12/03/2018 Asia Business Report

been told to wash their belongings

after the discovery of a nerve agent

used to poison a former Russian

spy and his daughter.

Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

Closer relations between French and

Indian leaders. President Macron

says his country is desire is to be

one of the new's best partners in

Europe. With steel tariffs just days

away, which US businesses will be

affected by higher costs? Good

morning, Asia. Hello, world. It's

Monday, the start of a brand-new

trading week. We start off with

French President Macron in India and

security and energy relations a

higher on the agenda. Let's get the

latest. 14 agreements have already

been signed between the two

countries. Tell us more.

That's

right. Prime Minister Modi and

French President Macron have signed

$16 billion worth of contracts and

that was just on the first day of

his visit. They include any aviation

deals, industrial gas deals, water,

system deals and a plan to build

what will be the largest nuclear

power plant in the world. They also

agreed to strengthen ties on defence

cooperation and security. Prime

Minister Modi thanked President

Macron for investing in his flagship

making India programme which seeks

to boost local manufacturing and

President Macron said the countries

would work together on maritime

supervision in the Pacific and

Indian oceans.

But President

Macron's visit to India hasn't come

without controversy. What has

happened?

That really happened after

President Macron made some comments

about France being the gateway to

Europe for Indian students. The UK's

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

tweeted in reply, saying the UK also

invites around 14,000 students to

the UK every year so that kind of

shows the battle over Brexit and the

UK's Place after Brexit but there is

no doubt India and France have

strong partnerships, shown by the

kind of deals that were showing here

over the weekend including a really

big aviation deal for Indian carrier

Spice Jet, its biggest expansion

plans in recent history.

Thank you

for that update on the visit of

President Macron do I. Staying with

India, some of the country's biggest

airlines announced major expansion

plans. Despite the bright prospects,

carriers face one major challenge.

We travelled to an airline show in

Hyderabad to find out more.

I's aviation industry is flying

high. Last night -- last year,

airlines flew nearly 120 million

domestic passion that passengers.

More than any other country in the

world. 25, 20 6% applies are first

timers. The market is exploding. We

plan to get to 20 aircraft and in

the next three, five years we plan

to be I's second largest low-cost

carrier. By 2025, India is expected

to overtake the UK to become the

third-largest air passenger market

after China and the United States

but there is one major roadblock to

the rapid growth. The biggest

airports in Mumbai and Delhi are

struggling to cope with the growing

traffic and while the government is

trying to build new airports and

expand existing ones, that is taking

time.

The first of course is the

land. It is typical in today's day

and age to build large-scale

airport. We need to find land close

to major centres.

The site got

delayed the nearly a decade. This

organisation was on display. This

runway would normally be packed with

the latest international commercial

aircraft models but this year, there

are only private Jets and small

aircraft with a maximum capacity of

20 seats. Airlines say they are not

able to fly their fractured

aircraft. Airlines put it down to

bad organisation. You will upgrading

infrastructure quickly will be

essential.

In less than two weeks, the US

tariffs on steel and aluminium get

imports will be taking effect. About

a third of it is important from

countries like Canada, South Korea.

The commodities are important in raw

materials made in the US but also in

many other products made in America.

I asked Paul Bartholomew from

Standard and Poor's what types of

steel are affected by this move. You

can put them into two main

categories.

There is flat steel.

That is the steel that is used in

manufacturing, anything from going

into cars to high-end engineering

type products and we have the long

products, those bits of metal that

we see, then there is a third,

slightly smaller one.

Which

particular type of steel will be

affected due to the higher tariffs?

The big concern to the age and

region is the flat steel. That is

what Japan exports of South Korean

exports. South Korea makes up 10% of

US imports. It suddenly knocking up

against Chinese steel -- Chinese

steel. That can have quite a big

impact. Suddenly, there is all this

steel sloshing around.

It's made a

big move into China. After a Chinese

conglomerate took over the company.

It is an established British band.

We have to reinvent our brand in the

Asian consumer. It's a very

important feature. It represents the

authentic product.

It is not a designer label. As a

result, our marketing is very

important. Bespoke dressing is all

about dressing for the event and

feeling fantastic. If you're running

a media campaign, digital media is

all about the constant evolution. A

constant flow of images and

information.

This boat has been very successful

in terms of the Asian market

specifically. Authenticity counts

for a lot.

Before we go, let's have

a look at the week ahead. It will be

the focus of investors as they try

to gauge how US interest rates will

wise. The Central Bank unveiling

minutes from its recent policy

meeting. Also, we will find out if

Chinese consumers are losing their

urge to splurge. Towards the end of

the week, the focus will be back on

the US. Washington slapped duties on

aluminium imports from China because

they said that they were being sold

below market prices in the US. All

of this of course will have an

impact on regional markets, the Nick

Kay surging by 2.2%. The All

Ordinaries Index rising by 0.7%.