:00:00. > :00:00.before to stand in solidarity with a variety of groups
:00:00. > :00:11.And the top story here in the UK: The Brexit Secretary,
:00:12. > :00:14.David Davis, has told MPs he would accept a transitional
:00:15. > :00:16.arrangement as Britain leaves the European Union,
:00:17. > :00:37.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:38. > :00:44.The US central bank finally delivers its rate hike this year. We look at
:00:45. > :00:51.the impact on Asia-Pacific economies. And if you are keen about
:00:52. > :00:56.a healthy diet, this superfood is trending in the West. But farmers in
:00:57. > :01:07.Taiwan have been growing this grain for more than 1000 years. Good
:01:08. > :01:12.morning Asia, hello world. Glad you could join us for this edition of
:01:13. > :01:17.Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon and we kick off with the US
:01:18. > :01:25.Federal Reserve, the central bank has finally done it, raising the
:01:26. > :01:30.cost of borrowing by 0.25% to 0.75%. The rate hike is a vote of
:01:31. > :01:35.confidence in the economy. My colleagues and I are recognising the
:01:36. > :01:40.considerable progress the economy has made towards our dual objectives
:01:41. > :01:46.of maximum employment and price stability. Over the past year, 2.2 5
:01:47. > :01:49.million net new jobs have been created, and employment has fallen
:01:50. > :01:55.further and inflation has moved closer to our longer run goal of 2%.
:01:56. > :02:01.We expect the economy will continue to perform well. With the US central
:02:02. > :02:07.bank sounding confident about the US economy, should investors take that
:02:08. > :02:13.as a signal for more rate hikes next year? Our correspondent in
:02:14. > :02:17.Washington. That is the key question going into today's meeting. Everyone
:02:18. > :02:21.is wanting to know what would the Federal Reserve say about future
:02:22. > :02:25.rate hikes? We now know a little more than we did going into this
:02:26. > :02:31.meeting. They have said that they foresee three potential rate hikes
:02:32. > :02:36.in 2017. The question is how accurate that is. If we look back
:02:37. > :02:41.one year ago, they estimated four rate hikes in 2016, and here we are
:02:42. > :02:45.and there has been only one. What they are considering, what they are
:02:46. > :02:49.talking about, is the impact of Donald Trump presidency. What will
:02:50. > :02:53.that mean for monetary policy going forward? Janet Yellen in her press
:02:54. > :02:56.conference said that certainly fiscal policy, in other words
:02:57. > :03:03.government action, would be one of the factors that they would be
:03:04. > :03:11.looking at as they go forward. Let's have a quick look now at our Asian
:03:12. > :03:16.markets, you have the Nikkei 225 up slightly in mid-morning trade, by 67
:03:17. > :03:22.points. The all ordinaries down by 0.8%, and we are awaiting the Hang
:03:23. > :03:26.Seng index in Hong Kong, two minutes into the trading day. We will have
:03:27. > :03:30.the updated numbers later on in the programme. As for currencies, the US
:03:31. > :03:37.dollar shot up more than 1.5% against the Japanese yen, and now
:03:38. > :03:41.hovering at around ten month highs, the highest level since February of
:03:42. > :03:49.this year. So what this rising US interest rate means for Asia-Pacific
:03:50. > :03:52.economies, we are joined by our Asia-Pacific correspondent. Earlier
:03:53. > :03:56.we talked about Australia and Japan and how the rate rise will be
:03:57. > :04:01.impacting them. What about Hong Kong and the second largest economy in
:04:02. > :04:05.the world, China? Well, we have already seen moves from Hong Kong
:04:06. > :04:09.this morning. They have raised their base rate I25 basis points, to match
:04:10. > :04:17.that of the United States. Remember, the US dollar so we usually expect
:04:18. > :04:22.like this. What does it mean for the small island of Hong Kong,
:04:23. > :04:27.especially in a place where property prices are so high? When interest
:04:28. > :04:32.rates go up, it becomes even more expensive for many Hong Kongers to
:04:33. > :04:36.own a home there. It is a very politically difficult time in Hong
:04:37. > :04:40.Kong, to say the least. There is a lot of disenchantment, a lot of
:04:41. > :04:44.frustration, with China's slowing down and higher US interest rates on
:04:45. > :04:47.the cards, that could have an impact on the political situation there as
:04:48. > :04:52.well. In the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so with the
:04:53. > :04:55.appreciation of the US dollar, it will make life in Hong Kong more
:04:56. > :05:02.expensive. But what about Donald Trump taking office in about a month
:05:03. > :05:07.or so? He may be calling China currency manipulator and slapping
:05:08. > :05:12.such huge tariffs on Chinese goods. We have already seen signs from the
:05:13. > :05:17.central bank in China today with regards to the yuan, they have
:05:18. > :05:21.weakened the midpoint for the yuan, and now it is sinking against the US
:05:22. > :05:24.dollar to levels we haven't seen in the offshore market since June 2008.
:05:25. > :05:31.China is in a really difficult position. It doesn't want the yuan
:05:32. > :05:36.to get too weak, it is apparent exports, but neither does it wanted
:05:37. > :05:42.to be too strong, so we will have to watch it very closely. Thank you for
:05:43. > :05:47.your insights on Hong Kong and China. Moving on to other business
:05:48. > :05:51.news making headlines, search engine Yahoo has said more than 1 billion
:05:52. > :05:56.users may have had their data stolen in a hack which dates back to 2013.
:05:57. > :06:03.That is separate from its previously disclosed region, which Yahoo said
:06:04. > :06:08.affected 500 million users. 2000 British Airways cabin crew have
:06:09. > :06:12.voted to go on strike over a pay dispute, and that is about 50% of
:06:13. > :06:16.the airline's in-flight staff. The strike could start next week but the
:06:17. > :06:24.union has not confirmed if the industrial action would affect
:06:25. > :06:29.travellers over the holiday season. An apt promising to make the world a
:06:30. > :06:35.more beautiful place has made its share debut on the Hong Kong stock
:06:36. > :06:40.exchange. The Chinese company is Hong Kong's biggest technology IPO
:06:41. > :06:41.in a decade. But will it make investors smile? That is the big
:06:42. > :08:06.question. And some good news for Meitu's
:08:07. > :08:12.shareholders. They kicked off trade minutes ago, and they are up right
:08:13. > :08:17.now by 3% on the Hong Kong stock exchange, the Hang Seng is down by
:08:18. > :08:22.nearly 1%. Love it, hate it never heard of it, there is no denying
:08:23. > :08:27.quinoa has taken the health food world by storm in recent years. The
:08:28. > :08:36.superfood hails from South America mock or so we thought. As part of
:08:37. > :08:40.our series Taste of Asia, our correspondent found out farmers were
:08:41. > :08:45.growing at thousands of years ago, and it is making a comeback. Of
:08:46. > :08:51.years, Taiwan's Indigenous people grew this crop. It is a type of
:08:52. > :08:57.quinoa, that trendy grain like plant grown in South America. But when the
:08:58. > :09:01.Chinese settled here, Rice became the crop of choice. TRANSLATION: We
:09:02. > :09:05.began growing again four years ago when we were trying to rebuild our
:09:06. > :09:08.community. We reminisced about how things were in the past. We
:09:09. > :09:12.remembered in our childhood that it was always part of our landscape,
:09:13. > :09:16.and it was very beautiful. But we didn't know it was so nutritious.
:09:17. > :09:22.When we found out later, we thought wow, our ancestors were lucky. They
:09:23. > :09:27.were eating the best food. Taiwan's quinoa is also a so-called
:09:28. > :09:33.superfood. Compared to rice, wheat and oats it is packed with a lot
:09:34. > :09:38.more calcium, dietary fibre and iron. Some research shows it is even
:09:39. > :09:43.more nutritious than its South American counterpart. Demand has
:09:44. > :09:48.soared for the tie is crop, and retail prices have tripled to about
:09:49. > :09:52.$30 for a 600 g bag. This season's crop has just been planted. It is
:09:53. > :09:56.only a few centimetres tall but by harvest time early next year it will
:09:57. > :10:01.fetch high prices. This will fetch much needed income to tribal
:10:02. > :10:04.communities like this one. But more importantly, it is also bringing
:10:05. > :10:08.back its young people from the cities. TRANSLATION: I used to work
:10:09. > :10:11.in the cities, but I feel better being back here. We can look after
:10:12. > :10:16.the elderly people and tend the fields. This way, our language and
:10:17. > :10:23.culture can also be passed on. Farmers in Taiwan planting more
:10:24. > :10:28.quinoa, now it makes up about one third of their income. TRANSLATION:
:10:29. > :10:31.Indigenous people have tended to be introverted and restrained in the
:10:32. > :10:35.past. We didn't dare compare our food with what is on the market
:10:36. > :10:39.today. But later, when we realised our quinoa has three times the iron
:10:40. > :10:44.contained in stake, this became a source of pride for us. It gave us
:10:45. > :10:49.confidence. After all, something so good had come from our tribal areas.
:10:50. > :10:54.We thought we should confidently share the wisdom of our ancestors
:10:55. > :11:04.with the world, and use it to revive our tribal villages. Thank you so
:11:05. > :11:07.much for investing your time with us. I am Rico Hizon. Sport Today is
:11:08. > :11:12.up next.