0:00:00 > 0:00:00in her breasts and has been seen by a specialist.
0:00:00 > 0:00:14Now on BBC News: All the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:14 > 0:00:22More new passenger on board. Riot hailing firm Uber strikes and
0:00:22 > 0:00:31investment deal with Japan's Soft Bank. Alibaba smashes its own record
0:00:31 > 0:00:39with another bonanza on Singles Day. Welcome to Asia Business Report.
0:00:39 > 0:00:46Uber has confirmed to the BBC that it has entered an agreement with
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Japan's Soft Bank over potential investment. Speculation had been
0:00:49 > 0:00:53swirling that the ridesharing company would strike a deal worth
0:00:53 > 0:00:57billions of dollars. Our business report is here with the latest. What
0:00:57 > 0:01:03can you tell us about this?Well, we just got confirmation from Uber, and
0:01:03 > 0:01:08I will review the last line of this. It says on closing the investment it
0:01:08 > 0:01:11will help fuel our investments in technology and our continued
0:01:11 > 0:01:14expansion at home and abroad while strengthening our corporate
0:01:14 > 0:01:18governance. Let's be clear. We don't know the terms of this deal, they
0:01:18 > 0:01:22call it potential investment, but what we understand so far, focusing
0:01:22 > 0:01:27on that last word, corporate governance. This is a company, Uber,
0:01:27 > 0:01:31that has had some bumps along the way. Its CEO stepped down in June, a
0:01:31 > 0:01:34series of sexual harassment allegations within the company. They
0:01:34 > 0:01:38are looking to clean up their act. Corporate governance might be
0:01:38 > 0:01:42involved in that in terms of expanding the number of seats on the
0:01:42 > 0:01:45board, potentially SoftBank having some of their own seats to be able
0:01:45 > 0:01:50to control the direction of the company as it wants. That is
0:01:50 > 0:01:53corporate governance. And Uber needs cash to fend off some of the
0:01:53 > 0:02:02competition it is facing from Lyft, and to expand its operation and
0:02:02 > 0:02:06clear the path for a public listing. It wants an IPO, when it does list
0:02:06 > 0:02:11it will be one of the hottest in that year, 2019.You mention one of
0:02:11 > 0:02:16the issues being competition. How will that impact competition in this
0:02:16 > 0:02:20industry?With the cash, it is incumbent on Lyft, its main
0:02:20 > 0:02:24competitor, to be able to counter that both in terms of driver
0:02:24 > 0:02:28incentives and lower prices. That is where you and I come in. We like
0:02:28 > 0:02:35lower prices, so more competition, we might benefit.All right, looking
0:02:35 > 0:02:40forward to that, certainly. As we have been reporting, US President
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Donald Trump is in the Philippines today for the final leg of his Asian
0:02:44 > 0:02:48tour. He will be attending a summit held by Asean, where Asian leaders
0:02:48 > 0:02:52will discuss the future of trade liberalisation. One US business in
0:02:52 > 0:02:59favour of fewer barriers to trade is transportation and logistics giant
0:02:59 > 0:03:03FedEx. Our business correspondent spoke to its president and CEO,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07David Cunningham, and started by asking about growth projections for
0:03:07 > 0:03:11this year.We are preparing for a record peak this year, holiday
0:03:11 > 0:03:18season, and we expect him to move between 380 million and 400 million
0:03:18 > 0:03:20shipments between the Thanksgiving holiday and the Christmas holiday.
0:03:20 > 0:03:29That is up 26% over two years ago, and represents a substantial
0:03:29 > 0:03:33increase over the day to day.There has been a significant rise in
0:03:33 > 0:03:38protectionism and anti- free trade rhetoric. How does that affect your
0:03:38 > 0:03:42business?There have been a lot of protectionist activities, but I
0:03:42 > 0:03:46think we have to keep in mind the main thing, which is that trade is
0:03:46 > 0:03:49the glue that lifts people out of poverty and offers tremendous
0:03:49 > 0:03:54amounts of opportunity, in the main. At FedEx we think that everyone of
0:03:54 > 0:04:00our jobs that we have operating around the globe, they are all trade
0:04:00 > 0:04:05jobs. They are facilitating trade. And do you think that is the message
0:04:05 > 0:04:08that Donald Trump is bringing with him when he meets the heads of other
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Asian governments, trade partners? Well, I can tell you that from our
0:04:13 > 0:04:19perspective trade is a net positive to the global economy, it is a net
0:04:19 > 0:04:23positive. And what we really ought to be trying to do is figuring out
0:04:23 > 0:04:27how to have more trade agreements, more access, and from the US
0:04:27 > 0:04:32perspective, create more exports, which is where the US can benefit
0:04:32 > 0:04:37the most, not putting in tariffs. David Cunningham from FedEx. The
0:04:37 > 0:04:44numbers are in from the world's biggest online shopping events,
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Singles Day. Chinese internet giant Alibaba has raked in a whopping $25
0:04:49 > 0:04:52billion on November the 11th. Last year the sales record hit $18
0:04:52 > 0:04:57billion in just 24 hours, which was the equivalent of the entire
0:04:57 > 0:05:01economic output of Cambodia. But Alibaba's fortunes are not confined
0:05:01 > 0:05:06to China. It is looking to take on Amazon globally and is a large part
0:05:06 > 0:05:10of that strategy it involves taking control of south-east Asian retailer
0:05:10 > 0:05:15which launched its own shopping event at the weekend. I spoke to the
0:05:15 > 0:05:19company's co-founder and asked him how it all went.Record-breaking for
0:05:19 > 0:05:26us as well. The whole team is very proud. We achieved over $120 million
0:05:26 > 0:05:31gross merchandising value and 6.5 million items on the day. For us it
0:05:31 > 0:05:34is also very important to look at the engagement of our consumers and
0:05:34 > 0:05:39our sellers during that day, because the real essence of Singles Day is
0:05:39 > 0:05:44really to bring together the ecosystem, and to focus around the
0:05:44 > 0:05:48power of online shopping and the internet as a medium to change the
0:05:48 > 0:05:53way that people shop.Since being taken over by Alibaba, how has
0:05:53 > 0:05:58Lazada's approach to business changed? Have you benefited at all
0:05:58 > 0:06:04from some of these strategies that Alibaba is using?Absolutely, we are
0:06:04 > 0:06:07obviously inspired very much by Alibaba when we launched our online
0:06:07 > 0:06:11revolution, which starts on Singles Day, as a means really to bring the
0:06:11 > 0:06:15market together, and we have been working closely with them to drive
0:06:15 > 0:06:18our consumer engagement through personalisation and other means. But
0:06:18 > 0:06:27we also have worked with Alibaba on all encompassing projects which have
0:06:27 > 0:06:31seen how best products being listed on Lazada and supported by our
0:06:31 > 0:06:40logistics and know-how in the region.Some clothing brands have
0:06:40 > 0:06:44gone bankrupt since the start of this year, and that is mainly due to
0:06:44 > 0:06:48falling sales of their physical retail stores stores.The decline in
0:06:48 > 0:06:54for traffic is translating into good business for the Global Fashion
0:06:54 > 0:07:00Group, one of the biggest e-commerce companies. Founded in 2011, it rakes
0:07:00 > 0:07:03in more than $1 billion in annual revenue and has about 10 million
0:07:03 > 0:07:08active customers across five platforms, including in Asia and the
0:07:08 > 0:07:16Middle East. Our correspondent spoke to the GFG chief executive, who told
0:07:16 > 0:07:21her about the secret to their success.It appears to us that the
0:07:21 > 0:07:24emerging market presents an amazing opportunity. When you talk about
0:07:24 > 0:07:28business size we are looking at 300 billion euros of fashion market, and
0:07:28 > 0:07:33right now the penetration only covers 4%. And in those 4% we have
0:07:33 > 0:07:36the largest part. One of the challenges we have at GFG when I
0:07:36 > 0:07:40joined two years ago was a very strong business, very high growth,
0:07:40 > 0:07:46but we were losing a lot of money. -40% on our profitability, and a big
0:07:46 > 0:07:51focus of the team and myself in the last two years has been to make sure
0:07:51 > 0:07:54that we were structuring the group so that not only we can retain
0:07:54 > 0:07:59leadership but we can do it in a profitable manner.Is e-commerce
0:07:59 > 0:08:06having a big say in how it fashion is done, or vice-versa?It is both,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09fashion brands are sensitive to how they are presented to the customer.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13They invest a lot in their marketing and product design. One of the great
0:08:13 > 0:08:18examples of what a brand can do with GFG and the power GFG can bring to
0:08:18 > 0:08:25the brand is Arcadia. We will bring them to 24 markets in one go, and
0:08:25 > 0:08:31were able to roll out all the rant in a record six months' time, so
0:08:31 > 0:08:36from one season to another, in most of our markets, some of them did not
0:08:36 > 0:08:41have an online presence, some did not have an offline presence. It is
0:08:41 > 0:08:44a very good example of how a brand can grab the e-commerce opportunity
0:08:44 > 0:08:48and invest in territories where the brand is not yet present.What does
0:08:48 > 0:08:56this mean for Rick and mortar shops? You mentioned Top Man and Top Shop.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59In Australia we have seen those brands go into administration.I
0:08:59 > 0:09:04think there is a shift from offline to online, and I think brands need
0:09:04 > 0:09:10to address that new normal, I would say. And I can totally envisioned
0:09:10 > 0:09:17that for some brands which are integrated, like Top Man, Top Shop,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21it is a mix of flagship stores to at the brand and attract customers in
0:09:21 > 0:09:25main cities and e-commerce to make sure that you have people able to
0:09:25 > 0:09:29shop around the entire city. I think it is a question of finding the
0:09:29 > 0:09:34right mix for those brands. In this market, it is a very different play,
0:09:34 > 0:09:40because most of the time the offline retailing is still in its infancy.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44That was the chief executive of the GFG group. There is a lot going on
0:09:44 > 0:09:50this week. Looking at our calendar, on Wednesday Chinese internet gaming
0:09:50 > 0:09:54giant Tencent releases its latest results. Its 4-wood guidance will be
0:09:54 > 0:09:57closely watched following a $2 billion investment in Snapchat and
0:09:57 > 0:10:01the following day we have Australia's latest jobs data and how
0:10:01 > 0:10:05younger generations are really struggling to find employment
0:10:05 > 0:10:10despite a strong economy there -- forward guidance. And on Friday, a
0:10:10 > 0:10:17big focus on China's push into the electric car market at the Guangzhou
0:10:17 > 0:10:21motor show. We are seeing Asian markets trading lower, including the
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Nikkei, there are a lot of worries about the tax plan in the US and how
0:10:25 > 0:10:29quickly tax reform can be hammered out. That is it for this edition of
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Asia Business