:00:00. > :00:17.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:18. > :00:25.Take two - the prosecutors office of South Korea gets another shot at
:00:26. > :00:30.arresting Samsung's group chief. And gridlock in Delhi - commuters
:00:31. > :00:35.struggled to get to work as Uber drivers keep off the road.
:00:36. > :00:38.Welcome to this edition of Asia Business Report.
:00:39. > :00:51.We begin with the corruption scandal in South Korea and, for the second
:00:52. > :00:56.time in three weeks, a court will decide whether to grant a request to
:00:57. > :01:00.a rest ahead of South Korea's largest company. A hearing is about
:01:01. > :01:08.to start, where prosecutors will try to persuade a judge of that there is
:01:09. > :01:11.enough evidence to arrest JY Lee. He is a suspect in a bribery
:01:12. > :01:15.investigation which could bring down the country's president. The
:01:16. > :01:21.prosecutors office explains why it is seeking an arrest warrant for Mr
:01:22. > :01:25.Lee. TRANSLATION: For three weeks after the first arrest warrant was
:01:26. > :01:31.denied we secured additional evidence that we can be sure about
:01:32. > :01:38.and, after careful deliberation, we have requested an arrest warrant for
:01:39. > :01:43.the second time. Earlier, I asked James Rooney, Korea watcher, if they
:01:44. > :01:50.have a better chance this time around. They certainly hope so, and
:01:51. > :01:53.they will try to avoid being embarrassed as second time around,
:01:54. > :02:03.but career is in chaos these days, so nothing is as expected as once in
:02:04. > :02:06.the past. If indeed Mr Mr Lee is arrested, James, what will happen to
:02:07. > :02:12.Samsung is, will operations suffer? Not in my opinion, because he
:02:13. > :02:15.doesn't run the day-to-day operations, there is a vast army
:02:16. > :02:20.with senior managers with great depth and breath who make the
:02:21. > :02:24.regular day today decisions but when the boss is locked up in prison
:02:25. > :02:28.there becomes a certain caution amongst those other folk. They don't
:02:29. > :02:32.want to step out of line, they don't want to get blamed for something and
:02:33. > :02:37.they don't have their boss to give them a cover. Plus, of course, he is
:02:38. > :02:41.becoming an important figure in public for Samsung, or he has been,
:02:42. > :02:45.and that plays into negotiating deals and Saifon and so forth.
:02:46. > :02:50.Samsung is a very large organisation. I have educated some
:02:51. > :02:54.of their senior managers over the years, especially the foreign ones
:02:55. > :02:59.that they hire, and I don't imagine that, you know, it will impact of
:03:00. > :03:05.the next year or even two years on the financial performance or
:03:06. > :03:09.anything like that. But, as you say, it is the largest conglomerate in
:03:10. > :03:15.South Korea. If Mr Lee is indeed arrested, could this have a wider
:03:16. > :03:21.impact on business confidence in South Korea? To be honest, I don't
:03:22. > :03:26.think so. The issue here isn't about business, the issue here is really
:03:27. > :03:29.about the President. However, you know, Samsung got themselves tangled
:03:30. > :03:34.up with the President through trying to do a restructuring to help
:03:35. > :03:39.transfer the ownership and the control of the company from one
:03:40. > :03:44.generation to the next generation, which he is a beneficiary to. In
:03:45. > :03:49.other news: making headlines - US President Donald Trump's choice for
:03:50. > :03:56.Labour Secretary has withdrawn from consideration. Andrew passed a law
:03:57. > :04:02.support from Republican senators after he employed an illegal
:04:03. > :04:05.immigrant as a housekeeper. He has been criticised for his remarks on
:04:06. > :04:08.women and employees at his restaurants. He is the first cabinet
:04:09. > :04:13.pick the failed to secure nomination. Lenovo was one of the
:04:14. > :04:18.first Chinese companies to transform itself into a global company.
:04:19. > :04:21.One decade after buying IBM's personal computer business it
:04:22. > :04:25.leapfrogged HP and Dell to become the biggest PC maker, but expansion
:04:26. > :04:29.into the tablet and smart phone market hasn't gone as smoothly.
:04:30. > :04:34.After taking over motor Rohler, thousands of jobs have been cut. The
:04:35. > :04:40.head of the company's earnings, I asked an analyst why the firm is
:04:41. > :04:45.struggling in its home market -- Motorola. In China, what Lenovo
:04:46. > :04:53.hasn't done well is it has lost its focus. A few years ago in China,
:04:54. > :04:58.Lenovo got to the number-1 position because of a strong of budget lines.
:04:59. > :05:05.But, as China shifts away from first-time smartphone users, going
:05:06. > :05:08.to replacement models, now people want expensive, high quality
:05:09. > :05:19.devices, Lenovo has fallen out. So, did the acquisition of Motorola
:05:20. > :05:26.verdant -- burden Lenovo? It was seen as an addition bite Lenovo has
:05:27. > :05:31.struggled to integrate the Moto brat into its portfolio. They have three
:05:32. > :05:38.brands into its wing. -- as an addition to Lenovo. Without clear
:05:39. > :05:42.focus, without a clear brand and no key volume driver, Lenovo has
:05:43. > :05:47.suffered. So what has made Lenovo's personal computer is still relevant
:05:48. > :05:51.in this highly competitive space? Lenovo has been able to maintain the
:05:52. > :05:57.momentum it gained after the IBM acquisition and created quality
:05:58. > :06:07.products, especially PCs and notebooks. It is also working hard
:06:08. > :06:10.in terms of innovation, for example recently with the double
:06:11. > :06:15.touchscreen. And, briefly, we have seen a clash between the Chinese and
:06:16. > :06:18.the Americans under the Trump administration - good operations and
:06:19. > :06:24.ambitions end America be under threat? -- could. It is too early to
:06:25. > :06:28.say for now but for Lenovo we still expect it to see a very healthy
:06:29. > :06:32.business in the Americas. It has a very strong brand, its channel is
:06:33. > :06:38.very established, and as a result even if there is a big change to
:06:39. > :06:41.Trump's trade policy, that would only be in the long run.
:06:42. > :06:46.Global businesses such as Lenovo might be affected by proposed border
:06:47. > :06:53.taxes in the US if President Trump goes ahead with the initiative but
:06:54. > :06:57.American resale giants such as Target and Gap are concerned, they
:06:58. > :07:03.are waiting in on the plans. Let's have a look at what is at stake.
:07:04. > :07:22.-- weighing in. It is good to have you here, thank
:07:23. > :07:27.you very much. Good job. Thank you. So, we will go around the room a
:07:28. > :07:50.little bit... The best opportunities to really impact our economy...
:07:51. > :07:55.Commuters in India's capital Dehli have struggled to get to work this
:07:56. > :08:01.last week with a driving strike at the country's two mean right hailing
:08:02. > :08:08.services Uber and Hola. Our correspondent reports.
:08:09. > :08:13.Thousands of drivers in Delhi two mean right hailing apps Hola and
:08:14. > :08:19.Uber are on strike and that has brought parts of the capital to a
:08:20. > :08:22.standstill. Most drivers have stopped taking bookings via the
:08:23. > :08:27.smartphone apps which connect them with nearby passengers.
:08:28. > :08:30.Attempting to book a ride on either app and both say no cars are
:08:31. > :08:35.available. In some places where they are available the waiting time has
:08:36. > :08:42.increased from 30 minutes up to one Allah and this shows a surge in in
:08:43. > :08:46.pricing because of increased demand. Many Indian drivers work for both
:08:47. > :08:49.companies to make sure they get enough work but as the number of
:08:50. > :08:52.drivers signing up has increased, they say that minimum fares and
:08:53. > :08:57.other incentives have been cut, making it hard to earn a living --
:08:58. > :09:00.hours. TRANSLATION: The car firms promised us pick things. The
:09:01. > :09:05.incentives have reduced. They also take a bigger commission now.
:09:06. > :09:09.TRANSLATION: Like many others, I took out a loan to buy a new car on
:09:10. > :09:16.the guaranteed high monthly earnings. Now I am struggling to
:09:17. > :09:27.repay my debts. I now have to work long hours to pay my loan. Ola is
:09:28. > :09:32.working with the government to solve the issue. The firm has turned to
:09:33. > :09:36.the courts for help. We received an order from the Delhi High Court
:09:37. > :09:40.which stops anyone from disrupting operations from Uber across India
:09:41. > :09:44.and we have urged authorities to make sure they are able to endorse
:09:45. > :09:48.those orders, which will enable drivers to go back online and start
:09:49. > :09:51.serving riders again. The real problem is that for both right
:09:52. > :09:55.hailing companies there is pressure to keep the rates down as they
:09:56. > :09:59.battle it out in the market, which is thought to be worth about $12
:10:00. > :10:05.billion, and, as they squeeze on prices, the drivers are trying to
:10:06. > :10:10.unionise. This is the first sign of them flexing their muscles. Whoever
:10:11. > :10:16.wins the state of, for commuters of the weight to hail a cab has just
:10:17. > :10:21.got longer. A look at the markets, and not an
:10:22. > :10:25.exciting start to Asian equities, Tokyo stocks opening flat despite
:10:26. > :10:32.rallies on Wall Street overnight to record highs. Despite optimism about
:10:33. > :10:33.the market. Thank you