:00:00. > :00:16.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:17. > :00:24.Typical storm Harvey takes its toll on the oil industry. The lip pump up
:00:25. > :00:28.gas prices here in Asia? And on South Korean electronics giant that
:00:29. > :00:39.the green light to test drive -- automatic cars. It's a Friday
:00:40. > :00:44.everyone! Good morning, Asia, hello, world, thank you for joining us for
:00:45. > :00:48.Asia Business Report, I'm Rico Hizon. Starting with hurricane
:00:49. > :00:52.Harvey and it may have weakened but flooding continues to wreak havoc on
:00:53. > :00:56.parts of the south-east portion of the United States, some projections
:00:57. > :01:01.show it may be the costliest national disaster in US history. The
:01:02. > :01:05.Houston area is home to America's oil and gas industry, the country 's
:01:06. > :01:09.largest refinery will be shut down for at least two weeks and other
:01:10. > :01:15.refineries along the Gulf coast are off-line as well. Let's take a look
:01:16. > :01:20.at the updated numbers for the oil markets in Asian trade. It rose
:01:21. > :01:27.overnight in New York trading but in the early Asian trading it is
:01:28. > :01:33.slightly down. I spoke earlier with energy analyst Suzanne Minter about
:01:34. > :01:40.the impact on Asia. The US imports on average 3.7 million, net, 3.7
:01:41. > :01:43.million barrels a day of crude into the Gulf Coast which currently is
:01:44. > :01:49.having to find markets elsewhere. But when we look at Asia and I look
:01:50. > :01:54.at China in particular, let's say, for example, China was one of the
:01:55. > :01:57.largest Asian offtake is of US crude in May and June but the year-to-date
:01:58. > :02:02.China has only been averaging 200,000 barrels a day of US import
:02:03. > :02:09.and utterly represents less than 1.5% to Chinese refining capacity.
:02:10. > :02:13.However as I said everyone is focused on oil but we look at the
:02:14. > :02:18.petrochemical sector, the US's exports 1.2 million barrels a day of
:02:19. > :02:23.propane and butane. Half of which has been moving to Asia. Energy
:02:24. > :02:30.analyst Suzanne Minter in Denver, Colorado. India's economy is showing
:02:31. > :02:36.signs of slowing, its GDP growing by just about 6% in the quarter ending
:02:37. > :02:40.in June. It is a big drop from the previous quarter and slower than the
:02:41. > :02:46.7% expansion in the same quarter of last year. So why did it hit a
:02:47. > :02:51.three-year low? The latest economic growth figure clearly suggest that
:02:52. > :02:55.the economy is still to recover from the cash ban decision that was
:02:56. > :02:58.introduced last year. The government banned 90 cent of the cash in
:02:59. > :03:05.circulation, practically overnight. Since then, expansion plans have
:03:06. > :03:09.been affected with small and medium-sized businesses struggling.
:03:10. > :03:14.The economic figure doesn't take into account the performance of
:03:15. > :03:19.small businesses and the unorganised sector which constitutes more than
:03:20. > :03:23.50% of the total economic output in India. These segments were the worst
:03:24. > :03:27.hit after the cash ban. It means the slowdown may be even more severe
:03:28. > :03:33.than the latest figures suggest. On Wednesday India's central bank said
:03:34. > :03:37.99% of the banknotes which were banned have already returned to the
:03:38. > :03:41.system. Analyst for it makes the cash ban a failure. The exercise was
:03:42. > :03:45.aimed at weeding out unaccounted wealth or so-called black money. The
:03:46. > :03:50.worst the economy may still not be over with the introduction of the
:03:51. > :03:56.GST which came into effect in July. This reform is expected to overhaul
:03:57. > :04:00.the way businesses pay tax in India. Small businesses are finding it
:04:01. > :04:06.difficult to adapt and this will delay expansion plans. The IMF and
:04:07. > :04:10.World Bank had estimated India's economy would grow by more than 7%
:04:11. > :04:18.in 2017 out with these latest figures coming in, the target looks
:04:19. > :04:22.difficult. To achieve. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be meeting
:04:23. > :04:34.with resilient president later today ahead of the ninth annual summit of
:04:35. > :04:38.nations known as BRICS. China is now the South American country's largest
:04:39. > :04:41.trading partner. Brazil recently came out of its worst recession in
:04:42. > :04:47.history written by agricultural growth. As a South American
:04:48. > :04:53.correspondent reports, a good harvest may not be enough to save
:04:54. > :04:58.the economy in the long run. Work never stops in these fields in
:04:59. > :05:02.Brazil. Today they are covered in white as farmers harvesting cotton.
:05:03. > :05:07.Just a few weeks from now, the land will be cleared to make way for soya
:05:08. > :05:14.bean plantations. This farmer knows how important his farm is to Brazil.
:05:15. > :05:18.Ablation macro we saved the country 's economy busier, it is impossible
:05:19. > :05:22.to imagine what Brazil will look like without its farmers today. From
:05:23. > :05:25.the small ones to the big plantations, we are helping the
:05:26. > :05:29.country get through the hard times. Agriculture accounts for more than
:05:30. > :05:33.one fifth of Brazil's economic output. This year's bumper harvest
:05:34. > :05:39.means the sector will grow by more than 10%. If Brazil's agriculture
:05:40. > :05:47.sector was a single country, it would be growing faster than any
:05:48. > :05:53.other nation on the planet. This man isn't only a farmer, revenues from
:05:54. > :05:59.agriculture have transformed this city, each breast of the best funded
:06:00. > :06:05.schools in Brazil or even after the town's population tripled in size
:06:06. > :06:10.over the last decade. But despite positive stories, in the town,
:06:11. > :06:15.infrastructure outside could stall the engine of growth. The long road
:06:16. > :06:20.for Brazilian exports to markets like China, Europe and the US starts
:06:21. > :06:24.here that this is one of the worst roads in Brazil. You can see there
:06:25. > :06:27.is no movement at all. It will take days for these trucks to reach the
:06:28. > :06:35.coast and that makes resilient products about 10% more expensive.
:06:36. > :06:41.Our transportation isn't adequate for the country. We need more
:06:42. > :06:53.railroads. If we change our matrix, we would save around 100 billion, a
:06:54. > :07:00.year, that means 30 billion dollars a year. But building better roads
:07:01. > :07:03.and railways is expensive and Brazil's government is
:07:04. > :07:08.cash-strapped. Posterity is still confined to the country's highly
:07:09. > :07:11.productive fields. A bumper harvest may help end of recession but it
:07:12. > :07:20.will not fix Brazil's more serious problems. Samsung has been granted
:07:21. > :07:24.permission to test the self driving cars in California. The approval
:07:25. > :07:30.comes several months after the South Korean technology giant rocked US
:07:31. > :07:34.supplier Harman International for $8 billion. It will now go head-to-head
:07:35. > :07:40.with other silicon valley rivals who are also developing and testing
:07:41. > :07:44.autonomous vehicles. We are now joined by a leash. This is a new
:07:45. > :07:51.initiative for Samsung. It fits with that other businesses. They make
:07:52. > :07:55.smartphones, is, memory chips, LCD, these all require advanced
:07:56. > :07:58.technology that they are looking to channel into autonomous cars. The
:07:59. > :08:05.permit they have in California is one of 39, others include a pool,
:08:06. > :08:10.Google's alphabets, Huber, Tesla, some really big names. Samsung says
:08:11. > :08:16.they are not planning on making any cars, the commission they have will
:08:17. > :08:20.see them used three vehicles to test out software and sensors, survey
:08:21. > :08:24.plan to use a tour to previous as well is to different Audi cars. It
:08:25. > :08:29.is interesting because some companies are building the entire
:08:30. > :08:34.thing, Tesla for example, and Google had this division called Wayne more
:08:35. > :08:38.and they try to build their own car but have scrapped the Saint indeed
:08:39. > :08:43.using a Chrysler model. So it is a convergence of Samsung ' knowledge
:08:44. > :08:48.is. But it is being tested in silicon valley, will be tested in
:08:49. > :08:51.South Korea? Samsung actually got permission from the South Korean
:08:52. > :08:55.government earlier this year to put the driving cars on the road. They
:08:56. > :08:59.want to be a leader in the space. They are already quite advanced
:09:00. > :09:04.among Asian economies. They have five G and four G when it comes to
:09:05. > :09:09.mobile network. So when it comes to other parts of the world, Singapore
:09:10. > :09:14.for example, we have other companies testing self driving cars and in
:09:15. > :09:18.China as well, plans to put cars on the road by 2020, and Toyota, the
:09:19. > :09:21.biggest carmaker in Japan, are planning to put $1 billion into
:09:22. > :09:26.research and development in the areas of Asia is definitely going to
:09:27. > :09:30.be a leader in the space as well. We are moving forward but my question
:09:31. > :09:34.is would you write an autonomous car? A self driving car? Some of
:09:35. > :09:38.these don't have pedals or steering wheels and I don't think I would get
:09:39. > :09:42.into them because it was like being stuck in a cable car. I'm scared!
:09:43. > :09:48.Especially during the testing period! Think you for joining us.
:09:49. > :09:52.All right, before we go, let's have a look now at the markets. Positive
:09:53. > :10:00.US economic data at easing tensions in North Korea currently having a
:10:01. > :10:06.positive reaction on the Asian markets. Japan is up by 71 points.
:10:07. > :10:12.You have the all ordinaries index gaining 52 points. The numbers right
:10:13. > :10:23.now from the Hong Kong Hang Seng, but not for the market will open in
:10:24. > :10:27.50 minutes. Wall Street is positive. Boosting expectations. It will hold
:10:28. > :10:31.off on increasing interest rates. Thank you very much for your time.
:10:32. > :10:41.Rico Hizon. Sport Today is next. You will have to wait a little
:10:42. > :10:45.longer for the sport.