0:00:02 > 0:00:15Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:16 > 0:00:22Hit or miss, we find out if China is experiencing a growth spurt when new
0:00:22 > 0:00:30data comes out this week. Commuters are not fond of Janat words, search
0:00:30 > 0:00:39pricing. Find out how it works and how you can get around it. -- surge
0:00:39 > 0:00:47pricing. Good morning, Asia. Glad you can join us for this edition of
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Asia Business Report. We start with the business calendar, and the
0:00:52 > 0:00:57report cards from corporate America. Kicking things off, quarterly
0:00:57 > 0:01:00numbers from Alcoa and big banks including Morgan Stanley. On
0:01:00 > 0:01:09Thursday or all eyes will be on Chinese growth numbers for the
0:01:09 > 0:01:13December quarter, and 6.8 is them that it number for analysts.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Attention is back on the US at the end of the week. Friday is the
0:01:17 > 0:01:21deadline for the spending bill from Congress to avert a government shut
0:01:21 > 0:01:24down one day after the first anniversary of Donald Trump's
0:01:24 > 0:01:30official start at the White House. Asian analyst David Ho from the
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Motley Fool says he expects a gradual slowdown in Chinese growth
0:01:35 > 0:01:38rates. It doesn't mean time is slowing
0:01:38 > 0:01:42down, it is growing not as fast as it did previously and many think
0:01:42 > 0:01:49that 2017 it will grow at about 6.7% but Premier Li said he thinks it
0:01:49 > 0:01:58will grow at 6.9%, so I am going to say it 6.9% in 2017.6.9% in 2017,
0:01:58 > 0:02:04so surely it will be better than 2016, so what about 2018, what is
0:02:04 > 0:02:10your projection, better than 2017?I think we will see a gradual slowdown
0:02:10 > 0:02:18and I think what we will see is 6.4% in 2018, and that is inevitable,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23because China's economy has to slow because most of the growth so far
0:02:23 > 0:02:29has been fuelled by debt. China has borrowed a lot of money. That cannot
0:02:29 > 0:02:33continue. What will have to happen now is those companies will have to
0:02:33 > 0:02:38grow on their own. They won't be able to borrow as much as they did
0:02:38 > 0:02:45previously. I think 2018 we will see more of a slowdown to a round 6.4%,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50I think.And 6.4% is also the World Bank's forecast for Chinese economic
0:02:50 > 0:02:58growth. It is also earnings season in the US. What will have a great
0:02:58 > 0:03:03impact on the Asian markets, US earnings or China's GDP?I think
0:03:03 > 0:03:08both. I will hedge my debt and say both are very important. People are
0:03:08 > 0:03:14looking to America simply because what they are saying in America is
0:03:14 > 0:03:19that if the companies in America can continue to deliver good earnings
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and it will drive the stock market over in America, which would drive
0:03:23 > 0:03:28the stock markets not only here in Hong Kong, but certainly where you
0:03:28 > 0:03:34are in Singapore and the rest of Asia.In other news making
0:03:34 > 0:03:39headlines, VW said car sales rose to a new record last year thanks to
0:03:39 > 0:03:44rising demand in China and the Americas despite the omission
0:03:44 > 0:03:49cheating scandal, overtaking Toyota as the best selling car maker in
0:03:49 > 0:03:542017. The German carmaker announced plans to spend $3 billion on
0:03:54 > 0:04:00development and production of new models in North America from 2018 to
0:04:00 > 0:04:032020. Ford says the company will increase investment in autonomous to
0:04:03 > 0:04:12$11 billion by 2022 and have 40 hybrid and fully electric models in
0:04:12 > 0:04:17its lineup. He made the announcement at the Detroit Auto Show. Mainstream
0:04:17 > 0:04:23automakers are reacting to pressure from regulators in China, Europe and
0:04:23 > 0:04:26California to slash carbon emissions from fossil fuels. And they are
0:04:26 > 0:04:32facing competition from Tesla which has inspired would-be owners to line
0:04:32 > 0:04:36up outside showrooms and flood the company with orders.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41The Trump administration is rewriting regulations about
0:04:41 > 0:04:44autonomous vehicles. The Transportation Secretary said they
0:04:44 > 0:04:50would unveil the guidelines by summer. It would cover not only self
0:04:50 > 0:04:53driving cars but also the integration of the technology behind
0:04:53 > 0:05:00motor carriers, transit, trucks and infrastructure. The days of having
0:05:00 > 0:05:05teaching in to live TV to watch your favourite TV show and movies are
0:05:05 > 0:05:10long gone and the Internet is increasingly now a very crowded
0:05:10 > 0:05:15space. There is fierce competition between Netflix, Amazon and HBO. To
0:05:15 > 0:05:21try to win over customers, Amazon produces original, local content in
0:05:21 > 0:05:26three Asian markets with Japan, India and South Korea. James
0:05:26 > 0:05:32Farrell, who heads the region's Amazon Prime Video told the BBC how
0:05:32 > 0:05:36the programmes are produced.The one commonality is local content is king
0:05:36 > 0:05:43in all of those countries. We started with licensed content on the
0:05:43 > 0:05:48service and then a good example was a popular kids show on TV for 45
0:05:48 > 0:05:52years, we went to the producers and we said, this is a great show,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56people love to watch it, how can we do something new, creative and
0:05:56 > 0:06:01different with the brand? We sat down with them and we brought up a
0:06:01 > 0:06:07re- creation of a 70s series, except this was no holds barred on the more
0:06:07 > 0:06:12violence and action. That became the first Amazon original series in
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Japan. My favourite so far is Documental, a comedy competition,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22with ten comedians in a room and they have to see who can make each
0:06:22 > 0:06:26other laugh the fastest. As soon as you laugh you are out of the room.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31There are no rules. They go crazy. What they can do on TV and other
0:06:31 > 0:06:35platforms, there is limitations. Wattell advertisers support? You
0:06:35 > 0:06:40know, TV regulations. With Amazon, we connect comedians and their crazy
0:06:40 > 0:06:51ideas and what we want the favourite comedians to do. Matsumoto-san said,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55what can we do, so we connect them and that is why they have been so
0:06:55 > 0:06:59successful and that is why people love to watch it. We came to the US
0:06:59 > 0:07:03and we put the service out in Japan or other countries and they don't
0:07:03 > 0:07:06work. People say that unlike the content, better understand what's
0:07:06 > 0:07:10going on. Pat Schiller is one where we heard all about. We said there is
0:07:10 > 0:07:14this giant space in Japan where people are making variety shows and
0:07:14 > 0:07:19comedy -- Bachelor. No one is doing large-scale romantic reality series,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24so let's do the biggest and best, which is the Bachelor and everyone
0:07:24 > 0:07:29said it was a horrible idea but it is the top five show for us. We are
0:07:29 > 0:07:32happy to take the risk and customers are super happy with it.James
0:07:32 > 0:07:37Farrell from Amazon Prime Video. Everyone knows the law of supply and
0:07:37 > 0:07:43demand but no one likes it when it means you and me, the customers,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48fork out more from our wallets and we are talking about surge pricing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53To find out how it works and if there is a way to work around it for
0:07:53 > 0:07:58your next taxi ride. Surge pricing is a dirty word in the
0:07:58 > 0:08:02digital age, like spam or pop-ups. Whether in rush-hour or after a big
0:08:02 > 0:08:06event you will have to pay more. That is because quite simply the
0:08:06 > 0:08:13demand for the right out numbers the number of cars on the road so to
0:08:13 > 0:08:17avoid paying the surge prices you have to understand how the companies
0:08:17 > 0:08:24do it in the first place. Heat maps based on real-time information, that
0:08:24 > 0:08:29data is collected by a geo- tag in the cars and alerts are sent to the
0:08:29 > 0:08:40drivers to try to move them to the areas where the demand is greatest.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Some situations where it is unfair to do that, let's say if there is a
0:08:45 > 0:08:49flood in the city, it is unfair to charge 44 that, so the platform
0:08:49 > 0:08:55allows the ability to ingest news into the decision-making, the
0:08:55 > 0:08:58weather information into the decision-making, and that is how in
0:08:58 > 0:09:06this case you will not have surge prices in that area.So that is the
0:09:06 > 0:09:13company. What about ask? What can we do to avoid the surge prices? Moved
0:09:13 > 0:09:17to another area, across the street or down the road. Then again, you
0:09:17 > 0:09:24can wait it out, so if demand goes down, surge prices might go away.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29And finally, number three, book a car beforehand. If you know you need
0:09:29 > 0:09:35a ride it is a good way to take the guesswork out of getting home.From
0:09:35 > 0:09:47surge prices to Japan's latest girl band, let me show you, they are
0:09:47 > 0:09:50called the Virtual Currency Girls, yes, you heard me right, they each
0:09:50 > 0:09:59play a character like the bitcoin Etherium bought the Ripple and they
0:09:59 > 0:10:01warn against fraudulent operators and they urged people to make sure
0:10:01 > 0:10:10of online security. Let's listen in. And, if you want to take a picture
0:10:10 > 0:10:19with them, fans had to pay 0.001 Bitcoin, about 15 US dollars, and
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Japan recognises Bitcoin as legal tender and one third of global
0:10:24 > 0:10:30Bitcoin transactions are denominated in the Japanese yen. Thank you so
0:10:30 > 0:10:32much for investing your time with us. I'm