0:00:00 > 0:00:06Detectives believe it was a targeted attack.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Now, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:16 > 0:00:22the U-turn for Uber as it strikes deals with taxi operators in
0:00:22 > 0:00:30Singapore. And the shopping mall operator Westfield has sold the
0:00:30 > 0:00:36European giant for $25 billion.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Good morning, Asia, hello, world.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44It's a Wednesday.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Glad you could join us for Asia Business Report.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49I'm Rico Hizon.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54we start off with Uber and it is back in the headlines, this time for
0:00:54 > 0:00:59forging partnerships they taxi operator in Thailand. Lastly, it
0:00:59 > 0:01:03also close the deal with a company here in Singapore. It is a major
0:01:03 > 0:01:10change for the company. Travis Kalanick step down five months ago
0:01:10 > 0:01:15because of investor pressure and allegations of sexual harassment,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20and was replaced by a new CEO. The scandal did not and there, last
0:01:20 > 0:01:26month it was revealed that they had suffered a data breach in 2016,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31impacting 57 million users. And the company continues to lose money,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36reporting a loss of 1.5 billion US dollars in the third quarter of this
0:01:36 > 0:01:42year. Earlier, a spoke to about's chief business officer for
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Asia-Pacific and I started by asking him what the new partnership in
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Thailand will mean for the company. This taxi partnership that we will
0:01:50 > 0:01:54announce today will give riders more options in Bangkok, give riders
0:01:54 > 0:01:59opportunity to increase utilisation and it is a great partnership
0:01:59 > 0:02:04brought together by our technology. Are you planning to do more of these
0:02:04 > 0:02:08partnerships with taxi operators around Southeast Asia?We are,
0:02:08 > 0:02:16today, in Bangkok, we're seventh. We had a big announcement with Comfort
0:02:16 > 0:02:19in Singapore on Friday and today in Bangkok will be truly exciting as
0:02:19 > 0:02:25well.Over the past Mac two years, you had Uber retreating from China.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30It struck a deal, as you mentioned, with the Singapore company and our
0:02:30 > 0:02:37partnership with a Thailand taxi operator. Is ever forging these
0:02:37 > 0:02:41deals because you have to make up for lost ground to the competition
0:02:41 > 0:02:48in Asia?Not at all, the Singapore deal and Comfort is truly expensive,
0:02:48 > 0:02:53it is great for Singapore drivers and riders and it is great for Uber
0:02:53 > 0:02:57and Comfort, these are two companies coming together to provide more
0:02:57 > 0:03:02options. We're really excited about the rollout the back of this.Last
0:03:02 > 0:03:06time you on the BBC, he discussed the scandals and the cultural issues
0:03:06 > 0:03:14within Uber. Now that you are on board, since August, has this
0:03:14 > 0:03:19started to change?We are making terrific strides and this is coming
0:03:19 > 0:03:23from a terrific new CEO, who is driving change from the top. But
0:03:23 > 0:03:27every week, I am out with our teams, speaking with all of our people
0:03:27 > 0:03:32about culture, compliance, making sure that we are growing in a way
0:03:32 > 0:03:35that behind this incredible growth we've had, with all the proper
0:03:35 > 0:03:39procedures and culture in place.A lot of positive things to look
0:03:39 > 0:03:43forward to from Uber, but what challenging things will either be
0:03:43 > 0:03:51facing in 2018?If you look around the region, one of our biggest
0:03:51 > 0:04:00challenges is how help cities save -- solve these congestion issues.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05That is one of the big things we are doing around the region, making sure
0:04:05 > 0:04:09we are providing the local transport, multimodal solutions,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13whatever it is, so that writers and drivers in Singapore and across the
0:04:13 > 0:04:20region have great year and beyond. About's chief financial officer for
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Asia-Pacific. Living under other news and what could be Australia's
0:04:24 > 0:04:31is ever takeover, the shopping at operator Westfield has agreed to
0:04:31 > 0:04:41sell the group for $25 billion to a French group. An estimated 8640
0:04:41 > 0:04:45stores shut their doors in America this year, and that is the highest
0:04:45 > 0:04:50number since the 2008 financial crisis. Earlier, I spoke to a retail
0:04:50 > 0:04:55technology expert and ask him if Moores will be able to compete.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59There is definitely a struggle because the online is getting more
0:04:59 > 0:05:05and more penetration, however, I think this is not the Apocalypse or
0:05:05 > 0:05:18the end of work and brick and mortar retail, we did not have the
0:05:18 > 0:05:23technology to do it and now we do and that is where we are heading.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25You were talking about transformation, why hasn't that
0:05:25 > 0:05:33mindset changed for Asian shoppers to e-commerce?I think it is not
0:05:33 > 0:05:41necessarily Southeast Asian or the West, I think it is eroding forces
0:05:41 > 0:05:45in the markets. I think it is really the penetration of the online
0:05:45 > 0:05:49technology and market places, there are certain clear example is like
0:05:49 > 0:05:57South Korea, Singapore, China, but clearly there are certain markets,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Indonesia, still in need of development, like India. I think the
0:06:00 > 0:06:05online is still taking off, so they still have to be more and more
0:06:05 > 0:06:08development of online shopping that has to happen.So what are the
0:06:08 > 0:06:11trends right now in retail technology? So they could be
0:06:11 > 0:06:17synergies between brick and mortar and online retail?That is correct,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22I think that is the future of retail, that we envision. There is
0:06:22 > 0:06:26going to be more and more convergence of online and off-line,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31in terms of the consumer behaviour, other consumer is to shop going
0:06:31 > 0:06:34forward. So now that there are technologies like block chain
0:06:34 > 0:06:40available, to enable about.And that was a retail technology expert. In
0:06:40 > 0:06:46other news, social media giant Facebook has dismissed a former
0:06:46 > 0:06:49executive's comments, that said that the sight was destroying the way
0:06:49 > 0:06:56society works. Facebook's former vice president for use growth says
0:06:56 > 0:07:02he feels enormous guilt over the size creation and that social media
0:07:02 > 0:07:05left people filling vacant and empty, but Facebook said he had not
0:07:05 > 0:07:09been at the company for six years, but it was a different company now
0:07:09 > 0:07:17and was working hard to improve. Toshiba has settled its legal
0:07:17 > 0:07:21disputes with US partner, Western Digital, clearing the way for the
0:07:21 > 0:07:31multi- billion-dollar sale of its business. Westinghouse wrapped up
0:07:31 > 0:07:35billions of dollars in losses, the sale of its chip unit is a key part
0:07:35 > 0:07:40of Toshiba's rescue initiatives. The Federal reserve is expected to raise
0:07:40 > 0:07:44rates at the end of their two-day meeting on Wednesday, as the US
0:07:44 > 0:07:48economy improves. US president Donald Trump likes to take credit
0:07:48 > 0:07:52for America's economy but in the case of markets, that may not
0:07:52 > 0:08:00actually be the case. In yet another campaign style event, US President
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Donald Trump took to the stage to talk about his accomplishments,
0:08:03 > 0:08:14among them US markets.The stock market is hitting an all-time high
0:08:14 > 0:08:20record for another, and think of this, 86 times since election day,
0:08:20 > 0:08:3086 times... It hit a record, 86 times. And we are going to keep it
0:08:30 > 0:08:36going.And it does not stop there, in tweet after Tweet of the tweet,
0:08:36 > 0:08:40the President has been praising the record highs on financial markets
0:08:40 > 0:08:46and taking credit for it. But how much of these skyrocket valuations
0:08:46 > 0:08:50can really be attributed to the President? One economist says this
0:08:50 > 0:08:53has more to do with the Federal reserve and its programme of
0:08:53 > 0:08:58quantitative easing, when the US central bank was buying up bonds to
0:08:58 > 0:09:02support the US economy after this financial crisis.There is this
0:09:02 > 0:09:06massive amount of cash floating around the world, and so that is
0:09:06 > 0:09:12what is driving this up. Originally, it was QED, 90% of the growth in the
0:09:12 > 0:09:19market has been bombed out since 2008.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22-- QE.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Some of the credit needs to go to the woman who has been guiding the
0:09:26 > 0:09:30current ship, Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen. Donald
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Trump decided ironically, not to renew Janet Yellen for a second
0:09:35 > 0:09:39term. So what happens now? Janet Yellen leaves the top spot as
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Federal reserve chair, and the central bank is trying to win the US
0:09:43 > 0:09:47offered is really this monetary policies and get the economy to
0:09:47 > 0:09:51stand on its own two feet, which means US market may not always make
0:09:51 > 0:09:57for the best rallying cry for President Trump. Let's have a look
0:09:57 > 0:10:02now at the Asian stock markets, and currently most of them are in
0:10:02 > 0:10:12positive territory. The All Ordinaries index is in positive
0:10:12 > 0:10:16territory by seven points, this is after the Dow Jones industrial
0:10:16 > 0:10:21average and the S&P 500 pushed to record highs overnight as Congress
0:10:21 > 0:10:24made progress on the tax cuts planned, and with expectations for
0:10:24 > 0:10:28high interest rate when the Federal reserve makes a decision later
0:10:28 > 0:10:30today. Thank you so much