for cyber Monday is going to be around the same number. In total we
:07:53. > :07:58.are looking at Black Friday and Cyber Monday at a total of $6.7
:07:59. > :08:01.billion, which is still very small compared to the $17.8 billion
:08:02. > :08:08.registered with singles day a few days ago. Is this a reflection of
:08:09. > :08:15.how well the US economy is doing? What do this year's sales say about
:08:16. > :08:20.the American economy, our people optimistic and going out to spend?
:08:21. > :08:24.It seems people are optimistic and there are going shopping. There was
:08:25. > :08:29.uncertainty before the elections -- they're going shopping. Half of the
:08:30. > :08:34.US population isn't happy with the election of Donald Trump. There is a
:08:35. > :08:39.sentiment of stability and probably that Mr Trump will be good for the
:08:40. > :08:45.US economy, so it's giving people in America a lot of faith the future so
:08:46. > :08:49.so far the season has been good. It's being reflected in the equity
:08:50. > :08:54.markets as well, which are continuing to rise. Do you see
:08:55. > :08:57.things like Cyber Monday, Black Friday, Singles Day, will they
:08:58. > :09:02.become way more international and will retailers come up with another
:09:03. > :09:10.day for shoppers to part with their money? Absolutely. We could see that
:09:11. > :09:14.already in the 11/11 event in China when there was more than 230 regions
:09:15. > :09:21.represented with thousands of foreign brands trying to use the
:09:22. > :09:27.single day to interact with Chinese customers. But Black Friday is also
:09:28. > :09:31.the same thing. Amazon China has made it possible for Chinese
:09:32. > :09:39.consumers to buy with free shipping from America's doors for a minimum
:09:40. > :09:46.of 30 US dollars. -- America's stores. This isn't a big amount. In
:09:47. > :09:50.the meantime Amazon global has been offering the chance to buy directly
:09:51. > :09:54.from stores in America with a relationship with Bloomingdale's and
:09:55. > :09:59.Macy's. Pascal Martin speaking earlier. Let's look at the markets
:10:00. > :10:06.because they have turned around. The Nikkei is sliding after many Danes
:10:07. > :10:10.of games -- days of. -- gains. We are staying the impact of energy
:10:11. > :10:15.stocks and commodities stocks leading to a slide in Australia
:10:16. > :10:23.because, as we will see next, oil prices have been falling. You can
:10:24. > :10:27.see they are down 2%. That is continuing that slide because of the
:10:28. > :10:32.concerns of whether OPEC can reach a deal on a production cut. That's it
:10:33. > :10:34.for this edition of Asia Business Report. Thanks for watching.
:10:35. > :10:46.Syrian government forces have seized
:10:47. > :10:49.as they try to cut the rebel-held territory in half.