30/01/2018 Asia Business Report

transition period after Brexit,

it says Britain will have to obey

all EU rules during the transition.

Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

A leading businessman with a stern

warning for Britain. And could steel

and aluminium be next? Good morning,

Asia. Hello, world. Welcome to

another edition of Asia Business

Report. I am Rico Hizon. It's a

Tuesday. Thank you for joining us.

Brexit. A major Chinese employer in

the UK has warned Thai minister

Theresa May that she needs to give

people a definite signal about the

kind of Brexit bill she wants. --

Prime Minister. The department store

owner spoke to the BBC on the eve of

her visit to the mainland. We have

more. British things with an

unmistakable Rajesh feel on sale in

a distinctly British place. --

British. But this is China, the home

city of a billionaire who now

controls the change. He has 17,000

staff on his books in the UK, and a

major interest in the future of

Britain, including, of course,

Brexit.

Is your business in the UK going to

be better outside the European

Union, worse, what do you think?

? Being bought by a Chinese company

is a surefire way to get access to

this country. But it can be a very

challenging experience. One way in,

though, is this the Pope this Thomas

Cook China add offers tailored

access. They are opening up in some

ways, though to be the UK has a new

deal to send more pig trotters here.

Step-by-step they are aiming for

incremental trade deals with China

in a post- Brexit world.

Share

prices hitting record highs on

Monday as the annual economic survey

predict that India would once again

be the world's farce growing

economy. Growth would be between

7.5% and 7%. We are joined by our

business reporter. Which particular

sectors and industries will lead the

pack for India to grow by more than

7% in the next fiscal year?

The

Indian economic survey points out

the recovery in the exports sector

is one of the leading factors for

projected growth, also talking about

the banking sector strengthening

after the Indian bankruptcy court

has been introduced. It is banking

on foreign investment, indicating

the upcoming budget in India could

look at liberalising certain

sectors, especially after the

announcement of increased foreign

investment in India. This is where

it we could have more investment in

the country. Also, it talks about

how the Indian economy is at a

precipice, with a shot in the

economy.

Which risks, red flags,

could stifle this growth going

forward?

That is where protectionism

comes into play with the Indian

economic survey showing export

recovery in India. It talks about

high crude oil prices which could

increase the import bill for India

and hurt economic growth.

Thank you

for updating us on the economic

survey to be President Trump will

deliver his first State of the Union

address in 24 hours -- survey. Just

last week he followed up months of

rhetoric about protectionism by

imposing heavy tariffs on solar.

This hit Asia, most impacted by the

move. But Donald Trump warns there

is more to come. Powering a

potential trade war. Steep tariffs

on imported solar panels in America

have divided the sake. US -based

manufacturers are happy. -- sector.

But those that use American

products, many which come from

China, fear they will lose business,

and people like this could lose

jobs. This woman runs a firm which

imports them.

There is a way to

incentivise it. But this is

symbolically a bad way to do it to

instead of saying we will tax solar,

you could say we will make it

cheaper and better the manufacture

in the US.

President Trump

officially approved the tariffs last

week. This is a move in line with

his America first policy.

Protectionism is what the president

campaigned on, and what he seems to

be delivering. He is renegotiating

free trade agreements with Canada,

Mexico, and South Korea, which he

thinks are unfair, and solar

products and washing machines are

only the first among a host of items

he wants to start import duties on.

Steel and aluminium are expected to

be next on the list. China is the

world's biggest producer of both.

Many argue prices in the US are low

because of cheap imports from the

Asian giant. Others say they

delivered a deadly blow to American

manufacturing.

China has been waging

a trade war on the US for two

decades. We have been following a

policy of maligned neglect. We have

been ignoring our own interests.

It

is not just China. US policies could

impact several nations. Voices

against protectionism have already

grown louder. And in a globalised

world, some of these leaders could

decide to hit back. It is earnings

season for corporate America, with

McDonald's bringing out their report

later today. Worldwide, it was worth

$440 billion in 2016. It is expected

to hit 690 billion US dollars by

2022. That is a lot of shakes,

burgers, and fries. Does Asia have

the same appetite? Asia is the

fourth greatest growing in the

industry. Earlier, I spoke with a

guest about how Asian brands are

fairing against Western rivals.

They

are aggressively expanding in all of

Asia, even in the Europe and the US

markets. They love it. Filipinos

have a huge influence on other

customers.

One of the big franchises

in Singapore is Four Fingers. Are

they expanding?

They will expand in

Thailand and Australia. They have a

new trend of premium chicken, which

people crave.

Not all brands are

successful in the Asia-Pacific

region. Which ones are struggling at

the moment?

Traditional fast food,

KFC, it is closing down a bit. With

all the competition and new brands

and flavours, consumers just like

newer things to experience.

What is

the overall trend in the industry?

Consumers going to stores? Do they

just order on line?

There is

definitely more web delivery,

overtaking drive-in customers.

Third-party aggregates like food

delivery, UberEats, etc, they are

delivering more.

It makes me hungry.

A quick look at the markets. Not a

very good day for Asian stocks this

Tuesday. All of them are in negative

territory after US equities pulled

back from record highs. The SNP 500

had its biggest decline in five

months. You have the Nikkei, the

Hang Seng Index, the All Ordinaries

Index, all of them are in the red in

midmorning Tuesday trade. Thank you

so much