:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:22.The Bank of Japan meets, as things go from bad to worse for corporate
:00:23. > :00:28.Japan. We discussed the problems, and what needs to be done. And the
:00:29. > :00:31.of South Korea's election, we hear from whistleblowers in the culture
:00:32. > :00:42.of corruption which roared down the President. It is Wednesday. Good
:00:43. > :00:48.morning, Asia, hello, world. Glad you could join us for Asia Business
:00:49. > :00:51.Report. I am Rico Hizon. We start with Japan, and companies there are
:00:52. > :00:58.making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Fuji has delayed its most
:00:59. > :01:02.recent earnings report after discovering accounting is
:01:03. > :01:06.regularities, and Toshiba is restructuring its business after the
:01:07. > :01:13.collapse of its nuclear business. Is the Japan central bank doing enough
:01:14. > :01:17.to reform corporate governance? I asked our correspondent in Tokyo.
:01:18. > :01:22.The reason for the problem is very deep. I would say it is cultural,
:01:23. > :01:26.but there is regulation to it. First of all I think the Japanese
:01:27. > :01:30.government, as well as its regulating agency, tend to be very
:01:31. > :01:35.protective over each company. So the companies tend to be relaxed
:01:36. > :01:41.regarding their structure. And there has been a call right now for more
:01:42. > :01:47.globalisation of Japanese companies. They need to invest in foreign
:01:48. > :01:52.talent. Some of the major companies in Japan have already done this, but
:01:53. > :01:57.why is it taking such a long time? The focus of the management the
:01:58. > :02:01.sustainability of the company, and also the profitability of the
:02:02. > :02:09.company, is relatively weak. I would say there is more equity hold
:02:10. > :02:16.activism required in Japan. But I think there has been some incidents
:02:17. > :02:22.of foreign activist shareholder attacking Japanese companies, urging
:02:23. > :02:26.them to become more profitable but usually there is intervention from
:02:27. > :02:30.the government, and also media is fairly hostile against this foreign
:02:31. > :02:37.pressure for the companies to reform. Reform is indeed one of the
:02:38. > :02:42.pillars of the Prime Minister and his Abenomics programme. Where are
:02:43. > :02:48.we right now in terms of this reform programme and improving corporate
:02:49. > :02:52.governance? Well, improving corporate governance has been one of
:02:53. > :02:59.the poster children of the Abenomics policies. And it used to be that the
:03:00. > :03:04.Japanese government, especially the FSA, has been very proud of the
:03:05. > :03:10.reforms they have introduced, but looking at Toshiba, looking at other
:03:11. > :03:14.companies which are making negative headlines, I think we must say that
:03:15. > :03:20.the corporate governance reform has failed in Japan. In other business
:03:21. > :03:25.news making headlines, American beverage giant Coca-Cola will cut
:03:26. > :03:29.about 1200 jobs due to falling demand for its fizzy drinks. The
:03:30. > :03:34.bulk of the redundancies will be in Atlanta, where it has around 10,000
:03:35. > :03:40.employees. Global sales fell by 1% in the quarter to March. Rival
:03:41. > :03:44.Pepsico's sales have also taken a hit as consumers in North America
:03:45. > :03:49.increasingly turn away from sugary drinks. Shing Singapore has retained
:03:50. > :03:59.its crown as the Maritime capital of the world, in a biannual ranking. It
:04:00. > :04:03.has topped the tables. There is not much to celebrate, though. The
:04:04. > :04:12.global slowdown in trade and an excess supply of trips have cut
:04:13. > :04:18.trade. Our business reporter joins us. Is it a busy port this morning?
:04:19. > :04:24.A lot of challenges for the global shipping industry, but Singapore is
:04:25. > :04:32.resilient. That's right, not very busy today, but it is a very major
:04:33. > :04:36.port in the world, and we are joined exclusively to talk about that
:04:37. > :04:41.ranking. With the Norwegian consultancy. Its chairman joins us.
:04:42. > :04:44.Can you tell us how, despite the downturn in the last few years,
:04:45. > :04:49.Singapore has managed to retain the number one spot? That is an
:04:50. > :04:54.interesting question. Even though Singapore has gone through different
:04:55. > :04:58.difficult times. The other top services have suffered even more.
:04:59. > :05:02.Hamburg has had a very hard time due to the low rates in container
:05:03. > :05:08.shipping. Oslo has been hard hit by the oil price, compared with
:05:09. > :05:14.Singapore. Shanghai has not achieved the growth that we expected, due to
:05:15. > :05:20.the slowdown of the Chinese economy. And the slowdown of the world
:05:21. > :05:26.economy, so their shipbuilding has been less than expected. And Hong
:05:27. > :05:31.Kong, which was a highroller, has lost its ranking to other South
:05:32. > :05:38.Chinese cities. And they are not as important as they were as a gateway
:05:39. > :05:42.to China. So London is kind of the only city that hasn't really
:05:43. > :05:49.suffered from these different factors. They have climbed on the
:05:50. > :05:53.rankings. You use four metrics or pillars to determine this ranking.
:05:54. > :05:59.Can you run through that? Lie yes, we look at 30 cities, they are
:06:00. > :06:05.ranked on objective indicators, and then benchmarked by 260 Maritime
:06:06. > :06:10.experts all over the world, and they were benchmarked on four pillars in
:06:11. > :06:16.the maritime industry. Shipping, maritime finance and law, maritime
:06:17. > :06:19.technology, culture and logistics, and the fifth pillar is the
:06:20. > :06:24.attractiveness of the city in itself. So we put all the rankings
:06:25. > :06:28.together, Singapore is number one on three of five pillars and altogether
:06:29. > :06:34.Singapore is the Maritime capital of the world. And briefly, this
:06:35. > :06:41.industry downturn, when can be expected to turn around, two years,
:06:42. > :06:45.three years? Well, the industry will recover with different speeds in
:06:46. > :06:50.different places. But I believe two or three years from now things will
:06:51. > :06:55.look a lot that are. Thank you so much for your insights. Well, it
:06:56. > :06:59.looks like there will be an uptick, at a different paces, as we have
:07:00. > :07:05.just said. Thank you so much for joining us, and all this week it is
:07:06. > :07:10.Singapore maritime week. And moving on now to South Korea's presidential
:07:11. > :07:15.election, it is drawing near, and questions are being raised about how
:07:16. > :07:19.corruption in the country was allowed to flourish at the highest
:07:20. > :07:28.levels of business and government. It brought down the President, what
:07:29. > :07:31.will the election mean change? Our correspondent has more from Seoul on
:07:32. > :07:38.WADA so rare for employees to speak up. Get up, get on the train, go to
:07:39. > :07:43.work, repeat. It is this uniform, structured formula which has helped
:07:44. > :07:48.to create the massive conglomerates here. In order to succeed, you have
:07:49. > :07:52.to follow the rules. Speaking at a term means you might pay a high
:07:53. > :08:02.price. The 2017 whistleblowers awards. It is an exclusive club that
:08:03. > :08:06.nobody really wants to join. This man said he date motors tried to
:08:07. > :08:14.cover up engine defects while he worked there. -- Hyundai.
:08:15. > :08:18.TRANSLATION: Look at me now. I am fired and won't be able to find
:08:19. > :08:25.another job. Before I had a high salary with stable employment, but
:08:26. > :08:30.with my retirement, it is passed to someone younger, with many years
:08:31. > :08:35.ahead. Those who speak out now they are marked. This man is the leader
:08:36. > :08:40.of a Samsung union which isn't really recognised by the company. He
:08:41. > :08:45.says it is the structure of companies which leaves workers
:08:46. > :08:47.powerless. TRANSLATION: I realise this group management structure
:08:48. > :08:54.meant nothing could be addressed without approval from the very top.
:08:55. > :09:00.It is a problem rooted in economic history. The founding families used
:09:01. > :09:08.shareholdings to raise funds and expand. Put very simply, they would
:09:09. > :09:13.use capital paid by listed shares in company to buy stakes in company B,
:09:14. > :09:18.and a third company, and so on and on until you get this, which gave
:09:19. > :09:28.founding families disproportionate controls through their stakes. Every
:09:29. > :09:33.week, this man leads a small union meeting for staff. He was fired when
:09:34. > :09:36.he reported his firm for deliberately overcharging customers.
:09:37. > :09:43.He fought his case in court, and won. TRANSLATION: I am now famous as
:09:44. > :09:48.a whistleblower. I have one law suits against KT. Now no one bothers
:09:49. > :09:53.me, not even my boss. I am untouchable. It is only the rare few
:09:54. > :09:56.who have nothing to lose who dare speak out. Until that changes,
:09:57. > :10:05.corruption go unchecked, all the way to the top. We have 35 seconds to
:10:06. > :10:09.give you an update on the markets, and it is so far another positive
:10:10. > :10:14.day for Asia in mid-morning Asia trade. Solid US earnings,
:10:15. > :10:18.speculation about US tax reform, and reduced chances of a US government
:10:19. > :10:24.shut down this weekend boosting investor optimism. The 225 up by 135
:10:25. > :10:29.points and the all ordinaries index gaining 38 points as well due to
:10:30. > :10:39.gains in oil prices. Thank you so much for investing your time with
:10:40. > :10:40.us. Have a wonderful Wednesday. I am Rico Hizon, goodbye for now.