07/08/2017 Asia Business Report


07/08/2017

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I'm Babita Sharma with the BBC News headlines.

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China urges North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile

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programmes after the UN approves new sanctions.

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The measures aim to deprive Pyongyang of more than $1 billion

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China says that sanctions are needed, but has been

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A government-backed investigation in Myanmar has rejected allegations

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that its military committed atrocities against Rohingya Muslims

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The UN argued it's likely that crimes against humanity

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And this story is trending on bbc.com.

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Iranian MPs have been urged to take courses in universal moral values

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after some of them crowded around EU diplomat Federica Mogherini to take

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Some social media users said MPs had embarrassed the nation.

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The Government has launched a review into the cost of energy,

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But critics have questioned what the inquiry, to be completed

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by the end of October, will actually achieve.

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

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The UN hits North Korea with its harshest sanctions yet over its

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nuclear and missile programme. And trading in big bucks for cash.

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Sowing the seeds of a childhood dream. Good morning, Asia. Hello,

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world. Welcome to another edition of Asia Business Report. It's a Monday.

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I am Marika Oi. The UN Security Council unanimously approved tougher

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sanctions against North Korea which could cost the country $1 billion a

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year. The US and China agree to the new measures after a month of talks

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with the hope they will pressure Pyongyang back to the negotiating

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table. Our reporter is on the story. Tell us the details of these new

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sanctions. As you mentioned, it is the toughest yet. Critically, China

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is on board. For these new sanctions to be effective, China needs to step

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up to the plate, which they seem to have done. They take 90% of the

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trade with North Korea. International sanctions are looking

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to hurt North Korea where it hurts most, the economy. They will do this

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in three ways, banning key exports of coal, seafood, and iron and lead.

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The second is banning new joint ventures with the country and

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investment. Even Egyptian firms are operating in Pyongyang already. The

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third aspect is the 100 thousand North Koreans working overseas. Now,

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no more guest workers are allowed from North Korea. That is to cut the

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money going back to Pyongyang. It is one thing to agree on new sanctions.

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In the past, we had issues of actually enforcing them. Can they

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and forced them this time? China has been accused in the past of not

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implementing sanctions. They have always wanted a softer approach with

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Pyongyang. They don't want the regime run by Kim Jong-un to

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collapse and they would have a refugee situation on the doorstep.

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They support this because they would face secondary sanctions from

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America. As they are the biggest trading partners with each other,

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China cannot afford that either. The records keep coming from US markets.

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Just last week, the Dow Jones industrial average broke 22,000

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points for the first time ever. Look at the numbers from Friday! Well

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above that psychological mark. What does this high valuation tell us

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about the economy? We have this report from New York. US markets

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have been doing this a lot lately, reaching record-breaking milestones,

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something everyone is taking notice of, even the president. The stock

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market hit an all-time record high today, over 22,000. We have picked

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up substantially now, more than $4 trillion in net worth in terms of

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our country, our stocks, our companies to bite it is true

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companies are on a record-breaking move. Amazon hit an all-time high.

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That is giving to these high as. As US markets go higher and higher, we

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should see more companies going public and listing on places like

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the New York Stock Exchange. But that is not happening. In fact,

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quite the opposite. The number of US companies that are listed are

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actually going down. Over the last decade, the number

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-- 3671. Nowadays, they have bank loans and even go overseas for

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investment. If there are less companies trading on the market,

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where has all this cash gone? People are wondering, if market

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capitalisations are as healthy as they are, and yet there are so many

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fewer firms, it must mean the typical firm is much larger than it

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once was. We are seeing that and lots of evidence is pointing that

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way up is furthermore, there is a much greater concentration of that

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capital in certain kinds of firms. That kind of thing does not help the

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broader US economy. Regulators are taking note. The president should

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use caution before taking credit. BBC News, New York. It has been two

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months since several Middle Eastern countries and Egypt cut ties with

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Qatar for alleged ties to terrorism, which the country denies. That has

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changed the environment of the wealthy countries. How much of an

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impact has been on businesses, it in particular the financial industry?

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There is definitely an impact. It is significant. In terms of financial

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stability, Qatar is a stable economy. They have resources. They

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have sovereign funds and Central Bank cash of $40 billion, twice the

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GDP. That is the long-term stable financial support. That will be the

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proactive support for the bank and business model. At the same time, we

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have seen the blockade. They want to move from WA2 to WA3. It doesn't

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mean anything. The financial stability of Qatar is a given in the

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long-term. The overall impact will be very, very minimal. What about

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foreign deposit, though? They have fallen sharply, in fact, the most in

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almost two years. That must have an impact on your business. Yes. There

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is a drain on deposits. There are knee-jerk reactions. This is unheard

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of. It has destabilised things in terms of those deposits. That is

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locally. Look at the demographics. And also, the outflow is $6 billion

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which is insignificant compared to the net assets Qatar has got. Yes,

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it is drained, but it is not significant. $6 billion is outflow.

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They have to mobilise short-term liquidity. That is precisely what

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happened. Japan's agriculture industry is facing an acute

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shortage. The number of farmers has fallen 20% in the last decade. The

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country is having to rely heavily on imports of food. That is why

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governments in Japan are trying to encourage start-ups. I met a

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28-year-old entrepreneur who has taken a huge pay cut to pursue her

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passion. Moving to a farming out it. This 28-year-old was once a

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highflying consultant for McKenzie. Today she is the Chief Executive of

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a small start-up called SenseSprout. It is a sensor that measures

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temperatures and ground moisture. Farmers can understand what is going

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on in the soil from their house, even when they are travelling

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abroad. These new ideas are what the government wants to encourage in the

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agriculture industry. So they receive funding from the government.

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We still need support from the government because it is not

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something that can become profitable overnight. First of all, we have to

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wait for the plants to grow to get the experiment results. At lunch, I

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asked her how farmers react to her being a young female CEO. There is a

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bit of competition. Especially in 30s and 40s. They tend to welcome us

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a light. It is more like ignorance, though. For younger farmers, the

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technology has allowed them to be more efficient. Chants we used to

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rely on our gut feeling. -- TRANSLATION:. There was no way of

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finding out how accurate we were. A product like this is very useful.

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Until recently, these sensors were rented out for free. Today, the

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company has several customers who pay $1000 per sensor. But it meant a

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big gamble for Lisa. Financially, I get enough money to support myself,

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so it is OK. I am still learning, but it is a series of interesting

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challenges. Convincing more young people to follow her footsteps is

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what the government needs to do to jumpstart the economy. We will show

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you the markets before we go. Asian markets are higher because of the

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strong jobs numbers from the United States on Friday. That is it for

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this edition of Asia Business

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