05/04/2017 Asia Business Report

The US has accused Syria's president of barbarism after a chemical attack

kills at least 58 people. One of the worst atrocities of the Syrian war

has sparked global condemnation. The UN Security Council is set to hold

emergency talks. The lights go out early on the

Eiffel Tower, as Paris joins Russia to mourn the 14 victims of the St

Petersburg metro attack. And the story is trading at a busy

dock on. The red diamond, known as the pink star, has sold a new world

record after it was sold in Hong Kong for more than $71 million. The

stone was bought after just five minutes of eating. You are

up-to-date. Stay with us. -- of bidding. Our top story in the UK,

Ken Livingstone on other former Mayor of London, has been suspended

from the Labour Party for two years. He has already served one year of

his suspension. Now it is time to catch up with the business news,

with Mariko Oi.. From Delhi to Mumbai, we track the

agenda of Philip Hammond on his India visit. And Thailand's property

sector, 20 years after the Asian financial crisis.

We are live from Singapore. British finance minister Philip Hammond

heads to Mumbai today as part of the UK's trade push to show that there a

world of opportunity for Britain outside of Europe. His first stop in

Delhi on Wednesday saw him meet with India's finance minister.

The UK wants to attract the brightest minds. That's what Philip

Hammond told founders from India's start-up community at a cafe in

central Delhi. His discussions with the finance minister included trade,

financial services and infrastructure and talks focused on

a post except trade deal. Big UK plans to tighten immigration, but

this didn't come up. Business leaders seemed optimistic about the

future. There is a great ability and opportunity for India to really

liberalise its regime on how financial industry is expanding

India. Instead of rising domestic sales and a dramatic change in the

digital world, thanks to the unique identity which India has. India is

very important to business. Do I get frustrated? You see so many

opportunities in India, it is such a fast moving place, of course

sometimes you wish you could capture those opportunities quicker. My main

wish is for more consistency and less bureaucracy. Mr Hammond had one

simple message, make an India that finances in the UK. In the capital

he will need more business leaders and officials from the reserve bank

of India. An institution that will be crucial for any future

partnership. India needs more than $1.5 trillion of capital

infrastructure alone in the coming years, so there is plenty of

opportunity for both sides. President Donald Trump says he is

working on sweeping reforms to the banking regulations, introduced in

the US following the financial crisis in 2007. He has promised a

rollback to make it easier for businesses to get loans.

In terms of what he can do, this would require Congress due get

involved, it would involve rewriting the law that was passed by President

Obama back in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. Essentially

toughening up laws on banks and financial institutions. So any

changes to that would require votes and passage through Congress. As

we've seen before, Donald Trump has struggled with the healthcare law.

Will he be able to craft new legislation on this issue that would

get through? Some Republicans have been talking about this in advance

of the day's meeting and has suggested that Republican lawmakers

are already at work trying to craft something. One of the things they

are looking at is how they can pay for tax reform and they are trying

to see if there's anything that could save the government might be

and be put towards tax reform. -- money. Anti-trust regular could

have given preliminary approval to cap China's takeover of a Swiss

pesticide giant. But Federal Trade Commission ruled that it would

require the company in China to divest from three chemical products.

The takeover would mark the biggest overseas takeover by a Chinese firm.

Over the Thailand. Our week-long series looking at the property

industry. Like many other Asian cities, real estate prices keep on

going up. Just last month a luxurious condo unit was sold at a

record price of $19 million in central Bangkok. The country has

come a long way from 20 years ago when the Asian financial crisis

devastated the Thai economy. What driving the property market?

Jonathan Head reports. In its day, this building was one of

the most spectacular and desirable residential projects anywhere in

this region. Then a massive financial crisis struck Thailand and

20 years later this building still stands empty, a stark lesson to the

day's property developers. -- today's. We've reached the 37th

floor and from up here you really can see just how much the city has

grown in the two decades since the crash. Once again, Bangkok is in the

grip of a property boom. Much of it happening along new railway line is

being built out into the suburbs. Apartment blocks are rising along

this route is. They are aimed especially at first-time buyers.

Experienced property developers steer clear of the riskier low-end

market. He is focused on luxury properties. The price right now for

this property is lower than the market price. Like this property

near central Bangkok. Demand is so high here that he can buy a small

apartment and resell it almost immediately at a substantial profit.

People in the low end don't have much money and the bank doesn't give

the markets, so this will be the problem. But at the moment which

people have money and can buy anything they want. If you buy a

high end property, people don't use rational much because they have

money, they just use emotion. He showed me and other project which

has been heavily marketed overseas. -- another project. Foreign, mainly

Asian, why account for nearly half of the purchases. But is buying

uppity in Thailand are good long-term investment, as rents are

generally low. -- property. A rise in price is not certain. We feel an

average rise for midmarket too high end property is just shy of 5%. So

the cost is 4%, the cost of the loan, that wipes out any return you

might make. So is all of this construction sign of dangerously

irrational exuberance? On my 20 years ago, the banks in Thailand are

being a lot more cautious with their lending. Some property projects

might fail, but most will not. And there aren't many people in Thailand

who worry about another big crash. The man behind Bangladesh's booming

private equity fund says he isn't worried about security concerns and

labour unrest in the country. He explained why the labour protest

late last year involving thousands of workers doesn't really threaten

the country's $30 billion garment industry. Do you know how many

people work in the garment sector in Bangladesh? More than 5 million

people. There are thousands of factories. So, 1000 workers were

demonstrating or lost their jobs. That's a fraction of the number of

people the sector employs. The Plaza was a tragedy. Most of the factories

in Bangladesh are now complying. Buyers comply with the consortium

is. If you look at their report, most factories are quite compliant.

Bangladesh saw a very violent 2016, particularly marked by a devastating

cafe attack when more than 20 people were killed in the capital. You

represent the largest private equity group in Bangladesh. Tell us, why

should foreign investors be putting their money there? As a country we

addressed it. There was quite strong action taken, quite a few people

arrested. And some parts have been extremely quiet. There was some

fear, but if you look at the day, the flights are all booked, the

hotels are booked, it is his going as usual. Of course nobody likes

violence, but what happened in July was a 1-off. This is how Asian

markets started trading this morning. Japan's Nikkei up by just

over .5%. Basically shrugging off the missile fired by its neighbour

North Korea. In Tokyo, once again, we will be monitoring this Toshiba

shares. They are recovering after sharp falls on Monday and Tuesday.

The energy sector is leading the game on Wall Street. That's it for

this edition of Asia Business Report. Thanks for watching.