:00:12. > :00:25.The US has accused Syria's president of barbarism after a chemical attack
:00:26. > :00:29.kills at least 58 people. One of the worst atrocities of the Syrian war
:00:30. > :00:32.has sparked global condemnation. The UN Security Council is set to hold
:00:33. > :00:38.emergency talks. The lights go out early on the
:00:39. > :00:41.Eiffel Tower, as Paris joins Russia to mourn the 14 victims of the St
:00:42. > :00:49.Petersburg metro attack. And the story is trading at a busy
:00:50. > :00:53.dock on. The red diamond, known as the pink star, has sold a new world
:00:54. > :00:57.record after it was sold in Hong Kong for more than $71 million. The
:00:58. > :01:07.stone was bought after just five minutes of eating. You are
:01:08. > :01:11.up-to-date. Stay with us. -- of bidding. Our top story in the UK,
:01:12. > :01:18.Ken Livingstone on other former Mayor of London, has been suspended
:01:19. > :01:24.from the Labour Party for two years. He has already served one year of
:01:25. > :01:27.his suspension. Now it is time to catch up with the business news,
:01:28. > :01:40.with Mariko Oi.. From Delhi to Mumbai, we track the
:01:41. > :01:49.agenda of Philip Hammond on his India visit. And Thailand's property
:01:50. > :01:52.sector, 20 years after the Asian financial crisis.
:01:53. > :02:05.We are live from Singapore. British finance minister Philip Hammond
:02:06. > :02:10.heads to Mumbai today as part of the UK's trade push to show that there a
:02:11. > :02:17.world of opportunity for Britain outside of Europe. His first stop in
:02:18. > :02:23.Delhi on Wednesday saw him meet with India's finance minister.
:02:24. > :02:31.The UK wants to attract the brightest minds. That's what Philip
:02:32. > :02:36.Hammond told founders from India's start-up community at a cafe in
:02:37. > :02:41.central Delhi. His discussions with the finance minister included trade,
:02:42. > :02:46.financial services and infrastructure and talks focused on
:02:47. > :02:50.a post except trade deal. Big UK plans to tighten immigration, but
:02:51. > :02:55.this didn't come up. Business leaders seemed optimistic about the
:02:56. > :02:59.future. There is a great ability and opportunity for India to really
:03:00. > :03:03.liberalise its regime on how financial industry is expanding
:03:04. > :03:10.India. Instead of rising domestic sales and a dramatic change in the
:03:11. > :03:16.digital world, thanks to the unique identity which India has. India is
:03:17. > :03:22.very important to business. Do I get frustrated? You see so many
:03:23. > :03:28.opportunities in India, it is such a fast moving place, of course
:03:29. > :03:33.sometimes you wish you could capture those opportunities quicker. My main
:03:34. > :03:41.wish is for more consistency and less bureaucracy. Mr Hammond had one
:03:42. > :03:46.simple message, make an India that finances in the UK. In the capital
:03:47. > :03:50.he will need more business leaders and officials from the reserve bank
:03:51. > :03:55.of India. An institution that will be crucial for any future
:03:56. > :03:57.partnership. India needs more than $1.5 trillion of capital
:03:58. > :04:05.infrastructure alone in the coming years, so there is plenty of
:04:06. > :04:11.opportunity for both sides. President Donald Trump says he is
:04:12. > :04:14.working on sweeping reforms to the banking regulations, introduced in
:04:15. > :04:22.the US following the financial crisis in 2007. He has promised a
:04:23. > :04:29.rollback to make it easier for businesses to get loans.
:04:30. > :04:34.In terms of what he can do, this would require Congress due get
:04:35. > :04:38.involved, it would involve rewriting the law that was passed by President
:04:39. > :04:42.Obama back in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. Essentially
:04:43. > :04:47.toughening up laws on banks and financial institutions. So any
:04:48. > :04:52.changes to that would require votes and passage through Congress. As
:04:53. > :04:55.we've seen before, Donald Trump has struggled with the healthcare law.
:04:56. > :05:00.Will he be able to craft new legislation on this issue that would
:05:01. > :05:04.get through? Some Republicans have been talking about this in advance
:05:05. > :05:07.of the day's meeting and has suggested that Republican lawmakers
:05:08. > :05:11.are already at work trying to craft something. One of the things they
:05:12. > :05:15.are looking at is how they can pay for tax reform and they are trying
:05:16. > :05:22.to see if there's anything that could save the government might be
:05:23. > :05:27.and be put towards tax reform. -- money. Anti-trust regular could
:05:28. > :05:33.have given preliminary approval to cap China's takeover of a Swiss
:05:34. > :05:37.pesticide giant. But Federal Trade Commission ruled that it would
:05:38. > :05:43.require the company in China to divest from three chemical products.
:05:44. > :05:48.The takeover would mark the biggest overseas takeover by a Chinese firm.
:05:49. > :05:52.Over the Thailand. Our week-long series looking at the property
:05:53. > :05:57.industry. Like many other Asian cities, real estate prices keep on
:05:58. > :06:02.going up. Just last month a luxurious condo unit was sold at a
:06:03. > :06:08.record price of $19 million in central Bangkok. The country has
:06:09. > :06:11.come a long way from 20 years ago when the Asian financial crisis
:06:12. > :06:13.devastated the Thai economy. What driving the property market?
:06:14. > :06:32.Jonathan Head reports. In its day, this building was one of
:06:33. > :06:35.the most spectacular and desirable residential projects anywhere in
:06:36. > :06:40.this region. Then a massive financial crisis struck Thailand and
:06:41. > :06:50.20 years later this building still stands empty, a stark lesson to the
:06:51. > :06:54.day's property developers. -- today's. We've reached the 37th
:06:55. > :06:58.floor and from up here you really can see just how much the city has
:06:59. > :07:05.grown in the two decades since the crash. Once again, Bangkok is in the
:07:06. > :07:12.grip of a property boom. Much of it happening along new railway line is
:07:13. > :07:18.being built out into the suburbs. Apartment blocks are rising along
:07:19. > :07:22.this route is. They are aimed especially at first-time buyers.
:07:23. > :07:27.Experienced property developers steer clear of the riskier low-end
:07:28. > :07:32.market. He is focused on luxury properties. The price right now for
:07:33. > :07:38.this property is lower than the market price. Like this property
:07:39. > :07:42.near central Bangkok. Demand is so high here that he can buy a small
:07:43. > :07:46.apartment and resell it almost immediately at a substantial profit.
:07:47. > :07:53.People in the low end don't have much money and the bank doesn't give
:07:54. > :07:56.the markets, so this will be the problem. But at the moment which
:07:57. > :08:06.people have money and can buy anything they want. If you buy a
:08:07. > :08:10.high end property, people don't use rational much because they have
:08:11. > :08:15.money, they just use emotion. He showed me and other project which
:08:16. > :08:19.has been heavily marketed overseas. -- another project. Foreign, mainly
:08:20. > :08:23.Asian, why account for nearly half of the purchases. But is buying
:08:24. > :08:34.uppity in Thailand are good long-term investment, as rents are
:08:35. > :08:40.generally low. -- property. A rise in price is not certain. We feel an
:08:41. > :08:47.average rise for midmarket too high end property is just shy of 5%. So
:08:48. > :08:54.the cost is 4%, the cost of the loan, that wipes out any return you
:08:55. > :08:57.might make. So is all of this construction sign of dangerously
:08:58. > :09:03.irrational exuberance? On my 20 years ago, the banks in Thailand are
:09:04. > :09:07.being a lot more cautious with their lending. Some property projects
:09:08. > :09:16.might fail, but most will not. And there aren't many people in Thailand
:09:17. > :09:22.who worry about another big crash. The man behind Bangladesh's booming
:09:23. > :09:28.private equity fund says he isn't worried about security concerns and
:09:29. > :09:33.labour unrest in the country. He explained why the labour protest
:09:34. > :09:40.late last year involving thousands of workers doesn't really threaten
:09:41. > :09:44.the country's $30 billion garment industry. Do you know how many
:09:45. > :09:47.people work in the garment sector in Bangladesh? More than 5 million
:09:48. > :09:53.people. There are thousands of factories. So, 1000 workers were
:09:54. > :10:03.demonstrating or lost their jobs. That's a fraction of the number of
:10:04. > :10:13.people the sector employs. The Plaza was a tragedy. Most of the factories
:10:14. > :10:18.in Bangladesh are now complying. Buyers comply with the consortium
:10:19. > :10:27.is. If you look at their report, most factories are quite compliant.
:10:28. > :10:32.Bangladesh saw a very violent 2016, particularly marked by a devastating
:10:33. > :10:36.cafe attack when more than 20 people were killed in the capital. You
:10:37. > :10:41.represent the largest private equity group in Bangladesh. Tell us, why
:10:42. > :10:49.should foreign investors be putting their money there? As a country we
:10:50. > :10:54.addressed it. There was quite strong action taken, quite a few people
:10:55. > :11:02.arrested. And some parts have been extremely quiet. There was some
:11:03. > :11:08.fear, but if you look at the day, the flights are all booked, the
:11:09. > :11:17.hotels are booked, it is his going as usual. Of course nobody likes
:11:18. > :11:21.violence, but what happened in July was a 1-off. This is how Asian
:11:22. > :11:28.markets started trading this morning. Japan's Nikkei up by just
:11:29. > :11:32.over .5%. Basically shrugging off the missile fired by its neighbour
:11:33. > :11:40.North Korea. In Tokyo, once again, we will be monitoring this Toshiba
:11:41. > :11:44.shares. They are recovering after sharp falls on Monday and Tuesday.
:11:45. > :11:51.The energy sector is leading the game on Wall Street. That's it for
:11:52. > :11:58.this edition of Asia Business Report. Thanks for watching.