:00:16. > :00:19.Investors in South Korean markets shrug off concerns over the
:00:20. > :00:27.President's impeachment vote. And what a 100-year-old company is
:00:28. > :00:35.doing to stay relevant in these days of fast changing tastes and trends.
:00:36. > :00:43.Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report, I'm Sharanjit Leyl. We start
:00:44. > :00:47.with South Korea where the index has started the week reasonably flat,
:00:48. > :00:52.that's after lawmakers last Friday voted to impeach President Park
:00:53. > :00:56.Geun-hye. About 200,000 protesters took to the streets in the capital,
:00:57. > :00:59.Seoul, over the weekend demanding the immediate resignation of the
:01:00. > :01:03.President but this hasn't been having too much of an impact on the
:01:04. > :01:08.markets in Seoul this year, although of course we've seen some impact on
:01:09. > :01:13.the Korean currency. Earlier I spoke with a market strategist and I asked
:01:14. > :01:19.for her views on investing in South Korea. For the Korean market, it has
:01:20. > :01:27.moved according to how the external economies, like the US, have been
:01:28. > :01:32.working, and also with Donald Trump. Are you saying it is more to do with
:01:33. > :01:36.external events rather than domestic events? We know that domesticly
:01:37. > :01:40.policies have been stalled, there's been reports that a currency swap
:01:41. > :01:44.deal with Japan has been stalled over the last few months since the
:01:45. > :01:50.crisis emerged because the Japanese don't know who to speak to. Talk the
:01:51. > :01:54.economic policy roadmap for 2017 has been delayed until the end of this
:01:55. > :02:02.month. How long do you expect the volatility to continue? I think you
:02:03. > :02:07.have to see what the constitutional court has to say about this, they
:02:08. > :02:14.have 80 days to see if this is going to be passed. We have more clarity
:02:15. > :02:18.despite the impeachment being voted through. In that sense we want to
:02:19. > :02:26.see what the domestic policies will do from here on in and what will
:02:27. > :02:30.happen. But in the meantime it is going to create a vacuum. We know
:02:31. > :02:38.the Korean wonk is the other thing that has been impacted, falling 4%
:02:39. > :02:44.in the last two months, we know a week currency can be good, so what
:02:45. > :02:49.could it mean? Once again I think it is because of the US dollar and it
:02:50. > :02:55.is really all about the emerging Asian currencies. In terms of how it
:02:56. > :03:00.is going to help the country, it depends because ultimately for Korea
:03:01. > :03:06.it is a lot of these intermediate groups that go to China without a
:03:07. > :03:13.strong pickup over there, Korea itself will see a significant boost
:03:14. > :03:17.as well. Turning to commodities, oil prices have jumped in early Asian
:03:18. > :03:23.trade to their highest levels since 2015. You can see they are up almost
:03:24. > :03:25.5%. This comes after OPEC and on OPEC producers reached their first
:03:26. > :03:32.deal since 2001 to jointly curb output -- non- OPEC. It is aimed at
:03:33. > :03:36.easing a global supply glut that has lasted for more than two years. The
:03:37. > :03:41.Russian cuts will take effect in January next year. The IMF chief
:03:42. > :03:50.Christine Lagarde will go on trial later today for her Royal in... She
:03:51. > :03:59.was then France's Finance Minister. She's been accused of negligence for
:04:00. > :04:06.signing of an out of... -- role in. Iran air has signed a deal to buy a
:04:07. > :04:11.key passenger planes from Boeing. It is the biggest US Iran deal since
:04:12. > :04:16.the 1979 Islamic revolution. Boeing said the deal was worth $16.6
:04:17. > :04:21.billion. It has been approved by the US government. The first planes are
:04:22. > :04:26.scheduled for delivery in 2018. Staying with aviation, passengers
:04:27. > :04:31.will be able to fly from London to Australia non-stop for the first
:04:32. > :04:35.time when Qantas launches its new service from March, 2018.
:04:36. > :04:41.Australia's national carrier says it will connect Perth in the west of
:04:42. > :04:46.the country to the UK capital using Boeing 78 and-9 Dreamliners. This is
:04:47. > :04:59.what the Qantas chief Alan Joyce said about the service -- seven
:05:00. > :05:06.eights and -9. -- 787. Back in the 1940s it took you for days, now we
:05:07. > :05:15.will get you there with no stops in 17 hours. Form or you can go to our
:05:16. > :05:18.website, BBC.com. New Zealand has confirmed its Finance Minister Bill
:05:19. > :05:23.English is the country's new Prime Minister. -- for more. That's one
:05:24. > :05:27.week after John Key resigned after eight years in the role. For the new
:05:28. > :05:33.Prime Minister will be sworn in later today. -- the new Prime
:05:34. > :05:37.Minister. In the coming months and years we will build roads, public
:05:38. > :05:42.transport, schools and houses to support a strong economy and the
:05:43. > :05:48.growing population. We will also focus on better incomes for our
:05:49. > :05:53.households, safer communities and smarter government support for the
:05:54. > :05:58.most vulnerable. This will be a government supporting economic
:05:59. > :06:04.growth and insuring the benefits of growth are widely shared. New
:06:05. > :06:08.Zealand's new Prime Minister, Bill English. Lawmakers in Japan's upper
:06:09. > :06:12.house parliament are expected to discuss a bill this week that would
:06:13. > :06:17.legalise casino gambling in principle. Shinzo Abe is pushing to
:06:18. > :06:21.allow casino gambling to help create new jobs as well as boost
:06:22. > :06:25.investment. If it goes through, Japan will be competing with other
:06:26. > :06:29.Asian spots like Macau, Singapore as well as the Philippines, all of whom
:06:30. > :06:34.have already established their gaming industries over the past
:06:35. > :06:39.decade. Asia's casino boom has been led in large part by gamblers from
:06:40. > :06:44.China. Earlier a gaming consultant weighed in on Japan's odds as a
:06:45. > :06:51.gambling destination. I think that Japan has a unique opportunity
:06:52. > :06:56.because it is an advanced economy in Asia, you have a domestic market
:06:57. > :07:00.there, although it's unclear whether the Japanese government would
:07:01. > :07:04.actually legalise casino gaming that would ultimately allow Japanese
:07:05. > :07:08.citizens to participate in it. But the reality is, if you look at
:07:09. > :07:14.Japan's position geographically and its position in terms of its travel
:07:15. > :07:22.hub status, the airport in Tokyo for example, it does have tourism flows,
:07:23. > :07:26.having large-scale integrated casino resorts, that makes strategic sense
:07:27. > :07:30.for the government. There's a domestic market but how big would it
:07:31. > :07:36.be and where would the punters come from? If the Japanese government
:07:37. > :07:41.were to legalise casino gaming with unfettered access for Japanese
:07:42. > :07:48.citizens to participate in, it could be a huge multibillion dollar market
:07:49. > :07:52.right off the get go. The reality is Japanese consumers do seek out
:07:53. > :07:57.leisure entertainment experiences, they've been a big piece of the
:07:58. > :08:02.historical Las Vegas tourism profile, and so if Japan were to
:08:03. > :08:05.legalise casino gaming with the idea they would allow Japanese citizens
:08:06. > :08:12.to participate, it would be a huge market. Shoemaker barter is a
:08:13. > :08:17.century-old brand which is well-known throughout Asia. But its
:08:18. > :08:21.long history also poses challenges. Barta's shoes are known to be
:08:22. > :08:26.practical as well as league reasonably priced but they want to
:08:27. > :08:30.target the younger generation. -- as well as reasonably priced. I spoke
:08:31. > :08:35.to them to find out how they are keeping one step ahead of the
:08:36. > :08:38.competition. Today the marketplace, not today, every day, the
:08:39. > :08:45.marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive. I've never heard
:08:46. > :08:49.any industry say our marketplace has become less competitive, it doesn't
:08:50. > :08:53.happen any more. The art is being diligent about competition and being
:08:54. > :08:57.aware but if you do it too much you start doing what I call mosquito
:08:58. > :09:01.management, everyday running to the next source of light, and then you
:09:02. > :09:06.lose your soul and the basic tenants of your strategy. The best way for
:09:07. > :09:11.us to stay focused and on track on the strategy is to stay focused on
:09:12. > :09:22.our core consumer. It even has a name, our consumer is called Angela.
:09:23. > :09:25.We have to define her very clearly. Bata is considered an old-fashioned
:09:26. > :09:28.and very staid brand, how do you keep it exciting for the new
:09:29. > :09:33.generation? I come from a fast moving consumer business. If you
:09:34. > :09:37.read are used to a brand of shampoo, if the lineup is not involving light
:09:38. > :09:44.you want to, you are not going to drop and go to something else
:09:45. > :09:49.overnight. -- if you are used to. As a brand and as a product we need to
:09:50. > :09:54.deliver what people expect, but we need to move and expand cautiously
:09:55. > :09:59.and gradually. The Chief Executive of Bata, a very busy store. The King
:10:00. > :10:02.at the markets before we go because gains across-the-board, most markets
:10:03. > :10:07.taking their cues from the US, which we saw at another record high on
:10:08. > :10:11.Friday -- looking at. Anticipation ahead of what many anticipate as a
:10:12. > :10:15.done deal when it comes to an interest rate hike in the US this
:10:16. > :10:19.week, but we also seeing Australian market is doing well with resources
:10:20. > :10:28.stocks doing well because of the rising oil prices I mentioned
:10:29. > :10:29.earlier. That's it for this edition of Asia Business Report. Thanks for