23/12/2016 Asia Business Report

2016 was the year of surprises, so what's in store for the global

economy in 2017? We get some predictions. And got milk? We visit

an Indian dairy of looking to pump out healthier products.

Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. Happy holidays, everyone. Glad you

could join us for this Friday edition of Asia Business Report, I'm

Rico Hizon. If there's anything we can learn from 2016 it might be to

expect the unexpected. The UK voted to leave the EU and the election of

Donald Trump as US president certainly defied expectations of

many forecasters, but both events could have a large effect on the

coming year. So what storms could be on the radar for 2017? Earlier I

asked Simon Littlewood from the Asia Now consultancy group. There might

no one agrees but there are three scenarios for global growth, one is

a slow recovery, two is a fast recovery and three is what we are

calling a Trump apocalypse where he makes some mistake, especially on

the geopolitical front with China or in the Middle East and significantly

stops global growth. We overwhelmingly think there will be a

slow recovery and 2017 will be a pretty good year. Why do you say

that? The signs are there. In the US the markets are responding

positively to Trump's election. Interest rates are going up, which

is a healthy sign. Global trade flows have never actually stopped

growing but there is expected to grow around 3% in 2017. This is good

news for the US economy, reducing corporate tax to 15%, refighting the

economy, a stronger dollar, but on the other hand Asia is currently

suffering with weaker in the Asian currency levels not seen since the

1998 financial crisis. We think you will see something strange in Asia.

Asia, everyone talks about China. China has some pretty significant

challenges at the moment and nobody has ever believed their growth of

6.5%/ Evin Prison is actually that, it's more around 4%. You will see

their growth continuing to slow but you will see others grow faster --

6.5%/ 7%. They just employed a book about the death of China. He is

refusing to implement trade agreements that have yet to be

fermented, so there can't be any effect going forward. There's the

fear that he could brand the Chinese as currency manipulators and impose

massive tariffs on Chinese products. There are parts of the Chinese

economy where he is likely to impose tariffs, although since he's changed

his mind on almost everything he said on the campaign trail, we can't

be certain about that. When he actually takes the time to listen

those who understand the Chinese economy, or should I say if, he will

discover American and European investment in China is so massive

that you can't damage China exports to a significant extent without also

damaging major US corporations. Simon Littlewood from Asia Now. US

authorities are suing Barclays for allegedly deceiving investors over

mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial turmoil. The

justice department claims the lender sold more than $41 billion worth of

loans that were catastrophic failures. Barclays said it rejects

the claims made by. Nokia is bilingual suits against Apple for

alleged patent infringement. They claim they violated 40 patents. --

filing lawsuits. There are concerns about profits. Italy's the oldest

bank will be bailed out by the government for a third time. They

failed to raise more than $5 billion in fresh capital from private

investors. It had tried to sell new shares and conduct bonds for equity

swap but the money is needed to get rid of its bad loans. More than 80

garment factories in Bangladesh have shut down due to strikes. The

workers have been demanding a three fold hike in wages but the owners

have rejected the demand. Bangladesh is a major exporter of clothing but

the industry is often criticised by human rights groups for low wages

and unsafe conditions. We report from Bangladesh. Garment factory

workers in Bangladesh are now getting $71 per month as their

minimum salary, which was fixed three years ago. Now they're

demanding $200 per month as their life expenditure has increased 50%

in the last three years. Thousands of garment workers have been

prevented from working in the factory after the owners thought the

situation could aggravate and the situation could get out of hand and

factories have been shut down indefinitely. Those factories employ

more than 200,000 workers. It looks like the Bangladeshi government and

the factory owners have taken a very tough stance against the demand of

garment workers and they say they are not in a position to increase

the salary right now. The Bangladesh government industry and is more than

$25 billion every year. This sector employs more than 5 million workers

and 60% of them are female. Many analysts believe the crisis should

result immediately to save the lives of the Bangladeshi economy -- should

be resolved. Sports is booming right here in Asia and this year there's

been a slew of deals to prove it. One of the biggest was by Japanese

online retailer. It signed a shirt sponsorship contract with Barcelona

that could make it the world's richest football club. But not

everyone thinks it makes good business sense, including the

president of a sports content company. I don't understand the

rationality of this deal, especially for a company that has a global

footprint. It will be a difficult price to pay for a global company,

for a company that is mainly in Japan and a few other markets, very

difficult and challenging. Probably they have some reason behind it, I

don't know, I can only assume at this moment. You're saying it

doesn't make sense for Asian firms to go off and signed huge monster

ship deals because they need a global footprint? At this price, yes

-- huge sponsorship deals. This is something difficult to justify for a

single market. It makes sense if there is a strategy with a company

or a club like Manchester United or Liverpool with millions of fans in

Asia and if the activation is done properly in Asia, it can be a very

good tool to engage fans and create loyalty with your customers. Beside

that... I don't see any other reason why.

India is a huge consumer of dairy, whether it's yoghurt, cheese or a

wide range of local sweets, but lots of the milk is collected from small

farms across the country and it's often impure by the time it gets to

consumers. As part of our series, we visited one dairy farm looking to

deliver something safe and fresh. It's estimated that almost 70% of

milk consumed in India is mixed with chemicals like you read to increase

quantity and fat content. Most milk on the market passes through

processing plants, packers and distributors over 48 hours. For this

firm that specialises in milk based products, finding good quality milk

in India can be a struggle. Things will be an issue if the quality is

down, and if the fact quality is low then the myth Dilma consistency will

not come. -- -- the consistency. -- fat.

Each happy cows give better milk. We truly believe the product of the

cowz yield is much better when we make them listen to music.

When the time comes, these Friesian cows wander freely to the milking

parlour. Their yield and general health is constantly monitored. A

part of the process the farm owners say helps them produce 25,000 litres

a day. The milk is machine pasteurised immediately and within

eight hours delivered straight to the doorsteps of customers. The

pride of Cowles brand comes at double the cost of regular milk and

scaling such a personalised product will be difficult -- cows. But this

is a nation of milk drinkers and consumers are increasingly becoming

health-conscious and brand savvy. And so the farm to table approach

may just be a sweet deal. Thank you so much for investing your

time with us. Happy holidays, everyone. I'm Rico Hizon. See you

again soon. Donald Trump has

tweeted he wants the US to greatly expand its nuclear weapons

capability, reversing decades