07/11/2017 Asia Business Report

and other figures while on holiday.

Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

New revelations about apple's taxes

from the Paradise Papers. We will

hear the response from the company.

And home ownership is becoming an

elusive dream for many people as

property prices in Asia continued to

soar. Good morning, Asia, hello,

world. This is Tuesday, glad you

could join us for another exciting

addition of Asia Business Report. We

start off with Apple. The attack but

he must has responded to claims from

Paradise Papers, that it has a

financial structure that allows it

to avoid billions of dollars in

taxes. After its controversial

practices will crack down upon in 20

15, Apple moved its holdings to

Jersey. Earlier I spoke to a

technology correspondent and asked

him what Apple are saying about

these revelations.

It seems that

there will move may not have lowered

that sustains a low-level. Discredit

me about their tax arrangements in

Ireland and it has moved its tax

residency to Jersey and that means

it has been able to maintain this

low level of tax. Apple put out a

statement this morning in Silicon

Valley. They were reiterating some

of the things they said in the past

when their tax affairs have been

under scrutiny, including that they

are the biggest taxpayer in the

world, paying almost $34 billion

over the last three years. Most of

their tax money goes to the Treasury

here in the United States because

that is where most of the value they

create. They also say, crucially,

that they say they follow the law

and if the system changes and they

will comply with those laws as well.

The defence, we have heard before in

the past, but again now that their

taxes are being looked at again,

they are keen to remind people of.

34 billion US dollars in paid US

tax. What is next now for apple?

What will now be under scrutiny as

the offshore amount they have. There

is $252 billion held in offshore

accounts from Apple. That accounts

for around 55% of their global

revenue. As I say, they say of the

law does change and they would need

to comply with that but as it stands

they are happy they are paying every

dollar of tax they owe in the

various parts of the world in which

they operate. They posted a further

statement, reiterating that their

headquarters in Ireland, their

European headquarters is not about

tax but having a solid grounding in

Europe. The posted pictures showing

Steve jobs touring some of those

facilities. Apple are trying to

clearly make the case that they have

an interest in being in Ireland and

it is not just about having

favourable tax arrangements.

Wilbur Ross has responded to claims

that the paradise papers showed he

owned shares in a company with

Kremlin ties. Mr Ross owes a stake

in Navigator Holiday -- holdings

which owns millions of dollars

exporting oil and gas for a Russian

company. Two of its owners are under

sanctions and are closely linked to

Vladimir Putin.

Wilbur Ross says

there is nothing wrong with a stake

in the company. Government has not

come thus far, made a determination

to sanction. There is nothing wrong

with it. The fact that it happens to

be a Russian company does not mean

that there is any evil in it. Where

there is evil is the misstatement

that I did not disclose those

holding.

That was the US commerce

Secretary Wilbur Ross. President

Trump continues his 5-nation tour

throughout Asia. He arrives in South

Korea today for a nine-day stock

where he will meet the South Korean

president and visit a major US

military base. It will not just the

North Korea on the agenda, trade

will also be a hot topic because

President Trump has threatened to

pull out of a free-trade deal

between the two countries. For more

on this trip to South Korea I'm

joined now by my colleague. Monica,

it is early morning here in Asia and

he has tweeted again.

Before getting

on a plane from Tokyo to Seoul he

sent out a tweet and it said getting

ready to leave her South Korea and

meetings with those in Moon. A fine

gentleman. I think we are starting a

good note here. They are all

friends. Exactly. Except the US

Korean trade agreement is not so

hot. Back in April President Trump

said it was a horrible deal and

right now the current agreement,

also known as chorus, is in

jeopardy. In its current state as it

is it is not looking so good.

So

they are not singing from the same

court a chic?

Exactly. This is

because President Trump said it is a

significant trade imbalance. South

Korea is the sixth largest trading

partner with the US, over $144

billion worth of goods and services.

Since the deal came into effect, the

US goods deficit was South Korea has

doubled to whether $27 billion. Most

of which is made up from auto

imports.

There is a lot to iron out.

So Donald Trump says there needs to

be more reciprocity in trade. Thank

you for that update. The computer

chip industry could be in line for a

big shakeup. Brought, has unveiled a

$130 billion takeover bid for clock

on. The company is responsible for

supplying components forever be in

smart phones every year.

Broad, Amcor, are two of the world

's biggest chip maker 's. On the one

hand, or a comp supplies chips for

android. And on the other, cool, I

found in most new iPhones that it

will com has been the dominant

player in the chipmaking business.

In the last decade it has fallen on

some hard times, falling share

price, legal battles with Apple and

an anti-trust investigation in

Europe. While they were dealing with

those issues, broad, has been

steadily growing. It is now a

dominant player in the chip

business. The question is, will the

deal goes through? True, Qualcom's

issues make the company right for

the picking. That many believe that

this offer from Broadcom will be

rejected because it undervalues

Qualcom. A potential megamerger in

the US tech industry between

Broadcom and Qualcom. Almost

everyone wants to own their own home

but in several parts of Asia, that

dream has become a lot harder. Aside

from skyhigh prices in markets such

as Hong Kong and Singapore, the New

Zealand government is now looking to

ban foreign property purchases. I

spoke to a chief executive of the

online portal group property guru.

Asked if restrictions on foreign

property ownership are a good idea.

It is difficult. Robert E is an

asset class and is always

attractive. We live in a global

economy and investors cross borders

didn't you have domestic governments

trying to protect the rights of

their citizens while still trying to

Bowyer the property site.

It is a

business. Why should it be

politicised?

Ownership is different.

Having an own is a -- home is a

realisation of a dream.

It is not

just a normal asset. Even in our own

backyard, in Hong Kong, in New

Zealand, locals are having

difficulty purchasing property

because it is unaffordable.

I think

it forces people to do more and more

research to understand how they get

around this. Here in Singapore alone

we have 5.4 million people visit us.

An all-time high. People need to

know more about what their options

are.

Show should foreigners be

blamed for skyhigh prices?

There are

no simple answers. For the property

sector they want investors from all

over the world and the government

needs to balance that by making sure

that locals have the right to

accessible homeownership.

What can

locals do at this point to be able

to purchase their own property?

Salary inflation is not keeping in

touch with real estate prices.

It is

about doing homework. Going online,

going to other places and getting as

much information as possible about

financing. The more homework you do,

the better deal -- cable you will be

to deal. Why is property so popular.

Many people take a long view on

property. There is a stability that

comes with it as well as an

emotional connect. It is not seen as

liquid and not susceptible to our

and downs.

And that was an online

executive from property guru. Having

a quick look now at the market, Asia

is cruising to high levels in early

mid-morning Tuesday trade. Japan is

up by about 30 points. This is after

US stocks climbed to record highs

due to optimism about a Republican

plan to cut tax. Sport Today is

coming up next.