0:00:00 > 0:00:00In his spring statement, the Chancellor has
0:00:00 > 0:00:01revealed forecasts for higher growth
0:00:01 > 0:00:03and lower inflation and debt.
0:00:03 > 0:00:05Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:16 > 0:00:23More market malaise as technology stocks lead US indices into the red.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26We'll be finding out what's troubling investors.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30South Korea's gaming industry is under scrutiny after several worker
0:00:30 > 0:00:35deaths spurred a change in labour laws.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. It's Wednesday, glad you could join
0:00:44 > 0:00:47us for another exciting addition of Asia Business Report, I'm Rico Hizon
0:00:47 > 0:00:52and we kick off with the financial markets. A choppy session on Wall
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Street overnight with technology issues leading the major US indices
0:00:56 > 0:01:03lower. Equities in turn put pressure on oil prices. Here's were Wall
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Street closed overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling by
0:01:07 > 0:01:12172 points, and the NASDAQ losing 77 point. Let's get an updated version
0:01:12 > 0:01:17the Asian stock markets. Japan currently down by 127 points, and
0:01:17 > 0:01:21the All Ordinaries giving back 39 points.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Why are the markets heading lower? Kim Cattrall Stern explained that
0:01:25 > 0:01:31much of it is to do with the new Deal.
0:01:31 > 0:01:39The proposed merger, broad, was thinking about buying QUALCOMM for
0:01:39 > 0:01:45$117 billion, it was being scuppered by US regulators. The committee on
0:01:45 > 0:01:48foreign investment in the United States said they had
0:01:48 > 0:01:52national-security concerns about the merger, which was all about the five
0:01:52 > 0:01:57G network in the US. This is part of a pattern we have seen of deals this
0:01:57 > 0:02:02particular body has essentially called off as a result of security
0:02:02 > 0:02:04concerns, concerns about intellectual property in the US and
0:02:04 > 0:02:12they tend to be clustered in the technology centre. In September we
0:02:12 > 0:02:15saw Lattice Semiconductor in Oregon, they tried to sell themselves to a
0:02:15 > 0:02:21Chinese backed investment firm, that deal was called off. That has left
0:02:21 > 0:02:24technology stocks broadly lower as investors grapple with this setback.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29Has the sacking of Rex Tillerson by Donald Trump had any impact on
0:02:29 > 0:02:34market sentiment?The former Secretary of State, feels funny to
0:02:34 > 0:02:39say that already, this move was widely expected. Trump and Tillerson
0:02:39 > 0:02:44had clashed pretty publicly, there were reports there were words like
0:02:44 > 0:02:50more news, I won't go much further than that, so in some ways this was
0:02:50 > 0:02:55priced into markets. We will see how this plays out through the week --
0:02:55 > 0:02:59like moron. India and two of the country's
0:02:59 > 0:03:04low-cost carriers had to cancel more than 60 flights after its aviation
0:03:04 > 0:03:08regulator grounded Airbus planes because of faulty planes. We can go
0:03:08 > 0:03:16to Delhi and join our business correspondent. How is this affecting
0:03:16 > 0:03:20the budget airline industry in India?It's going to be holiday
0:03:20 > 0:03:24season soon and peak travel times during the holiday season, we're
0:03:24 > 0:03:27talking about two of the market leaders in the budget airline space
0:03:27 > 0:03:36with 11 of its planes grounded between Indigo and, Air, there were
0:03:36 > 0:03:41significant delays yesterday, although the airlines made
0:03:41 > 0:03:46significant arrangements -- Go Air. Apart from the financial issues they
0:03:46 > 0:03:50are looking at how to tide over the peak travel time in summer. There
0:03:50 > 0:04:01are about 45 A320s, or 11 of which have been grounded by the top
0:04:01 > 0:04:07aviation regulator, because there is believed to be an engine glitch --
0:04:07 > 0:04:1211 of which. A similar glitch was reported in Europe as well by the
0:04:12 > 0:04:16regulator. They allowed these flights to operated if the problem
0:04:16 > 0:04:21was only in one engine. In India there's been three midair scares and
0:04:21 > 0:04:28the Indian aviation regulator isn't taking any chances. Experts predict
0:04:28 > 0:04:31losses of 8000 for these airlines, which will see a possible
0:04:31 > 0:04:42replacement by next quarter only -- 8000.Thanks for joining us on Asia
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Business Report -- 8000.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50South Korea has some of the longest working hours in the developed world
0:04:50 > 0:04:52and the gaming industry in particular has been under scrutiny
0:04:52 > 0:04:56for making employees work huge amounts of overtime without extra
0:04:56 > 0:05:02pay. South Korea is looking to ban employees for working more than 52
0:05:02 > 0:05:06hours a week but can the gaming industry change this culture? --
0:05:06 > 0:05:10from working.
0:07:11 > 0:07:23The South Korean gaming firm you just heard Netmarble, said:
0:07:28 > 0:07:36Do you remember these pictures? They are images of plastic pollution in
0:07:36 > 0:07:43Bali and the Pacific that recently went viral. It's a growing problem
0:07:43 > 0:07:47and at the Asia-Pacific Maritime Conference taking place this week,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52industry leaders are looking to tackle the problem. Earlier Paul
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Holt is, founding president and CEO of the World Ocean Council, told us
0:07:57 > 0:08:01more about the pollution issues facing our seas.There's a huge
0:08:01 > 0:08:06range of problems, plastics has caught a lot of attention, the
0:08:06 > 0:08:11shipping industry is working to see there are port reception facilities
0:08:11 > 0:08:15around the world so when a vessel comes into sure it can properly
0:08:15 > 0:08:20dispose of the waste on the vessel but the plastics goblin has garnered
0:08:20 > 0:08:25so much attention because it is largely a land-based source of
0:08:25 > 0:08:27pollution so governments, municipalities and others need to
0:08:27 > 0:08:32manage waste to keep it from going into the ocean.This is where
0:08:32 > 0:08:37technological innovation comes into play?Right, there's a lot of work
0:08:37 > 0:08:40going on on a whole range of these pollution issues affecting the
0:08:40 > 0:08:43ocean. For the plastics in particular there
0:08:43 > 0:08:48is a lot of work going on creating new kinds of plastic so we have
0:08:48 > 0:08:52biodegradable plastic, but particular with the circular
0:08:52 > 0:08:55economy, preventing plastics from getting into the ocean in the first
0:08:55 > 0:09:00place is where the technology is working.Our companies and
0:09:00 > 0:09:04governments really walking the talk? There are a lot of good people and
0:09:04 > 0:09:08good companies working to address the problems -- are the. Especially
0:09:08 > 0:09:12with the focus on Maritime in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Maritime conference this week, some of the other pollution problems we
0:09:16 > 0:09:20can point to excellent efforts by companies to understand and address
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and tackle these problems with technology developments around
0:09:24 > 0:09:28issues, for example, in basic species and the role of vessels in
0:09:28 > 0:09:33transmitting those, a solutions on the horizon for that. Some of the
0:09:33 > 0:09:36water pollution issues from fuel spills and so on being tackled
0:09:36 > 0:09:39through the development of new fuel types that then eliminate the
0:09:39 > 0:09:44problem because we don't have hydrocarbons.But you need money and
0:09:44 > 0:09:49resources to be able to do this and many Asian countries don't have the
0:09:49 > 0:09:53money to undertake these initiatives?The exciting part about
0:09:53 > 0:09:57a lot of these solutions is that there are business opportunities in
0:09:57 > 0:10:03them to develop the technology that creates the value that companies can
0:10:03 > 0:10:06provide in selling those solutions. That becomes part of business
0:10:06 > 0:10:12operations that companies need to weave into their business model.
0:10:12 > 0:10:18The founding president and chief executive officer of the World Ocean
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Council on pollution issues facing our seas.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24That's it for this edition of Asia Business Report. Have a productive
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Wednesday, everyone. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, we are at: