:00:00. > :00:13.economy. And Singapore is pulling the plug on two G mobile phones. --
:00:14. > :00:18.2G. Welcome to Asia Business Report. South Korea's political drama
:00:19. > :00:22.reaches a pivotal moment today. Members of Parliament are expected
:00:23. > :00:25.to hold a vote on whether to impeach President Park Geun-hye, who was
:00:26. > :00:30.embroiled in a corruption scandal that has riveted the country and
:00:31. > :00:35.paralysed administration. The country's finance and it has voiced
:00:36. > :00:40.concern about further risk to an already weak economy, what is the
:00:41. > :00:44.scandal to blame? Earlier I spoke to the chairman of advanced capital
:00:45. > :00:48.partners in Hong Kong for his view. South Korea's economy was in a week
:00:49. > :00:54.state already. During the last couple of years the growth rate has
:00:55. > :00:58.declined and for the first time in the last 50 years the economy is now
:00:59. > :01:03.growing more slowly than the world economy. We think of the world
:01:04. > :01:11.economy as about 3%. Korea is lucky if it will see 2.5% growth rate. The
:01:12. > :01:15.prospect does not get better. What needs to have had to try to bring
:01:16. > :01:20.the economy out of this economic slump? As you say it is not just the
:01:21. > :01:25.political impact, there is also the slowdown in the region and globally.
:01:26. > :01:29.Yes, but really those things aren't to blame for this. Korea has an
:01:30. > :01:35.amazing amount of potential still. It sits right next to China, which
:01:36. > :01:42.is happily growing up to something in excess of 6% per annum. South
:01:43. > :01:47.Korea should be piggybacking on that. What Korea needs to make
:01:48. > :01:52.paradigms shift over the last decade and has failed to do so. The most
:01:53. > :01:57.critical element of that is the human capital. But the only natural
:01:58. > :02:02.Korea has. That human capital needs of the education, revitalisation, to
:02:03. > :02:08.prepare them for the jobs of the future. There are quite a few young
:02:09. > :02:12.Koreans, the alleged Koreans and older Koreans out of work, but they
:02:13. > :02:17.don't have the skills needed for the day's economy and certainly not for
:02:18. > :02:21.the economy of the future. So in a nutshell it is really about
:02:22. > :02:25.education and that needs to be led from the government in many
:02:26. > :02:30.respects. Asia may be rich in resources, but
:02:31. > :02:34.one in ten of the region's workers lives in extreme poverty. That's
:02:35. > :02:39.according to the International Labour Organisation, which has just
:02:40. > :02:43.wrapped up a meeting in Indonesia. They say governments should focus
:02:44. > :02:49.less on boosting employment and more on creating better quality jobs.
:02:50. > :02:53.Joining the live is the director-general of the ILO.
:02:54. > :03:00.Welcome. You've just ended your meeting in Indonesia, in Bali. It
:03:01. > :03:04.takes place every four years, with labour ministers and representatives
:03:05. > :03:07.from unions as well as employee representatives from the region.
:03:08. > :03:11.What were some of the big concerns that came out of the meeting? I
:03:12. > :03:20.think you've summed it up with two words. We have this region which is
:03:21. > :03:24.seen around the world as a success story. It has succeeded in lifting a
:03:25. > :03:29.lot of people out of poverty, but there are two questions. One, will
:03:30. > :03:34.the region be able to sustain its economic dynamism and success in
:03:35. > :03:39.rapidly changing conditions, and secondly, and perhaps this is the
:03:40. > :03:41.strongest, how can we make this economic dynamism more inclusive, to
:03:42. > :03:47.share the benefits more broadly across the societies? That's right.
:03:48. > :03:50.That's a question that many are posing, including to your
:03:51. > :03:55.organisation, the International Labour Organisation. Many say it is
:03:56. > :03:59.almost a century old, a bit of a mammoth, and haven't ensured that
:04:00. > :04:03.there labour practices are insured across the region. What are you
:04:04. > :04:07.trying to do to pressure government in the region to comply with your
:04:08. > :04:10.standards? And old organisation, but one with a mandate which is so
:04:11. > :04:16.relevant to circumstances around the world today. As we are seeing people
:04:17. > :04:19.question the current models of globalisation, simply because it is
:04:20. > :04:24.in sharing its benefits fairly enough. So what needs to be done in
:04:25. > :04:28.Asia? Well, we do think economic dynamism and growth and jobs needs
:04:29. > :04:34.to be maintained. If we are going to meet the United Nations 2030 agenda
:04:35. > :04:40.goal, decent work for everybody over the next 15 years, we have to create
:04:41. > :04:45.249 million jobs in the Asia-Pacific region in the next 15 years. So we
:04:46. > :04:48.have to keep it going, but we need to develop all sorts of labour
:04:49. > :04:53.market institutions, better social protection, better respect for
:04:54. > :04:58.workers, to make sure those benefits reach everybody. You talk about the
:04:59. > :05:02.249 million jobs that need to be created by 2030. What happens if
:05:03. > :05:09.they can't created? Could we see social unrest or worse? I think, and
:05:10. > :05:13.I wouldn't focus particularly on this region in this regard, we are
:05:14. > :05:16.seeing in our political life people beginning to say enough. We want
:05:17. > :05:21.something different. That can be disruptive and damaging, what I
:05:22. > :05:24.think the proper reaction is to take a look at our current policy
:05:25. > :05:30.settings in the field of labour and make those imported things, social
:05:31. > :05:35.protection, collective bargaining, minimum wages, those are the
:05:36. > :05:38.answers. Briefly, we know you are off to Bangladesh next, which is
:05:39. > :05:43.still trying to improve labour standards in the 2013 Rana Plaza
:05:44. > :05:46.fire that led to a loss of over 1000 lives. How far would you say
:05:47. > :05:50.Bangladesh has come in terms of improving its labour standards?
:05:51. > :05:57.We've come a long way and the top is not finished. After the Rana Plaza
:05:58. > :06:01.incident happened in 2013, we thought we had to join international
:06:02. > :06:04.and national effort is to make sure the ready-made garment industry, so
:06:05. > :06:08.important for Bangladesh's development, was sustainable, which
:06:09. > :06:15.meant making it safe, a good place to work. Yes, we've done quite a
:06:16. > :06:18.lot. Making sure things are structurally safe, the legislation
:06:19. > :06:25.is right in Bangladesh. We are trying to Nate Shaw these things are
:06:26. > :06:32.done. If, long way, but there's still more to do. -- to make sure.
:06:33. > :06:35.Thanks very much. Japan's trade ministry have nearly doubled the
:06:36. > :06:39.cost estimated 40 for cushy minute we are disaster and decommissioning
:06:40. > :06:47.the plant damaged by the tsunami in 2011. -- Fukushima nuclear. The cost
:06:48. > :06:50.would raise two some billion dollars. Shares jumped on Thursday
:06:51. > :06:56.in anticipation that it will receive additional interest loans to cope
:06:57. > :07:03.with the cost. Gina Rinehart and a Chinese
:07:04. > :07:12.consortium have asked for government approval to buy a cattle empire. The
:07:13. > :07:19.announcement follows two years sale growth. The company is the largest
:07:20. > :07:25.private land owner, with cattle land the size of South Korea.
:07:26. > :07:30.If you live in Singapore and you own an old school mobile phone, like one
:07:31. > :07:39.of these, a Nokia or one of these flip open motor roller phones, it is
:07:40. > :07:43.time to a grade. Many are still hooked to the 2G network but not for
:07:44. > :07:54.much longer. I've been using this model since 2010.
:07:55. > :07:58.In April, 2017, all network providers will cease operations of
:07:59. > :08:04.2G to ensure better and faster network services. I was able to see
:08:05. > :08:08.the sort of negative effects that smart phones have on society, where
:08:09. > :08:12.you walk into a restaurant and you see a group of friends and everyone
:08:13. > :08:22.is sort of in their individual world, looking down on their phones.
:08:23. > :08:31.I text and call. It has a great alarm clock. I think the only thing
:08:32. > :08:37.could be GPS. Sometimes I get lost. But usually I look on Google Maps on
:08:38. > :09:09.my laptop, draw a map and follow that map.
:09:10. > :09:17.A lot of these guys are receiving very low salaries, so it is hard for
:09:18. > :09:21.them to pay the $100 or several 100 dollars that it would cost to buy a
:09:22. > :09:27.new phone. Are you still holding onto a 2G mobile phone? Once you get
:09:28. > :09:31.a smartphone, then you always have to upgrade, you always have to worry
:09:32. > :09:33.about the next model or the battery is running out on the screen is
:09:34. > :09:43.breaking. I imagine some people will miss
:09:44. > :09:49.those ringtones! A quick look at the markets. We are
:09:50. > :09:53.seeing them pretty much mixed at the moment. Hang Seng in Hong Kong has
:09:54. > :09:57.just opened and we are seeing gains in Australia, as well as the pan.
:09:58. > :10:03.But not massive gains. Little bit flat. -- as well as in Japan. Wall
:10:04. > :10:07.Street hit another record, following Trump's election if you weeks ago.
:10:08. > :10:09.And of course we have the labour numbers as well. That's it for this
:10:10. > :10:16.edition of Asia Business The top stories this hour:
:10:17. > :10:21.South Korea's parliament is holding an impeachment vote in a few
:10:22. > :10:23.hours which could see President Park Geun-hye suspended,
:10:24. > :10:26.following allegations of corruption