0:00:00 > 0:00:05Two pharmaceutical firms have said they'll invest more than £1 billion
0:00:05 > 0:00:13in the UK, creating nearly 2,000 jobs.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore
0:00:16 > 0:00:18with Rico and Asia Business Report.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Soaring to new heights Cormac Bitcoin is fast approaching the
0:00:23 > 0:00:35$10,000 mark. -- heights: Bitcoin. And the dreams of turning Ho Chi
0:00:35 > 0:00:49Minh in two as start-up capital. -- into. Glad you could join us Asia
0:00:49 > 0:00:54Business Report. I am Rico Hizon. The Queen has done it again. Even
0:00:54 > 0:01:00though many have warned it was a asset bubble about to burst, it
0:01:00 > 0:01:12soaring to new heights. -- it is an asset bubble. It has climbed to
0:01:12 > 0:01:19$8,200, and gone further to $9,700. It is now approaching $10,000 US.
0:01:19 > 0:01:27Keep in mind that in 2010, one Bitcoin user famously traded 10,000
0:01:27 > 0:01:35Bitcoin for two pizzas, which was then roughly $25. If he had those in
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Bitcoin is, he would be a millionaire by now. Earlier, I asked
0:01:39 > 0:01:50Cedric Jensen from Bitspread if it would hit the milestones on.If you
0:01:50 > 0:01:55look at Facebook, where Pete market capitalisation is $140 billion, with
0:01:55 > 0:01:59billions of users all over the world, the Bitcoin network is soon
0:01:59 > 0:02:06to become billions of users. -- the market. The market capitalisation is
0:02:06 > 0:02:12only a third of Facebook fought Bitcoin.If you look at Bitcoin
0:02:12 > 0:02:16against Facebook, if you look at the share price, it is based on what?
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Earnings per share? You are talking about valuation. But is there such a
0:02:20 > 0:02:28thing would be Bitcoin?I think Bitcoin, the value is basically for
0:02:28 > 0:02:32e-commerce globally. This is of tremendous value that many people
0:02:32 > 0:02:36here have not realised is the best way to actually send money, if you
0:02:36 > 0:02:43want, or token, or value, peer to peer. Having a website in Thailand
0:02:43 > 0:02:48in Asia, or any country where you can receive from all over the world,
0:02:48 > 0:02:54for your goods and services, Bitcoin, that is phenomenal.But in
0:02:54 > 0:02:58China, they basically cancelled the trading of Bitcoin 's. They wanted a
0:02:58 > 0:03:04more regulated. -- Bitcoins. Is that why Bitcoin has now surged to
0:03:04 > 0:03:07heights we have not seen before? Because it is being regulated and is
0:03:07 > 0:03:13now legal?Yes. I think the Reggie Leach is a good thing. We saw Japan
0:03:13 > 0:03:20recently in June introduce a legal bill legalising the payment, or
0:03:20 > 0:03:26rather it as a meanss of payment. He can now bid used anywhere in Japan
0:03:26 > 0:03:31to pay for goods and services.But now, apart from Bitcoin, there are
0:03:31 > 0:03:41other derivatives. Could there be a downside here with more types of
0:03:41 > 0:03:47crypto currencies in the market?I think we are now seeing the interest
0:03:47 > 0:03:51in the Bitcoin blockchain to increase basically its transaction
0:03:51 > 0:03:57rate, so the number of transactions you could do her second per minute.
0:03:57 > 0:04:04This is what I think people are focusing on: Improving network on
0:04:04 > 0:04:14capacity.That was Cedric Jensen from Bitspread. In Bali colour the
0:04:14 > 0:04:22airports are closed due to ash and smoke from Mt Agung. So far, only
0:04:22 > 0:04:3040,000 have evacuated. Officials said more than 400 flights were
0:04:30 > 0:04:36cancelled on Monday. More than 57,000 passengers were affected. On
0:04:36 > 0:04:42how this will affect business and industry, I am joined by Matt
0:04:42 > 0:04:49Morrison. Is it already starting to have an impact?It has. -- Mat.
0:04:49 > 0:04:59Travel is down since it started bubbling. An official said gives it
0:04:59 > 0:05:07that the two Bali tourists to encourage them to come back shoot to
0:05:07 > 0:05:12the kindness and friendliness in Bali. How big is too as a? Looking
0:05:12 > 0:05:16at the numbers, in 2016, nearly 5 million overseas visitors came to
0:05:16 > 0:05:24the island. Australians were the largest group. If you look at that
0:05:24 > 0:05:30against the population in Bali itself, that is only 4.2 million. So
0:05:30 > 0:05:36there are more tourists than there are residents. The GDP growth there
0:05:36 > 0:05:45last he was almost six in the quarter, compared to Indonesia's 5%.
0:05:45 > 0:05:54So it is outperforming the rest of the country. -- was almost 6.25%. We
0:05:54 > 0:05:57will have to see how these cancellations affect the island
0:05:57 > 0:06:00further, and to put it in perspective, we have seen this
0:06:00 > 0:06:12before in Iceland, wet they had a $1.7 billion impact on the tourism
0:06:12 > 0:06:19industry.-- Maggie Throup. This is not the first time this has happened
0:06:19 > 0:06:27to the Bali economy?If we look at 2002, when we saw the Bali bombings.
0:06:27 > 0:06:35-- where they had. People are scared away and hopefully once these things
0:06:35 > 0:06:41settle down, tourists will come back.Hopefully it will be soon,
0:06:41 > 0:06:48because Brierley needs the tourism dollars. -- Maggie Throup. Look into
0:06:48 > 0:06:54other news, epic of alphabet is asking a US judge to temporarily
0:06:54 > 0:07:01pool B brakes on the upcoming trade secrets trial against Uber. The
0:07:01 > 0:07:08Californian -based firm said it was to look into whether the company
0:07:08 > 0:07:13withheld information in relation to its case. It is due back in court on
0:07:13 > 0:07:15the fourth of September.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Into an armed, Southeast Asia's fastest growing economy saw an
0:07:27 > 0:07:36almost 7.5% expansion in the economy. -- in the market. This is
0:07:36 > 0:07:42partly due to the area's young, skilled, and enthusiastic labour
0:07:42 > 0:07:52force. Our Asia business correspondence looked at Ho Chi Minh
0:07:52 > 0:07:57City. A Communist country with modern ambitions. This is Vietnam in
0:07:57 > 0:08:012017. It has always been an entrepreneurial nation, but this new
0:08:01 > 0:08:13generation is turning to technology to broaden their opportunities. Take
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Pups Worldwide. They early recognised the need for the image
0:08:18 > 0:08:26content worldwide. As a young girl, this woman except none, but in 2007,
0:08:26 > 0:08:35Vietnam allowed overseas Vietnamese people to come work in the country.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40We had to swim on our own. We are to try to find our own tables and
0:08:40 > 0:08:53chairs and workspace and investors and really had to convince Mt Agung.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Now there is a lot of buzz about Vietnam, citing it is different,
0:08:56 > 0:09:01now.You know, everything will you, Vietnam producers of the 150,000
0:09:01 > 0:09:06engineering graduates. This useful and energetic population is one of
0:09:06 > 0:09:11the key reasons why 70 people think this country could become Asia's
0:09:11 > 0:09:15NeXT technology powerhouse. The government built this space to link
0:09:15 > 0:09:20up fresh talents with experienced mentors. It also has a cafe and a
0:09:20 > 0:09:29small to working space, but is very much a work in progress. --
0:09:29 > 0:09:33coworking. Does that we are trying to look at other areas like Malaysia
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and China. But the kinds of universities and schools we have
0:09:36 > 0:09:40different. TRANSLATION:We are trying. That is
0:09:40 > 0:09:45way we as the government need to help.But the gamut is not providing
0:09:45 > 0:09:49what the start-ups need right now: The money to scale up. For this
0:09:49 > 0:09:52organic grocery delivery service, that could be what makes or breaks
0:09:52 > 0:09:57the company. -- but the government. Most of our investors come from
0:09:57 > 0:10:01overseas. Local start-ups, even if they have a good idea, they usually
0:10:01 > 0:10:09don't have the right support network to get them to the funding stage.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14This venture is not his foes. Even start-ups in California and Canada
0:10:14 > 0:10:18before. He is under challenging. But what keeps him and others coming
0:10:18 > 0:10:24here are the opportunities and be hunger to make an impact. -- he is
0:10:24 > 0:10:28finding it challenging. And with that, we end this edition of Asia
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Business Report. It is so much for investing your time with us. I am
0:10:32 > 0:10:32Rico