:00:00. > :00:00.A further 24-hour strike is set for Friday.
:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:20.A par mile producer owned by Singapore's state investment fund is
:00:21. > :00:25.fighting allegations that it is fanning the flames of the Indonesian
:00:26. > :00:32.Hades -- palm oil. And Indonesian smart phone makers want to capture a
:00:33. > :00:37.diverse and fast-growing market. -- Hades.
:00:38. > :00:44.Good morning, Asia and hello, world. It's Tuesday and guide you could
:00:45. > :00:47.join us for this edition of Asia Business Report, I'm Rico Hizon. We
:00:48. > :01:06.start with the palm oil industry where US based NGO group Mighty have
:01:07. > :01:07.accused groups of causing a haze that is causing health problems to
:01:08. > :01:53.the nation. Olam's CEOs spoke with reporters
:01:54. > :01:56.just before Mighty's report was released and he said the company is
:01:57. > :02:02.dealing with cleaning up the supply chain but that it would take some
:02:03. > :02:08.time -- CEO. We are interested in compliance being immediate so if
:02:09. > :02:12.there's a supplier that isn't able to conform to the code and the
:02:13. > :02:17.policies and principles of the palm oil policy, we went be doing
:02:18. > :02:24.business with them. We have not completed the verification of that
:02:25. > :02:28.supply chain. Therefore we will not know until verification is complete
:02:29. > :02:34.that what they are complaining of is actually happening in the field and
:02:35. > :02:38.on the ground. Temask issued a statement overnight saying it fully
:02:39. > :02:42.supports a no burning policy and would urge palm oil companies and
:02:43. > :02:50.other plantation owners to do the same. The fund owns 52% of the
:02:51. > :02:54.commodities trader Olam and Temask also said it doesn't get involved in
:02:55. > :03:00.how companies manage their business operations. Earlier I spoke with the
:03:01. > :03:04.Chief Executive of the NGO Mighty, the firm making these allegations
:03:05. > :03:08.and I asked him for his reaction to the Temask statement. It's
:03:09. > :03:14.disappointing to hear because Temask represents the Singapore people.
:03:15. > :03:19.They have been financing Olam, a company not keeping up with its
:03:20. > :03:23.competitors. Every trader in the palm oil industry, including
:03:24. > :03:28.Singapore based rivals, have adopted very strong no deforestation
:03:29. > :03:32.policies. Olam was the one trader standing out who still have this
:03:33. > :03:37.blackbox approach, they would buy palm oil from anybody, no questions
:03:38. > :03:42.asked without revealing the identity of the suppliers. Why do you think
:03:43. > :03:47.Temask is responsible? They are the owner. If I own a house I'm
:03:48. > :03:52.responsible for it. The same goes for them. It's unfortunate to hear
:03:53. > :03:56.because in our meetings with them recently they started to take
:03:57. > :03:59.responsibility for what Olam is doing, I hope behind the scenes
:04:00. > :04:04.they've had a positive impact. We are gratified that since we released
:04:05. > :04:07.the report in the last 12 hours, Olam finally reveal the identity of
:04:08. > :04:14.its suppliers but that shows there's lots of work to do because several
:04:15. > :04:20.suppliers like First Resources have been involved in deforestation, they
:04:21. > :04:25.have to clean them up otherwise Temask and the people of Singapore
:04:26. > :04:30.could contribute to the haze when it comes back. The Chief Executive of
:04:31. > :04:35.the NGO group Mighty. China is launching a complaint at the WTO
:04:36. > :04:39.against the US and the EU. The complaint says that Washington and
:04:40. > :04:43.Brussels do not accurately calculate whether Chinese goods are being sold
:04:44. > :04:48.the low-cost. Countries and do this to determine how much to charge in
:04:49. > :04:53.duties to protect industries from cheap products flooding into their
:04:54. > :04:59.market -- the low-cost. Markets have surged to 18 month highs after OPEC
:05:00. > :05:06.members and other crude oil producers instilled production cuts.
:05:07. > :05:11.-- the low cost. Are they doing it to trim the output or are they
:05:12. > :05:18.blowing hot air? Here's the market response. There has been an
:05:19. > :05:22.effective stage management led by the Saudis to try to convince the
:05:23. > :05:26.world that they are serious, that they are going to cut back and the
:05:27. > :05:31.markets have responded to that in a very positive way. The cuts will be
:05:32. > :05:35.taking effect on the first of January but from now until then they
:05:36. > :05:39.can just boost production. That's already happening, the Russians have
:05:40. > :05:44.done it, the Saudis have done it, we are before January so anything goes.
:05:45. > :05:53.The real test will be the compliance post January and the view is that it
:05:54. > :06:01.will not be 100% compliance. Why not? Behavioural factors in OPEC, it
:06:02. > :06:05.is a cartel. It's very hard to get everyone to toe the line, there will
:06:06. > :06:10.always be some degree of leakage, you can't say cheating, but leakage.
:06:11. > :06:13.The more players, the harder it will be to enforce an agreement but
:06:14. > :06:17.initially there should be compliance, when you get to the
:06:18. > :06:21.second and third months looking at listings and vessel fixtures, you
:06:22. > :06:26.could say there's a bit of leakage. What about the production of shale
:06:27. > :06:31.oil in the US, could this be a so-called Trump card? Definitely,
:06:32. > :06:35.his slogan was too make America great again and one way you can do
:06:36. > :06:38.that is you have stronger energy prices, resource development and
:06:39. > :06:46.Donald Trump would love to engage with the cartel and make a deal.
:06:47. > :06:51.John Driscoll. India is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone
:06:52. > :06:56.networks in the world but it is a country with 20 languages and
:06:57. > :07:01.hundreds more dialects, so how can smart phone makers engage in such a
:07:02. > :07:06.diverse market? We went to find out. For smart phone makers and
:07:07. > :07:10.developers, vying to get an even bigger share of the market, India
:07:11. > :07:15.poses a problem. How do you reach millions who can't afford high end
:07:16. > :07:19.smart phones and don't understand English? Well, mobile phones like
:07:20. > :07:25.this that run on a new operating system could change the smart phone
:07:26. > :07:29.game here. This is a homegrown operating system developed right
:07:30. > :07:34.here in Mumbai. It's not exactly built from scratch, but based on the
:07:35. > :07:38.Android platform, the operating system most popular in India at the
:07:39. > :07:42.moment. By tweaking its platform to the unique demands and culture of
:07:43. > :07:47.India, it is offering something Android does not. The system
:07:48. > :07:53.functions in 12 regional languages that 90% of the population speak. It
:07:54. > :07:58.has other unique features. Free messaging between users and
:07:59. > :08:05.translation with one swipe. It also has its own App Store, which already
:08:06. > :08:08.has 35,000 apps and doesn't need an e-mail, ID or credit card to
:08:09. > :08:14.activate, a major obstacle in India. It has translated versions of
:08:15. > :08:19.popular apps and has made WhatsApp and other popular apps available in
:08:20. > :08:24.local languages. It's only been in the market for 18 months and during
:08:25. > :08:28.that short period it has surpassed the likes of IOS and windows in
:08:29. > :08:33.terms of market share in India. 6 million smart phones are powered by
:08:34. > :08:37.Indis today and the founders are confident of striking deals with
:08:38. > :08:42.other top brands to insure its product is installed on 100 million
:08:43. > :08:46.devices by 2019. But surely this is a market that brands like Apple and
:08:47. > :08:57.Android will try to make inroads in eventually. Sitting in a mountain
:08:58. > :09:02.you can't necessarily use this. It requires an understanding of what is
:09:03. > :09:07.happening on the ground. We have seen different initiatives from
:09:08. > :09:12.Samsung. They have tried in the Indian market. But they have had
:09:13. > :09:17.limited success. It's estimated in the future the majority of
:09:18. > :09:21.first-time smart phone users will be regional language features. With
:09:22. > :09:25.smart phone prices tumbling to as low as $30, consumers may not buy a
:09:26. > :09:34.device based on price, how it works or what it does, but rather in a
:09:35. > :09:38.language they understand. All eyes on the US Federal Reserve
:09:39. > :09:44.as it begins its two-day meeting later today. Janet Yellen has hinted
:09:45. > :09:49.an interest rate hike is on the cards as the central bank tries to
:09:50. > :09:56.get ahead of inflation creaking into the US economy. It will be the first
:09:57. > :10:00.increase in a year. -- creeping. This development is basically
:10:01. > :10:05.contributing to the lacklustre day for Asian stock markets. The Nikkei
:10:06. > :10:10.225 is down by 20 points, the Hang Seng lullaby 25 and the ordinary is
:10:11. > :10:16.just slightly higher as investors moved to the sidelines to see if the
:10:17. > :10:23.Fed will raise the cost of borrowing or not. -- lower by. Thanks for
:10:24. > :10:31.investing your time with us. I'm Rico Hizon. Sport Today is next.