0:00:00 > 0:00:01say they're pleased to have won the right to challenge the decision
0:00:01 > 0:00:02to free him from prison.
0:00:02 > 0:00:04Lawyers will be allowed to scrutinise the Parole Board's
0:00:05 > 0:00:06reasoning.
0:00:06 > 0:00:15And now on BBC, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20A rare critique of India's Argent from the governor of the country's
0:00:20 > 0:00:28central bank. I am live at the Singapore airshow, the world is
0:00:28 > 0:00:33facing a shortage of airline pilots at higher pay and women pilots may
0:00:33 > 0:00:34be a solution.
0:00:41 > 0:00:47It is a Thursday, everyone. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. Glad
0:00:47 > 0:00:51you could join us for this edition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Hizon. Usually stays quiet and this commentary to others but the
0:00:56 > 0:00:59governor of the reserve bank of India has spoken out about the
0:00:59 > 0:01:04budget and the country's economic direction. For more on this, let's
0:01:04 > 0:01:07cross over to a Asia Business Report, who attended the
0:01:07 > 0:01:12government's press conference. Thank you so much for joining us, what did
0:01:12 > 0:01:17the governor said?Well, the Governor opened up about various
0:01:17 > 0:01:21issues related to the economy and specifically the budget announcement
0:01:21 > 0:01:27which took place, which the government decided to introduce
0:01:27 > 0:01:32long-term capital gains tax on stocks. Up until now in India, there
0:01:32 > 0:01:38was no long-term capital gains tax on stocks. If an investor bought the
0:01:38 > 0:01:43stock or mutual fund and sold within a year, there would be 15% tax on
0:01:43 > 0:01:47it. But if an investor held the stock for more than a year, they did
0:01:47 > 0:01:51not have to pay any taxes, but now the government has decided that they
0:01:51 > 0:01:54will charge 10% tax even if the stockholder holds a particular stock
0:01:54 > 0:01:59for more than a year. This has had an inverse reaction here in India,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02especially the stock market, they have been falling since this
0:02:02 > 0:02:08announcement came in. In regards to that, the governor said that there
0:02:08 > 0:02:12are only so many forms of taxes on capital and this is the fifth form
0:02:12 > 0:02:16of tax that has been introduced. This will have an impact on
0:02:16 > 0:02:18investments and savings, he did raise concerns. This is a governor
0:02:18 > 0:02:22who is usually very silent, does not comment too much on the Indian
0:02:22 > 0:02:26government and its policies, clearly this is the first time that he
0:02:26 > 0:02:29really opened up and said that the government should we look at this
0:02:29 > 0:02:36particular policies.It will surely dampen investment sentiment in
0:02:36 > 0:02:41India's key capital markets. Thank you so much for joining us. Staying
0:02:41 > 0:02:45with India, one of the country's oldest and largest car makers is
0:02:45 > 0:02:53considering making an electric version of its budget car. We caught
0:02:53 > 0:03:01up with Tata motors at the auto Expo in Delhi.Urban mobility requires a
0:03:01 > 0:03:05compact vehicle, if this is going to be a modified car or something new,
0:03:05 > 0:03:10let's wait and see what kind of conclusions we draw but the lower
0:03:10 > 0:03:13segment is one of the segments where we believe in electrification
0:03:13 > 0:03:20because the urban city was the context of the urban traffic
0:03:20 > 0:03:24environment and with the highest level solutions, is the one where
0:03:24 > 0:03:29such kind of solutions is the most urgently needed.For a start, Tata
0:03:29 > 0:03:36is betting big on electric vehicles with six battery-powered cars and a
0:03:36 > 0:03:40fully electric bus ready to be rolled on the Indian roads. But do
0:03:40 > 0:03:43you believe there is infrastructure for this electric vehicle rollout?
0:03:43 > 0:03:48Defer significance, that electric is going to take place on the fleet
0:03:48 > 0:03:55business, it may be a vast fleet or taxi fleet, for example. -- the
0:03:55 > 0:04:02first significance. Because in the moment, it you have a dedicated
0:04:02 > 0:04:06infrastructure where you provide charging stations, the maintenance,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11you have the spare parts, and the car can be done overnight and next
0:04:11 > 0:04:19morning, it goes back on duty.North Korea is expected any moment now to
0:04:19 > 0:04:23kick off a military parade showcasing its defence muscle. This
0:04:23 > 0:04:28comes ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in the south. Pyongyang is
0:04:28 > 0:04:34believed to spend around $10 million a year -- $10 billion a year, about
0:04:34 > 0:04:3920% of its gross domestic product, on its military. Can it afforded
0:04:39 > 0:04:49given the sanctions it faces?At this point, it is really hard to
0:04:49 > 0:04:53assess the sanctions. The sanctions at this point in time are relatively
0:04:53 > 0:04:59comprehensive, on paper 90% of North Korea's exports are under sanction
0:04:59 > 0:05:02but these sanctions are relatively of recent vintage. The kinds of
0:05:02 > 0:05:06distress signals that you would expect to see, for in the black
0:05:06 > 0:05:13market exchange rate of North Korean rice wine, cut back on the kind of
0:05:13 > 0:05:16gifts that the regime gives to the elites in Beijing supporters, we
0:05:16 > 0:05:20have not seen those kinds of signs of distress, and so the sanctions
0:05:20 > 0:05:26appear tough on paper, we don't really see the implications on the
0:05:26 > 0:05:30ground level.What about the latest sanctions? Could this put some
0:05:30 > 0:05:35stress on the North Korean economy, particularly visas for North Koreans
0:05:35 > 0:05:40working overseas, those are the targets of the sanctions, which
0:05:40 > 0:05:44shows that remittances are the second biggest forward exchange
0:05:44 > 0:05:49earners for Pyongyang. Could this impact the economy going forward?
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Shawl, the North Koreans probably make somewhere in the hundreds of
0:05:54 > 0:05:58millions of dollars from the organised export of labour. It is
0:05:58 > 0:06:01important although it is not absolutely critical to the economy,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05but the problem with the sanctions is that although they are tough on
0:06:05 > 0:06:09paper, the way they have been designed almost frustrates
0:06:09 > 0:06:13limitations. For example, on some categories of exports, they have
0:06:13 > 0:06:17been put initially under ceilings or with respect to the export of
0:06:17 > 0:06:22labour, it is that existing contracts were able to be continued,
0:06:22 > 0:06:28new contracts were not entered into. So, in your view, what will really
0:06:28 > 0:06:38hurt Kim Jong-un and the economy?If China actually enforces sanctions.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43Aviation in Asia is in the middle of a boom as the growing middle class
0:06:43 > 0:06:46takes to the skies. In fact, the industry is struggling to keep up
0:06:46 > 0:06:52with demand. Let's cross over now to the Singapore airshow. How I airline
0:06:52 > 0:06:59is dealing with pilot shortages? Well, they have in it really
0:06:59 > 0:07:04desperate and in fact, they have actually raise the retirement age
0:07:04 > 0:07:10for pilots from 55 to 60 and then to 65, but now that can't be extended
0:07:10 > 0:07:13any further for safety reasons, so they are looking into hiring more
0:07:13 > 0:07:17people, offering more money. It is some anecdotes of retired pilots
0:07:17 > 0:07:22being offered a lot of money to come back from retirement and fly again.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27But even though at the Singapore airshow, we have not really seen
0:07:27 > 0:07:31that many orders, that shortage is real. It is not just pilots,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35engineers and technicians as well. Lastly, I went to a training
0:07:35 > 0:07:39facility here in Singapore to find out what they are doing to produce
0:07:39 > 0:07:46more pilots. Training to be a pilots, it takes up to two years to
0:07:46 > 0:07:52learn how to deal with emergencies inside and around an aircraft. For
0:07:52 > 0:07:5628-year-old dean, it was his childhood dream.When I was young, I
0:07:56 > 0:08:05took a flights to New Zealand and around the mountains, and just being
0:08:05 > 0:08:09away from everything, it was just fantastic.But it is competitive to
0:08:09 > 0:08:15get in. Here in Singapore, 600 apply for 60 spots annually and it is not
0:08:15 > 0:08:21cheap, up to 140,000 US dollars to complete the course. Many of the
0:08:21 > 0:08:25cadets, including this 24-year-old, paid for the training themselves.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30The price is a bit on the high side but I think that it is worth it for
0:08:30 > 0:08:33the investment because in the long run, this is my passion. I think it
0:08:33 > 0:08:38is worth it.And he will likely get his money's worked because there is
0:08:38 > 0:08:43an acute shortage of pilots. Air plane maker Boeing is forecasting
0:08:43 > 0:08:50that global air airlines will need to hire 637,000 new pilots over the
0:08:50 > 0:08:57next 30 years. Some 40% of that demand comes from Asia.To address
0:08:57 > 0:09:00the Chinese market that has effectively tripled their pilot
0:09:00 > 0:09:05numbers, and this trend is going to continue for the next 20 years, we
0:09:05 > 0:09:08have effectively quadrupled our capacity in terms of pilot training
0:09:08 > 0:09:17in Australia.But take a look at this classroom. Where are the women?
0:09:17 > 0:09:22Well, this school has seen three to five female cadets each year but
0:09:22 > 0:09:28globally, only about 3% of all the pilots are women.It is still very
0:09:28 > 0:09:32much male dominated, the training is also not conducive for females. I
0:09:32 > 0:09:39think we have to start very early on, motivating, encouraging and
0:09:39 > 0:09:42making it possible for women to have family life and become a pilot as
0:09:42 > 0:09:47well.This pilot shortage has even cause some airlines to cancel
0:09:47 > 0:09:52flights and more Asian carriers are now making efforts to hire women,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57not just as ground staff will flight attendants but as their pilots. So
0:09:57 > 0:10:00we may soon start hearing more female voices from the
0:10:04 > 0:10:11And before we go, here is a quick look at the markets. So far so good.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20That is despite Wall Street's volatility overnight. Thank you so
0:10:20 > 0:10:25much for investing your time with us. I am Rico Hizon, Sport Today is
0:10:25 > 0:10:28coming up next.