0:00:00 > 0:00:00And the top story here in the UK.
0:00:00 > 0:00:02BBC News understands that the government is poised
0:00:02 > 0:00:05to announce a significant pay rise for almost all NHS staff
0:00:05 > 0:00:06apart from doctors.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08It's thought around a million people will benefit.
0:00:08 > 0:00:27Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Because of ongoing concerns about the use of data by the social
0:00:31 > 0:00:35networking giant. And please reconsider tariffs against China.
0:00:35 > 0:00:45That is the message from America's retail giants to President Trump.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Good morning, welcomed Asia Business Report live from Singapore with me,
0:00:49 > 0:00:55Marika Oi. Social media companies are in the spotlight once again with
0:00:55 > 0:01:01Facebook shares falling for a second day following reports US authorities
0:01:01 > 0:01:07are looking into Facebook's handling of personal data and the scandal
0:01:07 > 0:01:12involving the consultancy, Cambridge Analytica, is affecting and other
0:01:12 > 0:01:19social media firm, Twitter, whose shares closed down 10% in US trade.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Let's bring in our business reporter.Cambridge Analytica has
0:01:23 > 0:01:31suspended its boss, Alexander Nix, over these allegations of data
0:01:31 > 0:01:35harvesting and meddling in elections. Cambridge Analytica has
0:01:35 > 0:01:40denied all wrongdoing, as has Facebook. We saw it to the share
0:01:40 > 0:01:46price though. $60 billion wiped out over two days, the size of a small
0:01:46 > 0:01:50economy. Investors are worried about the implications of the scandal.
0:01:50 > 0:01:56Will this deter investors and advertisers? Will they face more
0:01:56 > 0:02:00regulatory restrictions? On Tuesday, we saw shareholders sue Facebook in
0:02:00 > 0:02:05a class-action lawsuit saying that they have suffered losses because of
0:02:05 > 0:02:09this and this could be the first of several lawsuits. Again, we are at
0:02:09 > 0:02:14the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the scandal and we don't know how
0:02:14 > 0:02:21deep this rabbit hole goes.We also heard from Facebook, but not the
0:02:21 > 0:02:28CEO.Investors are wondering why Mark Zuckerberg or Cheryl Sandberg
0:02:28 > 0:02:33have not said anything. The teams are working around the clock to get
0:02:33 > 0:02:37all the facts and take the appropriate action moving forward.
0:02:37 > 0:02:48The entire company is outraged that we were deceived. Again, people are
0:02:48 > 0:03:00very worried. Whether Facebook is going to do something about that.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05And Cambridge Analytica has worked in Asia as well.Cambridge
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Analytica, in that secret video recording, we saw some of the bosses
0:03:08 > 0:03:14talking about Shell companies to disguise some of that activity. They
0:03:14 > 0:03:17have been involved allegedly in Mexico, Brazil and other countries
0:03:17 > 0:03:21and in Asia, Malaysia and India but I want to talk about Malaysia
0:03:21 > 0:03:25because it's a very sensitive time politically for the country. They
0:03:25 > 0:03:29are set to hold another of elections this year and so the Malaysians
0:03:29 > 0:03:34government came out with a statement saying they had never hired
0:03:34 > 0:03:39Cambridge Analytica to help them in the last round of elections in 2013.
0:03:39 > 0:03:45The fallout continues. In other business news, at Japanese carmaker
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Toyota is hitting the brakes on tests of self driving cars on
0:03:50 > 0:03:55American roads after a woman in Arizona was killed at the weekend
0:03:55 > 0:04:03after being hit by an Uber vehicle in autonomous mode. That accident is
0:04:03 > 0:04:07under investigation. American retail giants are asking President Trump to
0:04:07 > 0:04:13reconsider in posing trade tariffs on China. The likes of Walmart and
0:04:13 > 0:04:17target say any tariffs will increase the price of everyday goods for
0:04:17 > 0:04:19consumers at President Trump is reportedly announcing further
0:04:19 > 0:04:27tariffs against China worth $60 billion this week. Debra elms is the
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre and as tensions rise
0:04:31 > 0:04:35between the world's two biggest economies, she explained why even
0:04:35 > 0:04:39more tariffs against China could be announced.The original number was
0:04:39 > 0:04:47around $30 billion. As designed by his trade team. It was not seen as
0:04:47 > 0:04:52big enough by Donald Trump himself. In the last few days, there have
0:04:52 > 0:04:56been scrambling to double that number and we expect those to be
0:04:56 > 0:04:59announced potentially this Friday, possibly slipping into early next
0:04:59 > 0:05:04week but in the coming days.Do you think this warning from the likes of
0:05:04 > 0:05:10Walmart and target have any impact? Probably not because this is a
0:05:10 > 0:05:14long-held desire of Donald Trump to raise tariffs on China and do it now
0:05:14 > 0:05:19so I don't think he cares one way or the other what these retailers say.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25His desire is to have higher tariffs and he's saying he will do so.Does
0:05:25 > 0:05:33he have a point? Does he have a point about intellectual property
0:05:33 > 0:05:41and so on?There are two issues. The US has a trade deficit. Is that
0:05:41 > 0:05:49damaging? No. Does the United States have a long-standing issue? Yes. Is
0:05:49 > 0:06:01it is significant as it used to be? No. Our tariffs, the way to address
0:06:01 > 0:06:07that, is unilateral action the way to address that? No. What those are,
0:06:07 > 0:06:15that is the tricky part.I's growth forecast has been downgraded by
0:06:15 > 0:06:26Goldman sacks. From 8% down to 7.6% for the year to March 20 19. What
0:06:26 > 0:06:31happened? The world's fastest growing economy hit by this but not
0:06:31 > 0:06:37good news.It's all to do with the recent banking scandal that has
0:06:37 > 0:06:42happened in India. One of I's largest national banks, it was
0:06:42 > 0:06:49discovered that $2 billion worth of credit was swindled. This is when
0:06:49 > 0:06:53you open Pandora 's box. Following this news, other smaller public
0:06:53 > 0:07:00sector banks which have come forward and registered complaints alleging
0:07:00 > 0:07:07that they have also been defrauded. It's led to this sort of crisis
0:07:07 > 0:07:14within India, in a public sector bank, the lot of rich companies and
0:07:14 > 0:07:17billionaires have been able to swindled money at different periods
0:07:17 > 0:07:24of time is over the last 7-8 years at a time and I's banking sector is
0:07:24 > 0:07:28struggling because of high amounts of bad debt which has led to lower
0:07:28 > 0:07:32credit growth and banks are not in a position to lend too much money
0:07:32 > 0:07:37which Goldman sacks says will affect growth because if companies can't
0:07:37 > 0:07:45borrow, how will they expand?You talked about this crisis. How is it
0:07:45 > 0:07:53going to change because of the scandal?It's quite significant. I's
0:07:53 > 0:07:59Central Bank's head said the Indian Central Bank needs more power. Not
0:07:59 > 0:08:05able to regulate I's public sector banks. Public sector banks dominate
0:08:05 > 0:08:15the space here and if they start to crack up, it affects the economy.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Thank you for the update. Were the work, the public sector,
0:08:20 > 0:08:25manufacturing or services, the big focus is usually on boosting
0:08:25 > 0:08:32productivity. In a factory, as simple as buying more machines. Can
0:08:32 > 0:08:37you technology help us work more effectively. We try out some of
0:08:37 > 0:08:42them.
0:08:42 > 0:08:50Could a study of my brainwaves make the more productive? This company,
0:08:50 > 0:09:02MindPlay, certainly thinks so. Even when I go to get my lunch. We will
0:09:02 > 0:09:07find out later what the results are. Here is another trend. We are
0:09:07 > 0:09:10producing vast amounts of communications data. Telephone
0:09:10 > 0:09:17calls, emails, chat of all kinds what if we could analyse that they
0:09:17 > 0:09:22learn lessons about productivity? That is email dater. Behavox
0:09:22 > 0:09:26monitors communications by bank workers mainly to spot any unlawful
0:09:26 > 0:09:34or unethical activity. But now is using artificial intelligence to
0:09:34 > 0:09:38assess whether your communications are productive. It all sounds a bit
0:09:38 > 0:09:45Big Brother.In our personal lives, we are giving away this part of a
0:09:45 > 0:09:49freezer when it comes to the workplace, all of a sudden everybody
0:09:49 > 0:09:52is upset about the fact that companies are going to use that dart
0:09:52 > 0:09:59to make more money.Let's find out what the brain monitor says about
0:09:59 > 0:10:07me.For the first 7- ten minutes of the meetings, you are very highly
0:10:07 > 0:10:14engaged. There was a slow tapering off. That's because you become less
0:10:14 > 0:10:25involved in the meeting. What were you saying? Exactly.We can all
0:10:25 > 0:10:28train ourselves to be more productive in the office. Perhaps
0:10:28 > 0:10:33fewer, better meetings could be one answer.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34That's it for this