0:00:00 > 0:00:02Theresa May is planning to come up with a new formula to find a way
0:00:02 > 0:00:07forward in the stalled Brexit negotiations in the next 24 hours.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Voters in Nepal are casting their vote as they look to and use of
0:00:28 > 0:00:29vote as they look to and use of poverty and political instability.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Meet the designer for Apple who created the most profitable real
0:00:34 > 0:00:45space in the world. Good morning, Asia, hello, world. Glad you could
0:00:45 > 0:00:53join us for another exciting Asia Business Report. The polls have
0:00:53 > 0:01:01opened and voters are casting their ballots in at election in Nepal. In
0:01:01 > 0:01:08the last three decades, they have suffered an earthquake and political
0:01:08 > 0:01:14instability including an 10-year violent insurgency. We report from
0:01:14 > 0:01:20the capital, Kathmandu. The election are described as a watershed moment
0:01:20 > 0:01:26what this country. It witnessed a 10-year insurgency which ended in
0:01:26 > 0:01:322006 and then the monarchy was abolished two years later. It took
0:01:32 > 0:01:37ten years for the politicians to agree on a constitution, that was
0:01:37 > 0:01:41last year, and that is why this election is important. The first
0:01:41 > 0:01:45after they have adopted a new constitution. In this election, the
0:01:45 > 0:01:57Congress is taking on a coalition. First of all, they have the best
0:01:57 > 0:02:01infrastructure and create more jobs. The country witnessed a devastating
0:02:01 > 0:02:07earthquake in 2015 - that had a negative impact on the economy. One
0:02:07 > 0:02:15of the priorities will be what to do with China initiative. Nepal
0:02:15 > 0:02:21approved in principle which aims to boost productivity in Asia and the
0:02:21 > 0:02:30Pacific region. The idea is to build a road from their all the way to
0:02:30 > 0:02:35Kathmandu. Politicians here hope by investing millions of dollars with
0:02:35 > 0:02:44Chinese help, it will help to boost the economic road in this country.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47The International Monetary Fund has published its most recent report,
0:02:47 > 0:02:52looking at the stability of China's financial system which has fine at
0:02:52 > 0:03:03short debt. -- financial debt. In order to meet targets and avoid
0:03:03 > 0:03:12heavy job losses, I spoke to business consultant. I asked him how
0:03:12 > 0:03:16concerned we should be about the debt problem? Not terribly
0:03:16 > 0:03:21concerned. The IMF sounded the warning is several times over the
0:03:21 > 0:03:31past couple of years looking at the debt rising from two up to 300% by
0:03:31 > 0:03:362022. China has been actively addressing that debt, whether it is
0:03:36 > 0:03:40controls are round lending, looking at the bigger pic is in investments
0:03:40 > 0:03:46going overseas, in addition, continuing the growth path so that
0:03:46 > 0:03:53it continues to outpace the level of debt. From its overall path and GDP,
0:03:53 > 0:03:59it is only around a thousand per person yet, in comparison to around
0:03:59 > 0:04:13the world it is low. China has a long way to go. They have a massive
0:04:13 > 0:04:22debt but even though it is their it also needs to look at the assets.
0:04:22 > 0:04:29China has a great potential out there. As a management consulting
0:04:29 > 0:04:35firm we look at some of the risks. Where you see increased in interest
0:04:35 > 0:04:44rates, whether you see impact on trade and potential disruption. As
0:04:44 > 0:04:49China looks at investment, you are looking at pushback from countries
0:04:49 > 0:04:57and regions like the EU. Whether it is Robotics. In the US you are
0:04:57 > 0:05:01seeing it in high-tech sectors. That could constrain the growth and could
0:05:01 > 0:05:11pose additional challenges of China in the future.As Brexit talks
0:05:11 > 0:05:19continue, many businesses are readjusting. We asked one how the
0:05:19 > 0:05:23shift in political and economic ties are impacting the multinational
0:05:23 > 0:05:30bank.So much of our business is outside of Europe. It is an
0:05:30 > 0:05:33expensive inconvenience on the margins. We are a bit clearer of
0:05:33 > 0:05:40euros meaning that once companies have settled their accounts in euros
0:05:40 > 0:05:47we facilitate that and we do that from a branch in Frankfurt and we
0:05:47 > 0:05:52need to convert that to subsidiary and that will have to have fresh
0:05:52 > 0:05:58capital and have to be licensed by the regulator in Germany.Bill
0:05:58 > 0:06:06Winters, the CEO of Standard Chartered bank. Which company has
0:06:06 > 0:06:15the most profitable retail space in the world? It is Apple. $5,500 per
0:06:15 > 0:06:19square foot beating Harrods and Tiffany 's. When the first one
0:06:19 > 0:06:25opened, it was actually considered risky move. It is argued they could
0:06:25 > 0:06:30not possibly make money by the late Steve Jobs was convinced they would
0:06:30 > 0:06:36be successful and, of course, the rest is history. The man who
0:06:36 > 0:06:40designed the store is now based in Singapore and we caught up with
0:06:56 > 0:07:05We started in 1987 when Steve Jobs came back to the company. He asked
0:07:05 > 0:07:13us to think about how to present Apple in various public realms. My
0:07:13 > 0:07:20business partner and myself started on the whiteboard. We met with him
0:07:20 > 0:07:25every week for 12 years and grew the programme through a number of
0:07:25 > 0:07:30processes and helped to be a part of that transformation from what was a
0:07:30 > 0:07:38relatively small company. It was $2.2 billion in value and now it is
0:07:38 > 0:07:45750 plus. Apple develop much more significant differentiator products
0:07:45 > 0:07:58at that time. What has happened in the industry is it has become...
0:07:58 > 0:08:08Strong revolutionary brands out there. We can see over a number of
0:08:08 > 0:08:14years our progression from the ambition to copy and emulate other
0:08:14 > 0:08:21solutions to leapfrog those and become leaders. We seem that Rao and
0:08:21 > 0:08:29grow in Asia. It started to reflect to me what silicon valley seem to
0:08:29 > 0:08:41feel like, a genuine interest in creating something great. It is a
0:08:41 > 0:08:44simple food service system that allows people to have much higher
0:08:44 > 0:08:51quality food, still quickly, and be integrated with the way they work.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56One of the things that keep you in design is that the feeling you get
0:08:56 > 0:09:00when you see something that started out as a sketch to people being
0:09:00 > 0:09:08happy and enjoying what they are doing. Bitcoin has set yet another
0:09:08 > 0:09:15record high, breaking through the $50,000 barrier. It was another
0:09:15 > 0:09:19milestone for the currency which has increased dramatically over the last
0:09:19 > 0:09:29year.Timothy McDonald, last week it was 10,000...Now it is 14,000.
0:09:29 > 0:09:39Since talking it has broken. Shocking! It is just incredible.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44This time last year it was $1000 and since then it has broken through
0:09:44 > 0:09:49barrier after barrier to the point we are just sick of writing about
0:09:49 > 0:09:55the... It is sounding like a broken record. When a value increases that
0:09:55 > 0:10:01dramatically, you are a little bit worried about what is over the next
0:10:01 > 0:10:06ridge. A lot of worry about whether this could be a bubble but the thing
0:10:06 > 0:10:10is that nobody really knows and people have a very hard time
0:10:10 > 0:10:16particular eating why it is worth this much. A lot of people have a
0:10:16 > 0:10:23hard time defining what Bitcoin actually is. Really, it could be a
0:10:23 > 0:10:27bubble, it could be anybody's guess. We do not know what is going to
0:10:27 > 0:10:31happen to Bitcoin. Let's have a quick look at the markets and
0:10:31 > 0:10:33currently