06/09/2017

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:00:00. > :00:16.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

:00:17. > :00:23.No recession for more than 25 years. Find out if the Australian economy

:00:24. > :00:28.is still going strong as we count down to the latest great figures.

:00:29. > :00:39.And the price of Bitcoin dips after China hits the breaks on crypto

:00:40. > :00:43.currencies. Welcome to Asia Business Report, I'm

:00:44. > :00:49.Sharanjit Leyl. Australia has been on a record streak of economic

:00:50. > :00:54.growth, mainly due to a mining boom. There are expectations it will

:00:55. > :00:58.continue to show steady growth as we wait for second-quarter GDP due out

:00:59. > :01:02.this morning. But why household debt as well as slowing demand for

:01:03. > :01:08.minerals from China could dampen growth in the future -- high.

:01:09. > :01:13.Earlier I spoke to Paul Dale is from capital economics in Sydney and I

:01:14. > :01:16.asked him how the Australian economy will fare over the next few years.

:01:17. > :01:20.I don't think Australia will do terribly badly over the next few

:01:21. > :01:26.years but I don't think equally it will do incredibly well. I think

:01:27. > :01:29.Australia is employed period of around 2.5% growth which by the

:01:30. > :01:33.standards of a lot of advanced economies would be a great result.

:01:34. > :01:38.But Australia's potential growth rate or the growth of rate it should

:01:39. > :01:42.be able to grow at is just below 3% so by Australian standards that

:01:43. > :01:45.would be weaker than perhaps most people would want. We've got the

:01:46. > :01:50.central bank keeping interest rates at record lows, what is that doing

:01:51. > :01:55.to the economy, especially when you have a situation of high-level is of

:01:56. > :02:00.household debt? This is very interesting -- high levels.

:02:01. > :02:04.Household debt in Australia has continued to increase since the

:02:05. > :02:08.global financial crisis as a share of disposable income and there's not

:02:09. > :02:12.many advanced economies around the world where that's the case so

:02:13. > :02:16.Australia has carried on regardless. This was a deliberate ploy by

:02:17. > :02:20.policymakers because when the mining boom collapsed in 2012, 2013,

:02:21. > :02:25.policymakers needed something to take up the slack so by cutting

:02:26. > :02:30.interest rates to their record low of 1.5%, that generated something of

:02:31. > :02:33.a housing boom that filled the whole a bit and kept the Australian

:02:34. > :02:42.economy going. Looking ahead we are in a situation where we can no

:02:43. > :02:45.longer rely on the housing boom to add as much to the economy as

:02:46. > :02:49.previously and if we're right at Capitol Economics were growth in

:02:50. > :02:52.China will come off the boil a bit then it's right for Australia's

:02:53. > :02:55.economic growth rate to be somewhat subdued rather than brilliant.

:02:56. > :03:01.Paul Dales speaking to me earlier. Hewlett-Packard appears to be faring

:03:02. > :03:05.well after the company was split in two, its services arm HP Enterprises

:03:06. > :03:09.big profit expectations with net earnings of $200 million in the

:03:10. > :03:13.third quarter and the chief executive Meg Woodman said the

:03:14. > :03:18.results were encouraging and shares of HP rose by nearly 5% on that

:03:19. > :03:22.news. If you like to start your day with a glass of orange juice then

:03:23. > :03:28.get ready to pay more for it. Futures for the commodity jumped by

:03:29. > :03:33.more than 6% in US trade on concerns hurricane may hit the US mainland.

:03:34. > :03:37.Florida is its biggest producer of orange juice and it has declared a

:03:38. > :03:40.state of emergency -- Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Irma has

:03:41. > :03:46.strengthened to a category five hurricane, the second major storm to

:03:47. > :03:50.hit America in a little over a week. Lego is cutting 1400 jobs worldwide

:03:51. > :03:54.in the face of falling sales and profits. The figure is 8% of the

:03:55. > :03:58.Danish company's workforce. The company chairman says the move was

:03:59. > :04:03.necessary. Well, I wouldn't say it's too much

:04:04. > :04:07.to handle, companies that have grown a lot bigger than we ever have, but

:04:08. > :04:11.I think we grew very fast, we did not do it in the most appropriate

:04:12. > :04:15.way and we're finding ourselves today with a bit much bureaucracy,

:04:16. > :04:20.too many layers in the organisation and we've lost a bit of touch on the

:04:21. > :04:23.market side and I think there is opportunity for us to really

:04:24. > :04:27.strengthen the way we launch our products and be much more successful

:04:28. > :04:31.with that and that's important because, as you know, we've grown a

:04:32. > :04:36.lot and penetrated markets very much so to continue to grow we need to

:04:37. > :04:40.sharpen our game. The value of the crypto currencies

:04:41. > :04:47.Bitcoin has rebounder had somewhat after losing nearly 20% of its value

:04:48. > :04:51.over several days -- currency. They came off their record highs and fell

:04:52. > :04:55.further after China banned what's known as an ICO, initial coding

:04:56. > :05:02.offerings, much like a share offering. The offer is a way of

:05:03. > :05:07.raising capital by offering a new crypto currencies and according to

:05:08. > :05:12.figures there were 55 ICOs in China in the first seven months of the

:05:13. > :05:18.year, totalling a whopping $398 million. Is this a prudent move or

:05:19. > :05:22.has Beijing overreacted on the regulation side of things? Earlier I

:05:23. > :05:26.spoke to Tim Phillips, the head of Deloitte's international crime

:05:27. > :05:30.network and asked him why they are worried. Regulated markets in most

:05:31. > :05:34.markets around the world if you want to raise funds in the public you

:05:35. > :05:38.have to have a prospectus and be a registered dealer, it is well

:05:39. > :05:42.controlled by regulators and it presents real transparency and

:05:43. > :05:46.safety. It is completely missing in the ICO market, it is very

:05:47. > :05:51.anonymous, it is all out there in the ether and it's quite a

:05:52. > :05:55.challenge. Out there in the ether, but shouldn't it be potentially an

:05:56. > :05:59.easier move to bring in the regulation as opposed to banning it

:06:00. > :06:04.out right? It is just there was too much heat, as you can see by the

:06:05. > :06:07.numbers, they were very substantial. What the regulators are doing is

:06:08. > :06:12.saying let's take a pause. I don't think it will be a long-term band, I

:06:13. > :06:15.think things will come back quickly, regulators around the world are

:06:16. > :06:20.called talking about it, in Singapore the MIF have issued

:06:21. > :06:24.guidance. They will be very quick to try to create the opportunity for

:06:25. > :06:28.people to do this but to do it in a more structured and secure way. Tim

:06:29. > :06:33.Phillips speaking to me earlier. Nissan is about to unveil its

:06:34. > :06:38.redesigned or electric car in Japan and it is revving up to be a highly

:06:39. > :06:44.anticipated event giving, given the rising demand for green vehicles --

:06:45. > :06:49.all electric. What are the details? -- given. Nissan held its global

:06:50. > :06:53.launch in the past couple of minutes, they are live streaming the

:06:54. > :06:58.event in Japan and the redesigned car... I haven't seen what it looks

:06:59. > :07:03.like yet but I expect it to be more sleek than the original Leaf but it

:07:04. > :07:07.is expected to have the improved battery which is important because

:07:08. > :07:12.it will give this all electric vehicle a wider range meaning with

:07:13. > :07:16.one charge it can go for a longer distance. This is highly anticipated

:07:17. > :07:21.because there is a significant growing demand for electric cars and

:07:22. > :07:25.green vehicles but there aren't many affordable mass-market cars the

:07:26. > :07:30.average person can buy. The Leaf is one of the world's top-selling

:07:31. > :07:37.electric cars, it's only about $30,000, the Tesla Model 3 starts at

:07:38. > :07:43.$35,000 and General Motors, another big competitor, as their car at

:07:44. > :07:48.$37,500. Luxury ones start at $50,000 so many people watching this

:07:49. > :07:54.launch. And we got a sneak peak at when you talked about what back are

:07:55. > :08:00.looked at, factory much! Out of the global population 2 billion are

:08:01. > :08:06.working mothers -- thanks very much. Research indicates mums are making

:08:07. > :08:09.purchasing decisions in 80% of households so their spending power

:08:10. > :08:14.is an attractive market for advertisers. In Asia spending on

:08:15. > :08:19.baby products in Indonesia and Thailand combined are expected to

:08:20. > :08:26.surpass $420 million by 2020 but not all marketing can deliver a success

:08:27. > :08:31.story. Earlier I spoke to a member of a Japanese advertising agency and

:08:32. > :08:36.I asked her about what campaigns resonate with mothers. All this year

:08:37. > :08:41.the ones that worked well resonated well, one is very relevant to

:08:42. > :08:47.mothers, the ones that understand us as mothers. Those not painting women

:08:48. > :08:51.as stereotypes, not ones showing us in the household doing chores.

:08:52. > :08:56.Something that really touches us in our hearts, something that talks to

:08:57. > :09:03.ask. Examples would be, my personal favourite is Always, the hash tag,

:09:04. > :09:07.like a girl, do you remember that? As a mother sometimes you want to

:09:08. > :09:12.teach your children but they won't listen to you. Its powerful for the

:09:13. > :09:18.people working to get this message across to really touched the mums'

:09:19. > :09:23.heart and to tell these messages, very effectively. A product for

:09:24. > :09:30.sanitary pads. It's an empowering message. We know there are lots of

:09:31. > :09:35.differences in various countries cultural elites of the message you

:09:36. > :09:40.are getting to these mums in this company, how are they different or

:09:41. > :09:44.potentially the same messages? It started with... If you have many

:09:45. > :09:48.friends in different cultures, cultures are more conservative.

:09:49. > :09:52.There are very strict mothers. But today with millennial mums they are

:09:53. > :09:56.more open-minded with gadgets, technology, totally different from

:09:57. > :10:00.whatever part of the world you are in... I have a lot of friends from

:10:01. > :10:03.different cultures and when you discussed at lunch breaks and

:10:04. > :10:07.lunchtime we go, this is a rich source of information, I don't think

:10:08. > :10:12.any marketer would know this and we chat amongst ourselves. This is a

:10:13. > :10:16.rich source of data. There's 2 million working mums around the

:10:17. > :10:20.world, that is a staggering number -- 2 billion. But you seen the

:10:21. > :10:27.industry is slow to keep up, why is that? Because we refused to look at

:10:28. > :10:31.it in a real way. We wanted to do cookie cutter communications demands

:10:32. > :10:35.and we treated them like they all the same but they are not. That's it

:10:36. > :10:36.for this edition of Asia