:00:14. > :00:21.2016 was the year of surprises, so what's in store for the global
:00:22. > :00:26.economy in 2017? We get some predictions. And got milk? We visit
:00:27. > :00:36.an Indian dairy of looking to pump out healthier products.
:00:37. > :00:44.Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. Happy holidays, everyone. Glad you
:00:45. > :00:48.could join us for this Friday edition of Asia Business Report, I'm
:00:49. > :00:52.Rico Hizon. If there's anything we can learn from 2016 it might be to
:00:53. > :00:57.expect the unexpected. The UK voted to leave the EU and the election of
:00:58. > :01:01.Donald Trump as US president certainly defied expectations of
:01:02. > :01:05.many forecasters, but both events could have a large effect on the
:01:06. > :01:11.coming year. So what storms could be on the radar for 2017? Earlier I
:01:12. > :01:16.asked Simon Littlewood from the Asia Now consultancy group. There might
:01:17. > :01:21.no one agrees but there are three scenarios for global growth, one is
:01:22. > :01:26.a slow recovery, two is a fast recovery and three is what we are
:01:27. > :01:30.calling a Trump apocalypse where he makes some mistake, especially on
:01:31. > :01:33.the geopolitical front with China or in the Middle East and significantly
:01:34. > :01:38.stops global growth. We overwhelmingly think there will be a
:01:39. > :01:44.slow recovery and 2017 will be a pretty good year. Why do you say
:01:45. > :01:47.that? The signs are there. In the US the markets are responding
:01:48. > :01:52.positively to Trump's election. Interest rates are going up, which
:01:53. > :01:55.is a healthy sign. Global trade flows have never actually stopped
:01:56. > :02:04.growing but there is expected to grow around 3% in 2017. This is good
:02:05. > :02:09.news for the US economy, reducing corporate tax to 15%, refighting the
:02:10. > :02:12.economy, a stronger dollar, but on the other hand Asia is currently
:02:13. > :02:19.suffering with weaker in the Asian currency levels not seen since the
:02:20. > :02:25.1998 financial crisis. We think you will see something strange in Asia.
:02:26. > :02:29.Asia, everyone talks about China. China has some pretty significant
:02:30. > :02:34.challenges at the moment and nobody has ever believed their growth of
:02:35. > :02:40.6.5%/ Evin Prison is actually that, it's more around 4%. You will see
:02:41. > :02:53.their growth continuing to slow but you will see others grow faster --
:02:54. > :02:57.6.5%/ 7%. They just employed a book about the death of China. He is
:02:58. > :03:00.refusing to implement trade agreements that have yet to be
:03:01. > :03:07.fermented, so there can't be any effect going forward. There's the
:03:08. > :03:11.fear that he could brand the Chinese as currency manipulators and impose
:03:12. > :03:15.massive tariffs on Chinese products. There are parts of the Chinese
:03:16. > :03:19.economy where he is likely to impose tariffs, although since he's changed
:03:20. > :03:22.his mind on almost everything he said on the campaign trail, we can't
:03:23. > :03:26.be certain about that. When he actually takes the time to listen
:03:27. > :03:31.those who understand the Chinese economy, or should I say if, he will
:03:32. > :03:35.discover American and European investment in China is so massive
:03:36. > :03:40.that you can't damage China exports to a significant extent without also
:03:41. > :03:48.damaging major US corporations. Simon Littlewood from Asia Now. US
:03:49. > :03:51.authorities are suing Barclays for allegedly deceiving investors over
:03:52. > :03:54.mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial turmoil. The
:03:55. > :03:59.justice department claims the lender sold more than $41 billion worth of
:04:00. > :04:07.loans that were catastrophic failures. Barclays said it rejects
:04:08. > :04:12.the claims made by. Nokia is bilingual suits against Apple for
:04:13. > :04:23.alleged patent infringement. They claim they violated 40 patents. --
:04:24. > :04:28.filing lawsuits. There are concerns about profits. Italy's the oldest
:04:29. > :04:34.bank will be bailed out by the government for a third time. They
:04:35. > :04:38.failed to raise more than $5 billion in fresh capital from private
:04:39. > :04:42.investors. It had tried to sell new shares and conduct bonds for equity
:04:43. > :04:47.swap but the money is needed to get rid of its bad loans. More than 80
:04:48. > :04:50.garment factories in Bangladesh have shut down due to strikes. The
:04:51. > :04:55.workers have been demanding a three fold hike in wages but the owners
:04:56. > :04:59.have rejected the demand. Bangladesh is a major exporter of clothing but
:05:00. > :05:05.the industry is often criticised by human rights groups for low wages
:05:06. > :05:08.and unsafe conditions. We report from Bangladesh. Garment factory
:05:09. > :05:12.workers in Bangladesh are now getting $71 per month as their
:05:13. > :05:17.minimum salary, which was fixed three years ago. Now they're
:05:18. > :05:22.demanding $200 per month as their life expenditure has increased 50%
:05:23. > :05:27.in the last three years. Thousands of garment workers have been
:05:28. > :05:31.prevented from working in the factory after the owners thought the
:05:32. > :05:37.situation could aggravate and the situation could get out of hand and
:05:38. > :05:42.factories have been shut down indefinitely. Those factories employ
:05:43. > :05:46.more than 200,000 workers. It looks like the Bangladeshi government and
:05:47. > :05:51.the factory owners have taken a very tough stance against the demand of
:05:52. > :05:55.garment workers and they say they are not in a position to increase
:05:56. > :06:02.the salary right now. The Bangladesh government industry and is more than
:06:03. > :06:07.$25 billion every year. This sector employs more than 5 million workers
:06:08. > :06:12.and 60% of them are female. Many analysts believe the crisis should
:06:13. > :06:19.result immediately to save the lives of the Bangladeshi economy -- should
:06:20. > :06:23.be resolved. Sports is booming right here in Asia and this year there's
:06:24. > :06:29.been a slew of deals to prove it. One of the biggest was by Japanese
:06:30. > :06:33.online retailer. It signed a shirt sponsorship contract with Barcelona
:06:34. > :06:36.that could make it the world's richest football club. But not
:06:37. > :06:40.everyone thinks it makes good business sense, including the
:06:41. > :06:46.president of a sports content company. I don't understand the
:06:47. > :06:51.rationality of this deal, especially for a company that has a global
:06:52. > :06:58.footprint. It will be a difficult price to pay for a global company,
:06:59. > :07:02.for a company that is mainly in Japan and a few other markets, very
:07:03. > :07:08.difficult and challenging. Probably they have some reason behind it, I
:07:09. > :07:12.don't know, I can only assume at this moment. You're saying it
:07:13. > :07:16.doesn't make sense for Asian firms to go off and signed huge monster
:07:17. > :07:22.ship deals because they need a global footprint? At this price, yes
:07:23. > :07:28.-- huge sponsorship deals. This is something difficult to justify for a
:07:29. > :07:33.single market. It makes sense if there is a strategy with a company
:07:34. > :07:37.or a club like Manchester United or Liverpool with millions of fans in
:07:38. > :07:42.Asia and if the activation is done properly in Asia, it can be a very
:07:43. > :07:46.good tool to engage fans and create loyalty with your customers. Beside
:07:47. > :07:58.that... I don't see any other reason why.
:07:59. > :08:04.India is a huge consumer of dairy, whether it's yoghurt, cheese or a
:08:05. > :08:08.wide range of local sweets, but lots of the milk is collected from small
:08:09. > :08:15.farms across the country and it's often impure by the time it gets to
:08:16. > :08:21.consumers. As part of our series, we visited one dairy farm looking to
:08:22. > :08:25.deliver something safe and fresh. It's estimated that almost 70% of
:08:26. > :08:31.milk consumed in India is mixed with chemicals like you read to increase
:08:32. > :08:35.quantity and fat content. Most milk on the market passes through
:08:36. > :08:40.processing plants, packers and distributors over 48 hours. For this
:08:41. > :08:53.firm that specialises in milk based products, finding good quality milk
:08:54. > :09:00.in India can be a struggle. Things will be an issue if the quality is
:09:01. > :09:13.down, and if the fact quality is low then the myth Dilma consistency will
:09:14. > :09:24.not come. -- -- the consistency. -- fat.
:09:25. > :09:33.Each happy cows give better milk. We truly believe the product of the
:09:34. > :09:36.cowz yield is much better when we make them listen to music.
:09:37. > :09:46.When the time comes, these Friesian cows wander freely to the milking
:09:47. > :09:50.parlour. Their yield and general health is constantly monitored. A
:09:51. > :09:56.part of the process the farm owners say helps them produce 25,000 litres
:09:57. > :09:59.a day. The milk is machine pasteurised immediately and within
:10:00. > :10:06.eight hours delivered straight to the doorsteps of customers. The
:10:07. > :10:11.pride of Cowles brand comes at double the cost of regular milk and
:10:12. > :10:17.scaling such a personalised product will be difficult -- cows. But this
:10:18. > :10:20.is a nation of milk drinkers and consumers are increasingly becoming
:10:21. > :10:22.health-conscious and brand savvy. And so the farm to table approach
:10:23. > :10:34.may just be a sweet deal. Thank you so much for investing your
:10:35. > :10:36.time with us. Happy holidays, everyone. I'm Rico Hizon. See you
:10:37. > :10:43.again soon. Donald Trump has
:10:44. > :10:49.tweeted he wants the US to greatly expand its nuclear weapons
:10:50. > :10:52.capability, reversing decades