26/05/2017 Asia Business Report

of police officers and border guards.

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

The G7 meets in Italy. How will Donald Trump's America first

policies go down with the rest of the grouping? And a profitable

business turning old clothes into new products is under threat and we

find out why. Welcome to Asia Business Report. I am Sharanjit

Leyl. Leaders from the Group of seven countries are meeting in

Sicily later today and Donald Trump will be attending for the first

time. Along with newly elected French President Macron and UK Prime

Minister Theresa May. Terrorism might overshadow other concerns.

Trade should remain a key topic on the agenda. Resident Trump to find

his trade policy last year very much in opposition, against the TPP,

renegotiating Nafta. That is a core element of his political persona. He

also realises there has to be a positive agenda. It will be a few

months before the message is articulated but the message from

colleagues of the G7 will be well received, that it is not sufficient

to say what you are against. We know that these proceedings may well be

overshadowed by these terror concerns. It comes at the tail end

of his meeting with Nato is well, he wants defence spending on the rise

but what else is likely to be on the agenda because climate is one thing.

This is his first international engagement with the United States

most important allies in trading partners. I think Tone and rapport

is an important goal. Rear furring -- reaffirming commitment to the

Nato alliance. Establishing personal rapport with the other leaders. You

have to have a working relationship. In terms of a specific issue,

climate change is going to be front and centre because that is the issue

Re: what President Trump is postulated. He said the everyone he

intends to withdraw from the Paris Accord. Away from the G7, Mr Trump

has threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement

if his attempt to renegotiate the terms with Canada and Mexico doesn't

go well. Canada has been looking to Asia to drum up business. Earlier, I

spoke to the Canadian Trade Minister who has been visiting the region

doing that. He told me why Nafta is important. We are the largest kind

to the United States. We exchange about $2 billion of trade every day.

400,000 people crossing every day. The largest energy supplier to the

US. Actually, my own province is providing much of the electricity to

New York. 47 states have gathered as their primary, secondary or Treasury

market service agreement has provided millions of jobs on both

sides. 9 million jobs depends on Canada but the relationship is

unique because we do not sell to each other, we make things together.

If you look at a car, reaching the consumer, this agreement has been

good. It provides millions of middle-class jobs. This has been

done two decades ago? A rented 11 times already. We are proactive and

confident that as my counterpart said recently, this has to be in the

interests of all three parties so we are looking at these negotiations

from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau which is proactive, making sense to

Canada. Don't you think Canada will have a hard negotiation? It is

always good -- always good when you are the first client of the entity

you are going to negotiate with. We have been proactive in engaging with

the US to remind them of the breadth and depth of the relationship. The

Prime Minister has established a relationship with President Trump.

We saw it in a phone call and we have been firm in telling them, we

are going to stand firm for Canadian workers and families and I think

that is a message that is well understood in Washington. Let us

take a look at oil prices. They have fallen dramatically. This is where

they are right now. Brent Crude is flat. We see light crude well below

that psychological mark. This all comes after oil producing nations

outside of OPEC agreed to extend production cuts. Energy ministers

have been meeting in Vienna to discuss extending the cut which is

due to expire next month. Higher fuel costs have hit quarterly

profits for AirAsia, even though more passengers are travelling with

the carrier. The airline has been hurt by the strong US dollar and

higher staffing costs. Turning to India which has seen a lucrative

textiles trade with Africa. Each day, second-hand clothing arrives

from the US and Europe and the clothes are recycled into fabric for

blankets made exclusively for African consumers. But this booming

business is now struggling. This is the world's cost of capital. From

High Street brands to luxury labels, most clothes donated to charity and

appear. Every day, hundreds of tons of clothing from across the UK and

the US are right here. Torn and used clothing which would otherwise have

ended up in landfill. So the factories here play a quiet --a

vital link in the global textile recycling business. Shredded,

buttons and zippers ripped off, labels discarded. Over 140,000 tons

of clothing are processed here and every three tons of fabric produces

around 1.5 tons of yarn which is woven back into what's called shoddy

fabric. Africa is the biggest consumer for what's made here and

the industry here is worried that what was once a lucrative business

is now getting more expensive. The cost of importing this textile waste

is almost zero but once it reaches India, the custom duties,

transportation, storage and electricity and Labour costs add up.

Consumers in Africa want cheap blankets and we are struggling to

keep prices low. We run one machine a day. While the industry here is

well suited to absorb the growing supply of fast fashion from the

West, the recycled wool and cotton yarn is facing increased competition

from cheaper man-made fibres like polyester. There were more than 400

units. Now it is around 100 units. It has taken a very bad hit because

the investors is not doing well and every day, a unit is closing or

reducing production. We used to work 24 hours a day. Now it is not much

of a shift. On one hand, the demand from Africa has dipped and on the

other, there is a glut of used clothing. Even though they are

having a real environmental impact, the industry here is struggling to

make money on the recycling business. It is a race that exhibits

some of mankind's most expensive boats. The America's Cup starts

later today with racing yachts battling out one of the most

prestigious titles in the world. The yachts on display are all about

speed but what about the ones that are about luxury? If you are a

member of the superrich, the global elite, the chances are you will have

a superyacht. That comes with its own headaches like ready but the

helicopter will private submarine? That is what this boat is all about.

It's really rather special. This is the game-changer, a new vessel with

the idea that it is a support vessel for superyacht is so when you are

cruising around the Caribbean and you do not want your toys cluttering

up the deck, you have somewhere to put them. There is plenty of room on

deck. It is a 68- metre vessel. In this market, size does matter. Let's

not forget, over here, there is a special spot for your own private

submarine. And let's not forget, you need some to park your helicopter.

Underneath it, there is a hanger to keep your helicopter safe and dry

from wind and waves. This is a limited market, of course. There are

only so many people in the world with superyacht is that a big enough

to need something like this but it is there if they wanted. How much

does it cost? If you had to ask, you can't it. The markets have opened

marginally lower and that is really being hit by that huge drop in oil

prices. That's it for this addition. I Sharanjit Leyl, thank you for

watching. There was a partial resumption

of campaigning in the general election on Thursday

as the leader of UKIP --