:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:24.America first or made in India? Well Trump hails Narendra Modi for
:00:25. > :00:28.boosting the economy, there are several thorny issues which could
:00:29. > :00:32.make for an uncomfortable visit. And as we mark the 20th anniversary of
:00:33. > :00:38.the Asian financial turmoil, we met with South Koreans who sacrifices
:00:39. > :00:47.were worth their weight in gold. -- whose sacrifices. Good morning Asia,
:00:48. > :00:54.hello world. It is a Tuesday. Glad you could join us for this edition
:00:55. > :00:59.of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon and as we recorded on Newsday,
:01:00. > :01:02.Narendra Modi has just met with Donald Trump at the White House.
:01:03. > :01:06.Both men portray themselves as outsiders and promised to bring back
:01:07. > :01:11.jobs during their campaigns. President Trump had this to say
:01:12. > :01:15.about his counterpart. Thank you very much. It is a great honour to
:01:16. > :01:20.have Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who has been such a great
:01:21. > :01:23.prime minister. I have been speaking of him and reading about you, and
:01:24. > :01:28.you have done a great job economically, and India is doing
:01:29. > :01:32.very well, and in so many other ways. So I would like to
:01:33. > :01:39.congratulate you. I would like to congratulate you very much. Well,
:01:40. > :01:43.despite the praise, there are some thorny issues that they need to
:01:44. > :01:48.address. But, as our North America business correspondent told me
:01:49. > :01:51.earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not waste his time meeting
:01:52. > :01:57.with some take bosses in Silicon Valley before meeting with the
:01:58. > :02:01.President. Modi made a stop on Sunday where he met with some
:02:02. > :02:08.executives of big American tech companies. Obviously the two have a
:02:09. > :02:13.close tie, these two countries, in part. Many of the American
:02:14. > :02:17.technology giants depend a lot on intellectual capital, if you like,
:02:18. > :02:22.that comes from technology workers from India. That is actually one of
:02:23. > :02:30.the sources of tension when he met with Donald Trump. They were keen to
:02:31. > :02:35.downplay the issue of the H-1B these are when the two met a short while
:02:36. > :02:39.ago. When they stood at the podium and gave their speech Donald Trump
:02:40. > :02:44.gave a joking reference to the fact that he wanted America to be as
:02:45. > :02:50.fast-growing as the Indian economy was, and he hoped that certainly it
:02:51. > :02:54.could start to see the rapid increase in GDP growth that India
:02:55. > :03:01.was currently enjoying. And currently that H-1B these are's
:03:02. > :03:05.status is under review by the Trump administration and during his visit
:03:06. > :03:10.both countries will try and come up with a middle ground. Yes, watching
:03:11. > :03:15.these two leaders speak, they were keen to emphasise what the countries
:03:16. > :03:18.have in common and to avoid going too dip into some of the trade
:03:19. > :03:25.tensions which exist. You mentioned the H-1B Visa. That is one area I
:03:26. > :03:29.suspect that Narendra Modi was keen not to push too hard, this programme
:03:30. > :03:34.which allows American companies to hire hi-tech workers from abroad,
:03:35. > :03:41.who may be paid less. It certainly has benefited Indian workers. About
:03:42. > :03:45.70% of those visas go to Indian nationals. In particular that has
:03:46. > :03:49.benefited Indian technology companies, not at this meeting, like
:03:50. > :03:53.I say, they didn't want to dwell on it too much. It makes for a
:03:54. > :03:57.difficult meeting at a time when Donald Trump has emphasised America
:03:58. > :04:01.first and talked tough on immigration. So this was really all
:04:02. > :04:07.about trying to emphasise what these countries have in common. Now to the
:04:08. > :04:11.latest developments with the UK's decision to leave the EU and the
:04:12. > :04:16.government has outlined in some detail what will happen to EU
:04:17. > :04:21.citizens in the UK once Brexit happens. Here is the Prime Minister
:04:22. > :04:25.speaking earlier. I know there has been some anxiety about what would
:04:26. > :04:31.happen to EU citizens at the point we leave the European Union. Today I
:04:32. > :04:36.want to put that anxiety to rest. I want to completely reassure people
:04:37. > :04:40.that under these plans no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be
:04:41. > :04:44.asked to leave at the point the UK leads the EU. We want you to stay.
:04:45. > :04:52.In other business news making headlines, troubled electronics
:04:53. > :04:57.giant Toshiba will sell its business as early as today. They have been in
:04:58. > :05:01.final negotiations with a group led by the Japanese government. And the
:05:02. > :05:05.summer meeting of the World Economic Forum is taking off today. At this
:05:06. > :05:09.year's event, innovation and sustainability rank high on the
:05:10. > :05:16.agenda and according to industry research China is now home to almost
:05:17. > :05:19.100 unicorns, private companies worth more than 1 billion US
:05:20. > :05:26.dollars, and their combined value is estimated to be a staggering 445
:05:27. > :05:30.billion US dollars. Earlier I spoke to our correspondent about
:05:31. > :05:36.innovation with a Chinese touch. There is a lot under discussion,
:05:37. > :05:43.about things like Artificial Intelligence. I think there are
:05:44. > :05:48.three different panels on AI and the impact AI will have. So innovation
:05:49. > :05:52.and automation and AI are big on the agenda as well as China's role in
:05:53. > :05:58.the world. Are western countries now viewing China as a country of
:05:59. > :06:02.innovation, or is it still being branded as a land of copycats? I
:06:03. > :06:07.think there still is a belief that China is a land of copycats, but I
:06:08. > :06:12.think that was five or ten years ago. You have now... I heard about a
:06:13. > :06:17.company in the States two weeks ago which is trying to emulate a
:06:18. > :06:23.communications platform in China so we now have western companies going
:06:24. > :06:26.to China for ideas. Things like financial services and payment
:06:27. > :06:34.technologies in China are far ahead of the West. But how does China
:06:35. > :06:37.right now, Tony, stacked up in terms of innovation vis-a-vis the
:06:38. > :06:42.Japanese, the South Koreans, the Americans and the western Europeans?
:06:43. > :06:45.When you look at things like intellectual property and patent and
:06:46. > :06:51.that kind of thing, China is now ahead of all of them except the US.
:06:52. > :06:55.It is expected to catch up with the US at some point. The real issue is
:06:56. > :07:00.around the efficacy of those patterns. How often are they
:07:01. > :07:08.referenced, how powerful are they, that sort of thing -- patents. They
:07:09. > :07:12.are not there in terms of number, but they are getting there. And as
:07:13. > :07:17.we mentioned yesterday, it is nearly 20 years since the Asian financial
:07:18. > :07:21.crisis and during that time banks throughout Southeast Asia were in
:07:22. > :07:24.danger of collapsing. South Korea was brought to its knees and
:07:25. > :07:28.accepted a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. The
:07:29. > :07:34.nation's women donated their own gold to help protect the economy.
:07:35. > :07:42.Our correspondent Steve Evans met with one of the women. 20 years ago,
:07:43. > :07:47.ordinary citizens took the wedding rings from their fingers and gave
:07:48. > :07:53.them away to their country. TV campaigns mobilised South Korea as
:07:54. > :07:58.it ran out of money to buy imports. Banks were on the verge of
:07:59. > :08:03.bankruptcy. A third of the country's biggest conglomerates were bankrupt.
:08:04. > :08:11.One of the ordinary people who stepped in was this woman. She was
:08:12. > :08:15.honoured later for her patriotism. TRANSLATION: We gave rings that were
:08:16. > :08:20.gifts when our children were born, and when I got married. They had
:08:21. > :08:26.great sentimental value, but we decided to sell them to save the
:08:27. > :08:31.nation. So, 20 years on, was it all worth it? TRANSLATION: Of course it
:08:32. > :08:37.was worth it. I believe we played a part in helping the country at a
:08:38. > :08:43.time of crisis. I have no regrets, and I still feel proud about it. But
:08:44. > :08:48.there was also opposition at the time, as belts were tightened.
:08:49. > :08:54.Government spending was cut. Painful change was made. In return for
:08:55. > :09:03.which, the IMF stepped in with $60 billion. This man was the Korean
:09:04. > :09:13.ambassador who did the deal. Panic, a sense of panic. It was regionwide.
:09:14. > :09:18.That is why it they call it the Asian financial crisis. It was just
:09:19. > :09:24.a great nightmare. That nightmare is over. Just look around you. This
:09:25. > :09:28.country thrives. The crisis was caused primarily because the banks
:09:29. > :09:35.were unstable. They had lent much money. Sure, the IMF came with its
:09:36. > :09:41.help, and sure, the people gave their gold. But governments here
:09:42. > :09:50.also restructured the economy. Patriotism, certainly, but more
:09:51. > :09:54.importantly, better policy. And tomorrow, Wednesday, we will be
:09:55. > :09:58.looking at the struggles faced the Indonesian economy during the
:09:59. > :10:03.financial turmoil, and it is to recovery for closer look at how far
:10:04. > :10:06.these economies have come two decades after the Asian financial
:10:07. > :10:11.crisis. Tune into our special programme going out this weekend,
:10:12. > :10:15.starting on Saturday. And before we go, here is a look at the markets.
:10:16. > :10:20.Let's have a quick look where they stand in early Asian trade. Some
:10:21. > :10:27.unpredictability. The Nikkei 225 up, the All Ordinaries down. This
:10:28. > :10:30.despite Wall Street closing volatile with defensive sectors emerging as
:10:31. > :10:34.the best performers. Thank you so much for investing your time with
:10:35. > :10:35.us. I am Rico Hizon. Sport