:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:23.South Korea's leading business leaders take centre stage in a
:00:24. > :00:28.federal investigation into President Park's corruption scandal. Taking
:00:29. > :00:29.advantage of India's cash crisis, a reporter tried some new and
:00:30. > :00:36.interesting apps. Welcome to this Tuesday edition
:00:37. > :00:47.of Asia Business Report. The bosses of South Korea's top
:00:48. > :00:51.companies are taking the hot seat as we speak in a series of
:00:52. > :00:56.unprecedented parliamentary hearing. It is the latest chapter in
:00:57. > :01:01.President Park's ongoing scandal as she is accused of colluding with a
:01:02. > :01:04.secret confidant to influence corporations into donating tens of
:01:05. > :01:11.millions of dollars to dubious foundations. Earlier I asked our
:01:12. > :01:16.correspondent in Seoul who is being grilled in parliament today. They
:01:17. > :01:21.are the people who run and owned the South Korean economy, they are the
:01:22. > :01:33.big household names from Samsung down to LG, Hyundai. Their bosses
:01:34. > :01:36.will be in line, I presume, and questioned by the assembly. The
:01:37. > :01:42.question will be, why do your company give millions of dollars to
:01:43. > :01:47.foundations set up by a friend of the President of this country? The
:01:48. > :01:51.defence, maybe, well, what could we do? She was saying she was close to
:01:52. > :01:56.the President. Or it may simply be, we didn't know what it was for. We
:01:57. > :02:02.don't know. Either way, these are the people in this big economy. On
:02:03. > :02:06.top of that, they are people who do not appear in public. They do not
:02:07. > :02:10.give interviews, they shun public city, but here they will be in a
:02:11. > :02:14.televised hearing, remember, Rico, in front of millions of viewers and
:02:15. > :02:20.of course being asked very tough questions. They will indeed be asked
:02:21. > :02:23.to questions by the parliamentarians, Steve, but are
:02:24. > :02:30.these companies and their bosses liable for prosecution if indeed
:02:31. > :02:35.they made the donations? They could be, eventually, but that is not
:02:36. > :02:39.imminent. I mean, individuals could be in theory, I suppose. You are
:02:40. > :02:44.absolutely right. The question is, are these companies complicit
:02:45. > :02:48.because they have to be, or was there a quid pro quo? In other
:02:49. > :02:52.words, did they give all this money with a bit of a deal under way?
:02:53. > :02:57.There were mergers being talked about, for example, with one of
:02:58. > :03:03.these companies. Was there a deal done whereby emoji was a matter
:03:04. > :03:07.happen if you give them money? -- a merger. That would be out and out
:03:08. > :03:12.corruption. Or is it something less guilty than that along the lines of,
:03:13. > :03:22.we know our rivals are giving money, widow like it, but I guess we have
:03:23. > :03:25.to go along with it and --. And briefly, is this impacting business
:03:26. > :03:30.sentiment in the country? I think it is, I have no doubt it is impacting
:03:31. > :03:37.sentiment generally in the country. We are seeing big demonstrations
:03:38. > :03:43.every Saturday. Bigger and bigger - millions of people, probably - and a
:03:44. > :03:47.real sense on the streets that people want change, and they want
:03:48. > :03:49.change from the President, certainly, and that we'll doing
:03:50. > :04:04.business in the presidential palace. But I think also from the chaebols,
:04:05. > :04:08.some of these have done time for crimes. There is a sense that there
:04:09. > :04:25.is something rotten at the top of South Korean society. The region's
:04:26. > :04:31.trade growth has slowed to 2.3% behind the global average of 2.7% in
:04:32. > :04:35.Asia. However, the region remains the top destination for foreign
:04:36. > :04:39.direct investments, attracting over half $1 trillion. Well, I asked the
:04:40. > :04:44.bank director how the loss of big free trade deals amid the rise of
:04:45. > :04:49.populism will affect the region. Going forward, definitely the
:04:50. > :04:54.environment doesn't look very favourable, but what we see... Just
:04:55. > :04:58.one answer. In intraregional trade and the strengthening of the
:04:59. > :05:08.regional value chain, which will further, at least, buffer the shock
:05:09. > :05:13.on regional trade. We also see that, still, the region exports are
:05:14. > :05:18.growing faster than imports, so, you know, the current account surplus is
:05:19. > :05:23.still going on in many countries in the region. But a free-trade
:05:24. > :05:28.agreement between the European Union and is getting very, very close and
:05:29. > :05:32.that is according to the EU trade Commissioner in an interview with
:05:33. > :05:35.the Financial Times. She said Tokyo raised concerns about similar
:05:36. > :05:41.political trouble that nearly took down the EU, Canada pact. This year
:05:42. > :05:46.has seen free-trade deals come under intense political attack in the US
:05:47. > :05:49.and Europe. In other news: making headlines, the UK central bank
:05:50. > :05:54.governor says that Britain has suffered its first loss decade since
:05:55. > :05:59.the 1860s. Mark Carney was responding to critics of low
:06:00. > :06:03.interest rates in the first speech since shortly after the Brexit vote
:06:04. > :06:06.and he said that the bank had accepted that the fall in the value
:06:07. > :06:13.of the pound would push inflation higher in 2017. China's president is
:06:14. > :06:17.reportedly attending the World Economic Forum in Davos in
:06:18. > :06:24.Switzerland in January and it is seen as a sign China is filling the
:06:25. > :06:28.space being vacated by the US under the President-elect Donald Trump.
:06:29. > :06:32.A list of top business schools has been released and a among them the
:06:33. > :06:36.London business school is ranked number one in Europe for the third
:06:37. > :06:40.time in a row. Many Asian students view owning a degree from these
:06:41. > :06:44.universities will give them a competitive edge in the job market
:06:45. > :06:53.and with a weakening pound and euro they are getting more for their
:06:54. > :06:57.money has me explain. The trend we have seen over the last
:06:58. > :07:04.ten years, students have been increasing, especially heading to
:07:05. > :07:08.the UK, the dollar has been appreciating against the pound over
:07:09. > :07:11.the last ten years. Is the exchange rate really important for parents
:07:12. > :07:15.when they pay the tuition and fees for their kids or is it just about
:07:16. > :07:18.the independence and getting that education overseas and being
:07:19. > :07:22.independent? It is a range of factors and the cost of living I
:07:23. > :07:26.would say is one consideration that parents take into when they send
:07:27. > :07:30.their kids overseas. There are other factors such as cost, sorry, the
:07:31. > :07:35.school, the environment, the exposure, other factors a student
:07:36. > :07:40.would consider. Well, Indians are adjusting to life
:07:41. > :07:43.after the surprise decision to ban almost 90% of the bank notes in
:07:44. > :07:48.circulation. Four weeks people have been queueing at banks and ATMs in
:07:49. > :07:53.an effort to get their hands on valid cash but some enterprising
:07:54. > :07:56.Indians have seen opportunity and if this cash crunch -- For weeks. Our
:07:57. > :08:00.correspondent reports from Delhi. It is still not easy to get cash in
:08:01. > :08:10.cities and villages across India thanks to the Dean Mumm Thais drive.
:08:11. > :08:17.-- demonetisation drive. ATMs have been running out of money regularly.
:08:18. > :08:29.Fear not, this could be the answer. Cash note cashnocash.com throws up a
:08:30. > :08:32.list of ATMs near you. It is Crouser lost information so let's find out
:08:33. > :08:41.if it works. -- crowd sourced information. These days in India you
:08:42. > :08:50.can't always avoid this type of queues, so how on earth do you kill
:08:51. > :08:56.time while standing in one of these? He says he finds entertainment on
:08:57. > :09:00.the phone. Demonetisation related apps are top of the charts on
:09:01. > :09:07.Android and apple phones, ranging from games to currency related
:09:08. > :09:12.songs. So, here is one called Modi keynote at which you can use to scan
:09:13. > :09:15.a currency note and it will show you the Prime Minister demonetisation
:09:16. > :09:21.speech of November eight. Let us join this festival of... If you
:09:22. > :09:24.don't want to hear speeches you can play mobile phone games and chase
:09:25. > :09:28.Blackburn yawn your phone like this. Better still, go and get a coffee
:09:29. > :09:34.while someone else stands in line for you. A Delhi -based start-up is
:09:35. > :09:40.offering agents to queue for customers for a small fee. Time is
:09:41. > :09:44.money for a lot of people right now. The bookings have really shot. We
:09:45. > :09:50.are even cancelling the bookings because are running short. But I
:09:51. > :09:55.finally have had my turn and these are my brand-new banknotes and if I
:09:56. > :10:00.want to share my experience with the Prime Minister even he has an app on
:10:01. > :10:06.the Android and the apple apps store so I can share my experience on the
:10:07. > :10:10.demonetisation drive and that is it. LAUGHTER.
:10:11. > :10:15.Very interesting and clever. And before we go and look at the market
:10:16. > :10:20.and as you can see all in positive territory for the Asian stock
:10:21. > :10:24.markets with Japan, Hong Kong and Australia following gains in US
:10:25. > :10:29.equities led by retail and technology as investors shrugged off
:10:30. > :10:30.the results of the Italian referendum. The Dow at a record