02/05/2017 Asia Business Report

At least two suspects are being hunted.

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

The US Federal Reserve is set for its next meeting. What can be

expected from the Central Bank? Nailed it. How one of Singapore's

entrepreneurs set up a business empire. Good morning, Asia. Hello,

world. Welcome to another edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Rico

Hizon. It's a Tuesday. Glad you could join us. We start off with the

US Federal Reserve and its meeting in Washington on Tuesday. It is not

expected to move interest rates but investors will watch for clues about

the next rate hike. There is a backdrop of political uncertainty

with tensions running high between the US and North Korea. I spoke to

our guest in Sydney to see what he was expecting. Two more rate hikes

this year are on the cards. What they have become good at in the last

few years is signalling its intention down the road. There has

been an interesting shift away from talking about just the rate hike to

actually talking about its balance sheet. We will see a lot of

speculation today and in the next few weeks about what it is going to

do with this massive balance sheet worth about $1 trillion, and how it

will unwind that. If we think about this year, a rate hike at the start

of the year, one in the middle, one near the end, that is three we think

will happen this year. But on the table in the second half of the year

it will start focusing markets on what it is going to do about

reducing the scale of that balance sheet. That will be slight monetary

tightening as well. Bite for this particular meeting, there seems to

be no impetus for a rate hike, because inflation slowed in March.

-- but. There is also weak US factory activity. That is the latest

data. Remember, what the Fed, and in fact, any US bank does, is they have

to look 12- 18 months down the road. They have the gas in fact written

how much of Trump's spending stimulus and tax cuts are going to

get through. We see the data and a drop back in inflation. You have to

assume there is going to be enough inflationary force in the market

early in 2018. That is what will guide them in their decision-making.

Richard in Sydney. In Australia, take a look at these. They are

called smashed avos. In Mexico, guacamole. Wherever you are, these

avocados are getting more expensive. Prices have more than doubled last

year. That is due to a lack of supply in America. Demand is

surging. What has led to these surging popularity of avocados? We

spoke to a restaurant and bar operator in Singapore. It definitely

is. Look at the entirety of Singapore and restaurants. Five

years ago, there were maybe five Mexican restaurants. Now there are

20. There are chains. People are more aware of what avocado can do

for you with health benefits. There are many young families in Singapore

and it is good for your kids. It is out there and in demand to bite we

will break down the nutrients. What makes it a healthy fruit? It has way

more potassium than bananas. That used to be the free people would eat

for potassium. It creates electricity in your brain. I needed

that this morning. It definitely helps you. It has a lot of Vitamin B

and C and one saturated fats, the ones that are healthy. --

monosaturated. Why are they surging? People are wanting more. The same

reason people it fruit and meat. They think it is healthy for them.

They think it is beneficial for them. You can eat it healthily and

unhealthily. I usually chop it into two and put condensed milk around

it. Healthy viewers will not like that. It is exactly that to be back

in Australia where I used to live, London, anywhere, people put

something unhealthy next to something healthy. If you have beans

and sausages but it would avocado on it, you feel healthy afterwards.

Either coming from Mexico or the united dates? There are two. The one

from California, has, it has a beautiful colour. Fuerta is much

smaller. Do you think avocado prices will continue to rise? Definitely.

With the way people eat them, I would say they will go up. A

restaurant and bar operator in Singapore. Indonesian President Joko

Widodo received a welcome from the Indonesian community, many of whom

are migrant workers, to talk about economics. The Indonesian president,

Joko Widodo, has gone to Hong Kong to drum up business. The tycoons in

the city have long been investing in the most populous Muslim nation.

Joko Widodo wants more. I hope that this will increase benefits. He also

invited mainland Chinese companies to expand operations in his country.

China was Indonesia's third-largest investor last year, followed closely

by Hong Kong. Ties between Indonesia and Hong Kong already run deep. On

the first day of the trip, Joko Widodo was given a rockstar welcome

by thousands of his countrymen and women. More than 150,000 Indonesia

is work domestically in Hong Kong. -- Indonesians. They work hard to

improve the economy back home. I hope when we return back to

Indonesia we can find work so we don't have to stay here for so long.

During the event, a small group of Labour activists demonstrated

outside, asking Joko Widodo not to forget the plight of domestic

workers overseas, even as he sought to increase business relations

between Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia. How do you go from just

one spa in a small Singapore suburb to running more than 100 spas

throughout all in the world. She credits tenacity and passion for her

business empire that spans not only Singapore, but also in London,

Shanghai, New York, and elsewhere. Sharanjit Leyl caught up with her.

Thank you very much, Cynthia, for inviting us into your spa. We will

get a manicure done while we do this interview. Tell us how you got on to

this business. I have a really short stay in banking. I found the 9-5

hours and arable. There were several options I was exploring. OK,

childcare, a nurse, a day spa. I felt this was something I wanted to

pursue. That is how it all got started. You are now in other cities

beyond Singapore. London, New York, Shanghai, multiple other cities as

well. What was the reason you went abroad? I think every city is very

different in a way. For example, going to China, you would think

going to China would be easier than London or New York. But there was

such a stigma in China. Product registration is extremely difficult.

Just to get the products registered before you could even have your

products, you know, used in your salon,

retail, it was difficult. Labour laws. It was very difficult. And

then the compliance, you know, in terms of taxation, filing off

accounting, licensing of beauty treatments. There were many things

that were very difficult. I think that in every city you want to go

into, it takes almost three years to learn something. That is about

right. Someone said if you have to be good at something, you need to

invest about 1000 hours. It is never easy. We have just come from your

spa to one of your restaurants just down the road which is quite an

unusual concept. This is a big garden community. And now we are

going to the cafes. From spas to restaurants to cafes. How hard was

that transition? At first it was fun, from beauty to food. But once

you get into the kitchen and all of that, recruitment, it gets tough.

But I think there is no shortcut ever. I think having it right smack

in the city is different. That is the entire journey of how I got

every little step got me a successful entrepreneur from

Singapore. The markets. The Nikkei is up but the Lord's is down. -- All

Ords. Thank you for investing your time with us. I am Rico