:00:00. > :00:17.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:18. > :00:23.China or Japan takes the lead in reviving the ambitious Trans-Pacific
:00:24. > :00:27.Partnership trade deal after the US pulls out.
:00:28. > :00:29.And we look at why start-ups in India are hitting major roadblocks
:00:30. > :00:58.and struggling to raise money. They are hoping to reach a new trade
:00:59. > :01:02.arrangement. Japan is hosting them until Friday, but, without the US at
:01:03. > :01:09.the negotiating table, is there still a point? Economist Martin
:01:10. > :01:14.Schultz says yes. TPP was thought to be dead after the US was leaving,
:01:15. > :01:18.but with the EU, Japan FTA, which has been signed and brought on track
:01:19. > :01:23.to be going, there is some life still in free trade and getting
:01:24. > :01:27.things going in terms of having trading platforms, and that is the
:01:28. > :01:33.most important thing for Asia. Asia is a very attractive market. So
:01:34. > :01:38.creating a platform, even without the US, makes the entire area more
:01:39. > :01:44.attractive. Trade talks are keeping going. This is very helpful. But the
:01:45. > :01:48.linchpin of this Trans-Pacific Partnership is the United States,
:01:49. > :01:53.and it represents more than 60% of the initial members' GDP. Without
:01:54. > :02:00.the US, the 11 remaining countries will not represent a whole lot.
:02:01. > :02:06.Absolutely. It would be just 15% of world trade, and a lot of that is
:02:07. > :02:08.already covered by existing FTAs. Within Asia most countries already
:02:09. > :02:14.have that relationship, so that the question is, where is the value?
:02:15. > :02:17.It's easy to see from the American side, Canada, Mexico down to per
:02:18. > :02:22.room, they don't have these trade agreements and they are very
:02:23. > :02:25.interested. The drivers are Australia and New Zealand who needs
:02:26. > :02:30.of platform access to the Asian markets. Now Japan is getting
:02:31. > :02:34.interested because China is so active in building trade ties, so a
:02:35. > :02:38.platform without chiding that provides the potential for the US to
:02:39. > :02:42.come back is really a political incentive -- a platform without
:02:43. > :02:46.China. Do you think the Trans-Pacific Partnership will
:02:47. > :02:50.really survive? The big question is, if they get the framework going so
:02:51. > :02:55.it can exist for a while without the US, that is possible, and it will
:02:56. > :02:58.probably be possible until November, and then it's really just something
:02:59. > :03:07.that provides some good arguments for liberal US interests, or US in
:03:08. > :03:11.-- industry, to say, guys, we need to get back into trade talks. That
:03:12. > :03:16.would be really a big political positive point.
:03:17. > :03:20.The United States has officially notified South Korea that it wants
:03:21. > :03:25.to start talks next month on revising their Free Trade Agreement.
:03:26. > :03:29.The two countries have a significant trade deficit and US President
:03:30. > :03:34.Donald Trump has called the trade deal horrible. Earlier I asked an
:03:35. > :03:43.employee of McQuarrie securities for his reaction. Yes, it is about 15%
:03:44. > :03:48.of our exports, so the actual impact on negotiations would not be huge.
:03:49. > :03:54.It depends - even though it depends on the actual negotiation between
:03:55. > :04:04.Korea and the US. But obviously Trump and our government is trying
:04:05. > :04:08.to lower the trade deficit against Korea, so it could have an impact
:04:09. > :04:14.for a long time, but the actual impact on the economy would not be
:04:15. > :04:18.huge. It may not be huge, but what particular industries and areas do
:04:19. > :04:23.you think will be renegotiated by the United States with South Korea?
:04:24. > :04:31.We have many exporting products to the US, but the main product for us
:04:32. > :04:38.to sell to the US is cars, and steel products, so these two could be
:04:39. > :04:42.affected in the future. In around 30 minutes' time, South Korea's Central
:04:43. > :04:47.Bank is set to unveil their interest rate decision. The bank of Korea is
:04:48. > :04:53.expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.25%.
:04:54. > :04:56.US stock and bond markets rallying overnight after the Fed chair Janet
:04:57. > :05:01.Yellen indicated the US central bank won't rush to raise interest rates
:05:02. > :05:04.further this year. In testimony to Congress, Janet Yellen said
:05:05. > :05:09.inflation levels would be a key factor in their decision. Because
:05:10. > :05:12.the neutral rate is currently quite low by historical standards, the
:05:13. > :05:18.federal funds rate would not have the rise all that much further to
:05:19. > :05:22.get to a neutral policy stance. Speaking of central banks, Canada's
:05:23. > :05:27.currency is trading at its highest level in a year after policymakers
:05:28. > :05:32.raised borrowing costs for the first time since 2010. Its central bank
:05:33. > :05:35.raised the benchmark rate to 0.75% from 0.5% following strong economic
:05:36. > :05:43.growth. The former head of my box says he
:05:44. > :05:48.denies embezzling and wrongdoing at his trial this week. The company
:05:49. > :05:54.went bust after losing nearly $500 million worth of bit coins. He
:05:55. > :05:59.allegedly spent $3 billion of customers' money for his personal
:06:00. > :06:03.use and altered the company's books. He was arrested in 2015 after the
:06:04. > :06:11.company collapsed. In Hong Kong, many of the world's biggest
:06:12. > :06:15.companies in start-ups have gathered for Rise. It's a turbulent time for
:06:16. > :06:24.many of them after Trump Administration moved to disassemble
:06:25. > :06:28.the start-up programme. It's certainly not a concern for the
:06:29. > :06:33.United States, I don't think. In technology for a number of years now
:06:34. > :06:36.I don't think the US is any longer seen as the capital or central
:06:37. > :06:40.technology, certainly not silicon valley. Thomas Friedman wrote a book
:06:41. > :06:45.quite some time ago saying the world is flat but the world is very much
:06:46. > :06:49.tilted, and it has tilted in the direction of China and Asia, and I
:06:50. > :06:52.think that's reflected in the fact that the number of American
:06:53. > :06:57.start-ups here this week has more than doubled year over year. So Asia
:06:58. > :07:02.will now be the linchpin for technology innovation going forward?
:07:03. > :07:09.I think it's certainly more diversifies in the world. Chen Zen,
:07:10. > :07:14.a long time ago, arguably became the hardware centre of the world, and
:07:15. > :07:18.the number of start-ups coming out of Beijing every month is greater
:07:19. > :07:21.than anywhere else in the world, and the amount of venture capital being
:07:22. > :07:26.deployed in China alone is unprecedented. So all the indicators
:07:27. > :07:36.are that the activity is switching. Paddy Cosgrave in Hong Kong.
:07:37. > :07:40.India has become known as a good place but competition is tough and
:07:41. > :07:44.many ventures have failed. Some companies are failing to raise money
:07:45. > :07:50.and are laying off employees. What are the ramifications for industry?
:07:51. > :07:54.When this woman set up her business, she fulfilled a lifelong dream. She
:07:55. > :08:01.always wanted to work in education, and so, in 2013, she started Purple
:08:02. > :08:05.Squirrel, a company that organise work experience trips for college
:08:06. > :08:10.students. But despite a promising start, she was forced to shut shop
:08:11. > :08:13.within three years. We were not generating enough profits to sustain
:08:14. > :08:21.operations, and given that we did require funds, we didn't have as
:08:22. > :08:28.many options as investors who truly understood the fabric of an
:08:29. > :08:31.education industry. In 2015, Indian start-ups received more than $8
:08:32. > :08:37.billion worth of investments. But last year that was down by more than
:08:38. > :08:43.50%, and that's forced many ventures to shut down. In 2015, the figure
:08:44. > :08:50.was 250, and it was more than 300 last year. The warning signs had
:08:51. > :08:53.been around for a while with some of India's most well-known companies
:08:54. > :08:59.taking drastic steps to cut costs. That has lead to uncertainty for
:09:00. > :09:03.those working in the industry. People like this man. After five
:09:04. > :09:07.years of working with start-ups, he chose to move back to the corporate
:09:08. > :09:13.world. There's a lot of fear, there's a lot of insecurity in the
:09:14. > :09:16.minds for people, because, when they join an organisation, they obviously
:09:17. > :09:20.want to make a career out of it, but eventually when you see that the
:09:21. > :09:26.organisation does not really treat them as a valuable resource, and
:09:27. > :09:30.they basically leave them in a hire and fire kind of strategy, it really
:09:31. > :09:34.puts them down. That hasn't put off these entrepreneurs. They've come to
:09:35. > :09:38.this workshop to hear from fellow business founders about their
:09:39. > :09:42.journey to success. But success in the start-up space will rely on
:09:43. > :09:45.funding and, until the investment climate improves, it will be
:09:46. > :09:51.difficult for the industry, which India is so well-known for, to fully
:09:52. > :09:56.bounce back. Let's have a look now at the
:09:57. > :10:02.markets. A positive start so far for the regional forces:
:10:03. > :10:10.This is after the rallies are being led by the US gains overnight, and,
:10:11. > :10:15.as Janet Yellen said, she foresees graduate rate hikes even as the US
:10:16. > :10:19.economy grows stronger. On Wall Street, another record breaking day
:10:20. > :10:24.for the Dow Jones industrial average, up by 123 points:
:10:25. > :10:28.Thank you for investing your time with us. Sport Today is coming up
:10:29. > :10:39.next. The nominated head of the FBI has
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:10:47. > :10:49.intervention in last year's American