:00:11. > :00:13.This is BBC World News. The top story...
:00:14. > :00:16.World leaders have condemned the massive bomb attack in Kabul
:00:17. > :00:20.Many of the casualties were civilians on the way to work.
:00:21. > :00:22.The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has described the attack
:00:23. > :00:27.The Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is in Germany, where he's been
:00:28. > :00:28.holding talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
:00:29. > :00:36.Climate change and trade are expected to top the agenda.
:00:37. > :00:43.This BBC video -- this video is trending on the BBC website...
:00:44. > :00:45.It shows marathon runner Dion Leonard and the dog
:00:46. > :00:48.which adopted him, as he ran a 260 kilometre endurance race in China.
:00:49. > :00:50.He's been telling the BBC about how they bonded,
:00:51. > :00:58.and what happened when the dog went missing in Western China.
:00:59. > :01:09.One of the biggest debates of the election campaign has
:01:10. > :01:12.Seven party representatives were involved - including the Labour
:01:13. > :01:17.The Prime Minister Theresa May did not take part.
:01:18. > :01:33.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:01:34. > :01:40.Back in the club. Pakistan reclaims its status as an investment
:01:41. > :01:46.destination. Our oil investors react? And, find out why this
:01:47. > :01:58.airport in South Asia is not popular with travellers or airlines...
:01:59. > :02:03.Welcome to Asia Business Report. A big day for Pakistan, one that
:02:04. > :02:09.brings a boost to the country's stock market as today is when
:02:10. > :02:16.Pakistan rejoice the MSCI emerging markets index, that list looks at
:02:17. > :02:22.top rank stocks from around the world, they use those lists to
:02:23. > :02:26.determine where and how much to invest in stocks. It signals that
:02:27. > :02:29.things could be turning around for a nation where political and terror
:02:30. > :02:34.related problems have taken centre stage. Pakistan used to be part of
:02:35. > :02:39.the index but was removed due to the decision to shut down for four
:02:40. > :02:42.months in late 2008 after prices dropped dramatically meaning foreign
:02:43. > :02:50.investors could not get their money out. We are joined by our
:02:51. > :02:58.correspondent now. Why are they back in the club? Well, I think if you
:02:59. > :03:02.take a look at the performance of the stock exchange, versus the MSCI
:03:03. > :03:07.emerging markets index, the grass itself can tell you pretty much
:03:08. > :03:13.everything about why the MSCI has decided to re-include Pakistan back
:03:14. > :03:16.into its emerging markets index. This blue line, consistently
:03:17. > :03:22.outperforming emerging markets. That is not all. I spoke to be CEO of the
:03:23. > :03:26.Pakistan stock exchange. He told me prior to this that the stock market
:03:27. > :03:30.has taken some major reforms in Pakistan. There has been a lot of
:03:31. > :03:36.lobbying and corporate governance going on. There's the issue of
:03:37. > :03:40.better economic growth, that everyone is not amused about -- not
:03:41. > :03:45.everyone is amused about this. Someone said to me that perhaps
:03:46. > :03:49.Pakistan has bitten off more than it can chew... It is great for
:03:50. > :03:56.Pakistan's ego, they love the idea that now we are no longer in the
:03:57. > :04:02.frontier, we are in the respectable index. But, they must remember that
:04:03. > :04:07.before they were a big fish in a small pond. It was about 8% waiting
:04:08. > :04:15.in the frontier index, now it is maybe 1%, or less, waiting. They are
:04:16. > :04:20.a small fish in the big pond now. That was Mark may be speaking. We
:04:21. > :04:24.looked at the charts, pretty impressive gains there. It does not
:04:25. > :04:29.take away from the fact that Pakistan is somewhat scary a place
:04:30. > :04:37.with terror attacks and Osama Bin Laden's death as well. Doesn't it
:04:38. > :04:40.put off investors? You are right, we should not underestimate how much of
:04:41. > :04:44.a major blow to confidence many of those terror related to tax and
:04:45. > :04:51.political problems we have seen in Pakistan have been, not just for
:04:52. > :04:55.foreign investors but domestic investors. This data surprised me
:04:56. > :05:00.when I researched the story that I put in my blog on the website today.
:05:01. > :05:04.Look at these figures coming out of Pakistan for more than a decade.
:05:05. > :05:13.There is that dip in economic growth, in mid-2000 GT many of the
:05:14. > :05:19.financial problems. Then you have that trajectory upwards. 5% growth
:05:20. > :05:23.rate, respectable in this part of the world. A big domestic
:05:24. > :05:26.consumption story reflected in the performance of the Karachi stock
:05:27. > :05:34.exchange over 20 years. Look at this chart. All of those terror related
:05:35. > :05:38.incidents we talked about, political issues like the assassination of the
:05:39. > :05:43.former Prime Minister, every time these things happen, there is a dip,
:05:44. > :05:49.an impact on the stock market but Pakistani shares tend to do very
:05:50. > :05:54.well over a long-term period. People I spoke to who invested in the
:05:55. > :05:57.market over that ten or 20 year horizon have done remarkably well.
:05:58. > :06:03.There is the fact that China is investing in Pakistan with the
:06:04. > :06:09.Chinese Pakistan economic cadre, part of one belt, one road. That
:06:10. > :06:16.plan that China has. We will see more investment there. Turning to
:06:17. > :06:19.neighbouring India, it has lost its title as the world's fastest-growing
:06:20. > :06:26.major economy. In the first three months of 2017, the rate was 6.1%,
:06:27. > :06:32.compared to China which was 6.9% growing in the first three months.
:06:33. > :06:37.It is thought to be due to the bank's ban on big banknotes. General
:06:38. > :06:42.Electric and Caterpillar are among the first to tie up deals with
:06:43. > :06:50.Vietnam. The boss of the low-cost carrier there has two group AG five
:06:51. > :06:57.billion dollars. The Prime Minister in the middle here with the trade
:06:58. > :07:01.Secretary has said he expects up to $17 billion worth of deals to be
:07:02. > :07:05.signed during his trip to meet the US president Donald Trump. The USA
:07:06. > :07:11.expressed concern about the rapid growth of Vietnam's death said. A
:07:12. > :07:15.Chinese activist has been detained while investigating alleged rights
:07:16. > :07:20.abuses. The man was working undercover at a factory making shoes
:07:21. > :07:25.for the US President's daughter's shoe company. Most people look to
:07:26. > :07:30.pharmaceutical firms to provide life-saving medicine but do not give
:07:31. > :07:34.much thought as to how critical drugs are transported. Extreme
:07:35. > :07:38.temperatures can affect the effectiveness of the drug. This is
:07:39. > :07:45.where drug distribution companies come in. The chief executive of one
:07:46. > :07:49.firm told us that they are focusing on getting medicine to some of
:07:50. > :07:54.Asia's poorest countries. Some countries still have frontier
:07:55. > :07:59.tenancies, there is a lot of building still to do. The
:08:00. > :08:05.Philippines, my mother with a population of 60 million people and
:08:06. > :08:09.a huge democratic future ahead. -- Myanmar. Hopefully it will bring in
:08:10. > :08:15.opportunities. Our competitors have been there a while, but it is time
:08:16. > :08:21.for some change. Unusually, you sold out of your Chinese state, out of
:08:22. > :08:27.the Chinese market. Are you potentially losing out on growth? I
:08:28. > :08:32.learned in my various guises by working in China that you either go
:08:33. > :08:36.big or not at all. Half in and half out, you get murdered. It was a
:08:37. > :08:39.competitive market in China. There was a lot of working capital
:08:40. > :08:48.required to succeed and we would never have had the resources to do
:08:49. > :08:52.China justice. Cardinal health are doing a very good job. It would have
:08:53. > :08:55.meant we had to close down other operations in other markets where we
:08:56. > :09:00.have leadership positions. I would rather be a strong leader in the
:09:01. > :09:04.markets I operate in rather than be a weak player in China where local
:09:05. > :09:10.players have me for breakfast. You have got quite big clients and drug
:09:11. > :09:18.companies, like GS K, Pfizer, Novartis, this has been impacted
:09:19. > :09:23.greatly by consolidation. How has it impacted you as a drug distributor?
:09:24. > :09:27.You win some and you lose some, we have had some major changes in the
:09:28. > :09:31.last three or four years. We benefited from some of those as
:09:32. > :09:36.partners see us as a long-term safe haven, and sometimes it goes the
:09:37. > :09:40.other way. We live with the reality that there is consolidation and
:09:41. > :09:42.there needs to be, as different companies focus on certain
:09:43. > :09:46.therapeutic areas, we live with the reality. It does not damage us,
:09:47. > :09:55.sometimes it helps and sometimes it hinders. Now, take a look at this.
:09:56. > :09:59.That is the tarmac of an airport in Sri Lanka that has been dubbed the
:10:00. > :10:05.world's emptiest International Airport. It cost about $1 billion to
:10:06. > :10:11.build, funded by loans from China. But why is it hardly in use? Our
:10:12. > :10:22.team went there to the International Airport to find out...
:10:23. > :10:27.is Sri Lanka's second International Airport after Columbo in the south
:10:28. > :10:42.of the country, and opened in 2013. I'm told there is not much going on
:10:43. > :10:48.here. Let's have a look... Slider by is the chief flight operator from
:10:49. > :10:54.this airport. It goes from Columbo to Dubai. And it is the only airline
:10:55. > :11:01.that operates? Yes. At the moment. How many passengers do you get per
:11:02. > :11:02.week? Per day, we can say about 50 to 75% of guests departing from this
:11:03. > :11:33.airport. Let's have a look at the markets
:11:34. > :11:39.before we go. Japan's McKay has opened and it is at 1% higher. There
:11:40. > :11:43.was a rebound in oil prices. They have fallen to a three-week low,
:11:44. > :11:46.helping resource related stock. That's all for this edition of Asia
:11:47. > :11:48.Business Report. Thank you for