24/04/2017 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

Investors cheered the results of the first round of voting in the French

elections. And Singapore is aiming to be the first smart nation ever.

But is it learning fast enough to keep up with the competition?

Good morning, Asia and hello, world. This is Monday and thank you for

joining us. We start off with the French elections and voters have

indeed spoken. From 11 presidential candidates, the pro- European

candidate Emmanual Macron will be facing far right Marine Le Pen in a

run-off election on May seven. The winner will lead the second largest

economy in Europe and one of the seven largest in the world. Let's

have a look at the currency board and the euro jumps to a five-month

high against the US dollar following the election result. A relief rally

for the euro. There were worries that if Marine Le Pen won the

presidency outright that would spur funds to leave the European Union.

That sense of relief in the stock market as well. The Japanese stock

exchange jumped 14% and, earlier, I spoke with David who offered this

analysis. We should not break out the champagne just yet. I think what

we need to do is have a look at what is likely going to happen. For now

it looks pretty much like there will be a run-off between Marine Le Pen

who is the far right candidate and Emmanuel Macron, the centrist

candidate. The polls are saying, and we should not read too much into

them giving their track record of late, it looks much as though Macron

will win the French presidential election. That is what everybody is

expecting on May seven because he got over 23% of the vote in the

first round. But what if we have the worst case scenario and Marine Le

Pen will be winning the French elections and becomes the new leader

of France? What impact will this have on the euro and stock markets?

The euro was stronger at the moment and, quite rightly, it predicts we

will likely have a centrist candidate win the presidential

election. Unfortunately, whoever wins the French election... I'm not

a politician, I do not have that much interest in how politics

affects things. But if you look at France... It is in a mess. The

economy is only growing at 1%. There is a 10% unemployment rate and the

debt versus GDP is approaching one years economic output of France. A

dire economic situation but a lot of analysts are saying that if Marine

Le Pen becomes the leader of France then we could see parity with the US

dollar. We certainly could see that because the market hates

uncertainty. If Marine Le Pen were to win there would be a great deal

of uncertainty. And I say again, France has economic problems call.

So does the eurozone. They have the ministers meeting later on, it may

need to talk about a lot of things. Not just Brexit but, certainly, they

will probably now need to talk about a French exit as well and how they

will solve problems within the eurozone.

Here is a look ahead at what else is coming up over the next few days.

Due to report its earnings, this Wednesday. That is Twitter. Sony

will follow on Friday and as mentioned earlier, the 27 remaining

EU members are scheduled to meet on Saturday to go over a negotiation

outline guiding them through two yous of Brexit talks. In other

news:, the Japan-based is reportedly looking at writing down as much as

$3.7 billion for the year ending the first of March. That will be on

goodwill from its acquisition of an Australian logistics union. Japan

Post is a conglomerate was businesses and postal delivery as

well as banking and insurance. Response from American Airlines. The

airline service suspended an employee after a clash over a baby

stroller in San Francisco. A passenger who uploaded video of the

aftermath of the incidence of their mother had been struck with the pram

as it was forcibly removed by the employee. American airlines has

issued an apology to the passenger and her family. This follows another

high-profile clash on a plane two weeks ago when a passenger was

violently removed from an overbooked flight.

Do you save for a rainy day? That is a big question to ask yourself and

what do you say but all? This question was put to over 8000

consumers across the region. Described as the emerging affluent,

these are consumers who are earning enough to save, and many of them an

engine of economic growth. The study found that 67% of consumers across

Asia saved towards the top priority every month. And property is among

one of the top things that they save fork with in the region planning to

purchase a home. Children's education also ranked high with 18%

on average saving towards that goal. But there were surprising

revelations as well. The survey was done to standard Charter and they

tell us more about it. There are big savers, two thirds of saving

regularly. They are aiming for big dreams. It is about the house,

children's education and then long-term for retirement. The way

they are investing is quite conservative. What is so surprising

about the study is the millennial, those people aged between 25 and 34.

Country to popular belief, they are actually saving. Can you tell us

about the findings? They are saving. These are often professionals with

good jobs and they are saving predominantly to purchase their

first property or, if they have children, thinking about the

education of their children that they are also digitally savvy. One

of the interesting things from the study is that those who are

digitally savvy are saving a% more. We would expect, as they get older,

but that proportion will increase. Smart cities is the concept widely

known these days, may using technology to make lives simpler and

more efficient. But Singapore is aiming to be the world's first smart

nation. So what does that actually entail? Our correspondent went to

take a look. You now what it's like. You wait for the bus on your way to

work and if you are anything like me you are probably late. So enter this

initiative. Part of the government's plans to introduce technology to

every aspect of daily life. I have installed these interactive bus maps

in some bus stations across the island. That way you can plan your

journey and if you are looking to save time you can also check on bus

times and when the next bus that you want is expected to arrive. At

Ground Zero of the network system I was shown how data is collected

about where the buses are and how long it takes to get to their

stocks. With this information we know where the buses are a different

points of the day so can put in measures to alleviate and dissipate

crowds at points across the island. This will ensure that the transport

system works more smoothly. Singapore also uses technology does

that translate lives. At this control centre, offices pick up

distress calls from the public alerting them to emergencies like

heart attacks. And app was developed to connect critically ill citizens

to other citizens. This app help this woman say the man's life. He

was as being for air. His lips were blue. Immediately I performed chest

compression is on him while waiting for the arrival of the ambulance.

The plan is for the smart nation initiative to be rolled out across

all sectors- make healthcare, homes and offices. The government

acknowledges it is not moving fast enough. If we do not get this right,

jobs are at stake. Wages are at stake. And any government that does

not prepare its people for the future and offer the potential for

good jobs will be in trouble. Because of its small size, Singapore

has always tried to stay ahead of the curve to survive. Smart nation

is a part of the future strategy. But it needs to speed up to achieve

its ambitions. But have a look now the market

before we go. Japan and Australia react positively to the real result

of the French general election. The Japanese market up by two at 1.3%.

US markets reacted to Macron taking first place in the presidential

elections. Sport Today is coming up next.