10/01/2018 Asia Business Report

mostly in junior roles.

Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

As Chinese technology giant Alibaba

eyes are possible public listing we

take stock on how regional exchanges

are competing for initial public

offerings. -- eyes a. Microsoft

suspends software updates to fix a

security threat, after users

complained the patches froze their

machines.

It is Wednesday, everyone! Good

morning, Asia, hello, world! Glad

you can join us for another action

packed edition of Asia Business

Report. I am Rico Hizon. We begin

with Hong Kong, and the Territory is

changing its listing rules, maybe

trying to attract what Buster

initial public offerings, such as

Saudi Aramco, the world's a guest

IPO this year. It is planning to

allow companies to split their stock

into different categories, known as

dual class shares, to give owners of

one class greater owned -- greater

voting rights than the other. The

change could interest Alibaba

chairman Jack Mark -- Jack Ma, who

may choose Hong Kong over the US to

go public in 2018. Asia was the most

active region for listings last

year. Over 1600 initial public

offerings globally, which raised

under 200 billion US dollars. Asia

saw a surge of 44% by deal numbers.

According to our next guest, 2018

might bring more big deals. Earlier,

I spoke with Max Loh from Ernst &

Young. He said investors are excited

by the news that Jack Ma could list

the company on his home turf.

Alibaba is already listed in the

United States. Bringing it back to

Hong Kong is always exciting. It

brings it closer to home. People are

able to identify with the company

and the things that they do in the

market. It is always exciting.

What

will it mean for Hong Kong, the IPO

market, and the rest of Asia, if

Alibaba goes back home?

I think it

will give a filip to the already

robust exchanges that exist,

especially to Hong Kong, because

when you have a big company that

comes home that excites investors.

You already have dual listings

between Chinese companies who have

listed in Hong Kong, but could this

open floodgates of more American

listed firms setting up in the big

lights of Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul or

China?

Definitely. Right now the

world is globalised. Investors can

trade on any global exchange.

Bringing it closer to home makes it

more accessible. More investors, I

think, will pile on to the stock.

We

are now globally connected, as you

mention. Is there really a need for

a dual listing if investors like

lend me, based in Asia, can trade

dual stocks -- trade US stocks?

Absolutely, but right now it is

limited to sophisticated investors.

Renewed back home opens it more to

retail and domestic investors who

can now really invest directly in

that stock. -- bringing it back

home.

Everybody is looking forward

to the biggest ever IPO in history,

which is Saudi Aramco. Everybody is

eating for a share of that piece of

that big pie, whether it is London,

New York or Hong Kong. Who do you

eventually think will be the big

winner?

I really don't know.

Exchanges are competitive.

Cross-border listings are the

flavour of the day. Each exchange

will put forward what they think are

the competitive advantages to try to

attract Saudi Aramco. Obviously,

being such a big listing.

Remember

how we talked about the issues with

chips that are being used in devices

like computers and mobile phones?

Microsoft has released patches for

security threats, but they are

freezing some machines which are

powered via AMD chips. Shares in big

technology companies are down

following this report. Samir Hussein

has the latest.

What we are talking

about, their rights and that major

chip makers in the world. Intel and

AMD. We already heard from the Intel

boss who said, look, it is going to

be fixed within the next week or so.

AMD is suffering different problems.

These chips, they had a patch and

they put out that patch to try to

fix it. Microsoft has been receiving

complaints from its customers saying

that after the fix was put in, they

were getting frozen screens or the

dreaded blue frozen screens. As a

result, Microsoft has said, nope, we

are not going to be issuing this

patch any more for now. Not until

they can figure out some sort of

sex. -- fix.

Virtual reality

headsets can limit uses' mobility by

connecting them to a computer, but

one company has come up with a

hands-free Shen. -- users' mobility.

Dave Lee got his hands and head on

it at the international consumer

electronics show in Las Vegas.

The original HTC was as -- was

extremely well received upon launch

in 2016. This, the Vive Pro, is a

big upgrade. The resolution on this

version is 78% better than the

previous one. Looking around here,

that extra resolution does make a

big difference.

It has an upgraded

lens, displays, upgraded audio and

had strapped. It is a whole

different product for another

consumer.

Now, previously with the HTC Vibe

you have had to connect it to the

computer with a big cable, which

often got in the way. They think

they have solved it now with this

adaptor, so now I can take the

battery pack and put it in my back

pocket. And I can just put this over

my head and I am free to move

however please, and I do not need to

worry about tripping over that

cable.

I think it brings up the

immersion level for you, and it can

actually perform as well as a

tether. You just have a seamless

experience. It is lots easier.

Really enjoyable for people.

Some

people say the reason high end of

the art has not been as widely

adopted as it perhaps could have

been is because there isn't enough

staff. -- high end VR. There are not

enough things to do with VR. What

are you doing to solve out?

There is

more content and people know what to

do without this point. The content

quality is getting better. Other

things holding it back with things

like the tether. It will make it

easier for people to get into this

experience.

Virtual reality with Dave Lee. As we

speak, South Korean President Moon

Jae-in is speaking to the country.

This is after Seoul held its first

talks with its northern neighbour in

two years. North Korea said they

would send a delegation to the

Winter Olympics next month. Joining

us now for more is my colleague

Mariko Oi, and the big question is,

they are talking about sports, they

are talking about the nuclear

missile programme, but what about

business. -- business? Will this

dialogue give more business

relations between the two countries?

It is quite possible. The North

Korean economy, guess what, is

struggling. It has been affected by

the sanctions imposed after its

latest nuclear tests by the United

States and the international

community. Some analysts have called

it one of the very few successes of

President Trump. North Korea needs

that cash to keep its elite happy

with luxury goods, but also to keep

funding its nuclear programme.

Tourism has always been the biggest

moneyspinner but that has fallen off

the cliff after the death of a US

national in North Korea. One way

that they can make money is by

reopening the joint north and South

Korean caisson industrial complex.

-- Kaesong. That was launched back

in 2004, and was seen as a major

symbol of cooperation between the

two sides. The factory park is a

combination of 124 South Korean

companies employing 54,000 North

Korean workers. When it was opened

it used to generate about $100

million in revenue every year. It

was shut in February 2016 following

North Korea's fourth nuclear and

long-range missile test. As Rico

mentioned, President no-one is

currently speaking. We are hoping to

find out whether North Korea and

South Korea plans to reopen this

context. We have not heard anything

about that yet but it is a

possibility.

Thank you for that

update. Moving to other news, Toyota

and most are expected to announce

they are building a new $1.6 billion

auto factory in the US state of

Alabama. -- Toyota and Mazda. It is

a victory for President Trump, who

promised to bring back Manufacturing

jobs to the United States, and

threatened tariffs on foreign

reduction. Sources have told media

outlets that the plant will employ

4000 workers and build three had a

thousand vehicles a year. --

300,000. A quick look at the

markets:

Thank you for investing your time

with us. I am Rico Hizon. Sport

Today is coming up.