:00:18. > :00:22.President Vladimir Putin and European Commission President
:00:23. > :00:24.Jean-Claude Juncker hold talks at Russia's economic forum
:00:25. > :00:29.as sanctions hit trade by tens of billions of dollars a year.
:00:30. > :00:32.Also in the programme: The Yen rises to a 21-month high as Japan's
:00:33. > :00:34.central bank decides against expanding its massive
:00:35. > :00:51.And the Fed has cited uncertainty over the job market there and the UK
:00:52. > :00:53.referendum on Europe. Here is how it looks on the first hour of trade.
:00:54. > :00:55.And how to feed a growing global population?
:00:56. > :00:57.As the cost of growing meat in laboratories falls,
:00:58. > :00:59.is it really the future for food production?
:01:00. > :01:02.We'll get the inside track on what's known as cellular agriculture.
:01:03. > :01:05.So, that's what we want to know - would you eat a burger
:01:06. > :01:10.Does it send a shiver down your spine?
:01:11. > :01:28.Absolutely, an interesting debate. Would you eat a burger grown in a
:01:29. > :01:33.lab? Let us know. We start today in Russia,
:01:34. > :01:35.where President Putin is set to welcome business and political
:01:36. > :01:38.leaders from around the world for And his biggest meeting
:01:39. > :01:45.today is with this man, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president
:01:46. > :01:46.of the European Commission. It's the first visit by the EU chief
:01:47. > :01:50.to Russia since the EU imposed sanctions after Russia annexed
:01:51. > :01:58.Crimea two years ago. The EU's sanctions put
:01:59. > :02:00.restrictions on investments, the energy sector and export
:02:01. > :02:02.of military equipment. Russia retaliated and imposed
:02:03. > :02:07.sanctions on European food exports. Last year, trade continued to shrink
:02:08. > :02:09.dramatically between Russian exports to the EU fell
:02:10. > :02:15.by more than $52 billion, But the EU has also been hit
:02:16. > :02:22.by Russia's retaliatory sanctions, Exports are down $32 billion last
:02:23. > :02:29.year, just over 28%. The current EU sanctions come
:02:30. > :02:31.to an end next month but are expected to be
:02:32. > :02:33.renewed because of ongoing In a speech on Wednesday,
:02:34. > :02:36.the German Finance Minister explained why the sanctions should
:02:37. > :02:43.stay in place. This is a non-negotiable
:02:44. > :02:46.requirement for Russia, There can be no return to normal
:02:47. > :02:54.relations if Russia behaves contrary Europe must uphold the lesson
:02:55. > :03:02.from its history that international law is an indispensable tool
:03:03. > :03:08.for maintaining peace. Lilit Gevorgyan, Russia analyst
:03:09. > :03:21.at IHS Global Insight, is with me. Lovely to see you. Interesting,
:03:22. > :03:25.isn't it? This economic Forum is an annual event often used by Russia as
:03:26. > :03:29.a bit of a tool to get its message out there. Jean-Claude Juncker is
:03:30. > :03:34.going this time, why do you think that is? I think this is part of the
:03:35. > :03:40.European Union carrot and stick tactics. On one hand they have
:03:41. > :03:43.clearly stated that despite disagreements within the European
:03:44. > :03:47.bloc there will be an extension of sanctions against Russia at least
:03:48. > :03:50.for another six months. On the other hand when the European Commission
:03:51. > :03:54.president is visiting this high-level forum, it's basically
:03:55. > :03:58.for as long as there is a mutual for as long as there is a mutual
:03:59. > :04:03.understanding why the sanctions have been imposed and what has to be done
:04:04. > :04:07.for them to be gradually ruled out. Then was outlining some of the
:04:08. > :04:13.numbers, it is clear these sanctions are biting hard for Russia and the
:04:14. > :04:17.European Union both. Russia will try to get its message across that as an
:04:18. > :04:21.economy they are still in an OK place in spite that. Your take on
:04:22. > :04:26.that? They have two present figures that will support this presentation
:04:27. > :04:29.of the Russian economy doing OK. Because on paper the figures are
:04:30. > :04:34.showing that it is not really doing OK. Fair enough it did not contract
:04:35. > :04:39.as much as some economists were fearing. But there was still
:04:40. > :04:46.contracting in the first quarter of 2016. And this was a result, as you
:04:47. > :04:50.mentioned, of sanctions, but also falling and a malingering fall in
:04:51. > :04:57.crude oil prices. So, double trouble for the Russian economy. Of course
:04:58. > :05:00.there will be some green shoots. And statistical low base is another
:05:01. > :05:03.reason that you will see some improvement in numbers but would
:05:04. > :05:09.disagree that Russia is out of the woods. In terms of the sanctions
:05:10. > :05:11.themselves from Europe's point of view, they are actually discussing
:05:12. > :05:18.this issue next week, European leaders. They expire or are renewed
:05:19. > :05:22.at the end of July. We are assuming they will be renewed. There has been
:05:23. > :05:26.strong signals from the European Union that they will be continuing
:05:27. > :05:32.with the sanctions, at least with current sanctions until the end of
:05:33. > :05:35.the year. However, what we are also seeing is that some of those
:05:36. > :05:39.European Union members who are against the sanctions because they
:05:40. > :05:44.have suffered more than others, they argue that perhaps it is time to
:05:45. > :05:47.start an incremental decrease of these sanctions. I think from a
:05:48. > :05:51.Russian perspective they would be quite happy with one sector being
:05:52. > :05:56.released from that, the financial one. Because that has really had an
:05:57. > :06:00.impact on the Russian economy. I think within six months we will see
:06:01. > :06:04.some improvement but it will be very slow improvement in EU Russia
:06:05. > :06:09.relations. As ever we appreciate your insight. Thanks for coming in.
:06:10. > :06:13.The yen rose to a 21-month high against the dollar
:06:14. > :06:16.after the Bank of Japan decided to keep its 80 trillion yen
:06:17. > :06:19.The central bank stuck to its optimistic view
:06:20. > :06:22.of the economy, even as fears over Britain's future in the EU hit
:06:23. > :06:28.America's Central Bank kept interest rates on hold
:06:29. > :06:34.at between 0.25% and 0.5% because of an uncertain jobs market.
:06:35. > :06:39.Fed Chair Janet Yellen said a possible UK vote to leave
:06:40. > :06:42.the European Union was one of the factors deterring them
:06:43. > :06:47.She called it "a decision that could have consequences for economic
:06:48. > :06:50.and financial conditions in global financial markets".
:06:51. > :06:58.Chinese taxi hailing app Didi Chuxing says it's raised
:06:59. > :07:01.$7.3 billion from investors in its latest round of fund raising.
:07:02. > :07:03.That values the company at more than $25 billion -
:07:04. > :07:04.according to the Wall Street Journal.
:07:05. > :07:07.Didi is trying to fend off the arrival of US rival Uber
:07:08. > :07:09.into the Chinese market, which it currently dominates.
:07:10. > :07:19.It recently won a billion dollar investment from Apple.
:07:20. > :07:27.If you are watching in China and I mispronounced that completely, let
:07:28. > :07:33.me know. If you are watching, do let us know, if you speak Chinese.
:07:34. > :07:41.Let's look at some of the stories out there, Brexit is dominating, but
:07:42. > :07:47.there are some other stories. Mulberry has come out with pre-tax
:07:48. > :07:52.profits last year, ?6.2 million. That's up nearly ?2 million on the
:07:53. > :07:55.year before, so that's encouraging. Because of course British handbag
:07:56. > :08:00.brand Mulberry has not had the easiest of times of late, nor have
:08:01. > :08:04.many other rivals in the luxury goods market. It has seen its
:08:05. > :08:09.profits grow for the first time in four years. So a bit of good news in
:08:10. > :08:16.business. We like to give you a little bit of good news, it is not
:08:17. > :08:18.all doom and gloom. And this is a nice story.
:08:19. > :08:20.It's taken more than a decade, and $5.5 billion but Disney
:08:21. > :08:22.is opening its first park in mainland China.
:08:23. > :08:27.The resort covers nearly four square kilometers,
:08:28. > :08:29.and is a joint venture with state-owned companies.
:08:30. > :08:32.Around 900 Communist party officials will attending the opening gala.
:08:33. > :08:49.I think Pirates of the Caribbean is the theme behind you, or something
:08:50. > :08:54.of that nature. Tell us more, Robin. Well, it's been open for hours now.
:08:55. > :09:00.The park is full on day one, fully booked for the next couple of weeks,
:09:01. > :09:04.we're told. Disney's Hope and Bob Eiger's Hope, the Chief Executive
:09:05. > :09:10.mouse is that people will keep coming to this park. They have a
:09:11. > :09:14.seven square kilometres base and already there is talk of this park
:09:15. > :09:19.expanding. Could there be a Star Wars world here? Who knows. Huge
:09:20. > :09:22.investment for Disney, seven years in the making. As you said it is a
:09:23. > :09:28.joint venture as virtually all Western companies have to go into if
:09:29. > :09:32.they want to come into China. Essentially owned and controlled by
:09:33. > :09:35.the Shanghai government. Disney alongside the Shanghai local
:09:36. > :09:41.government. Behind this massive project. And what we have today is a
:09:42. > :09:47.really big moment for Disney because it is a bit of a gamble. It is big
:09:48. > :09:51.money but they hope that the 330 million people within a three Hour
:09:52. > :09:56.Drive of this park will be tempted, persuaded to come here, spend their
:09:57. > :10:01.money and really imbibed the Disney way. Thanks very much, enjoy the
:10:02. > :10:03.rights, Robin. I'm sure he'll be trying a few of those out as
:10:04. > :10:07.Disneyland in Shanghai opens today. It's central bank action -
:10:08. > :10:13.or inaction to be precise - The Bank of Japan held off
:10:14. > :10:17.from offering any more monetary stimulus on Thursday
:10:18. > :10:18.despite the usual headwinds That was enough to send the yen
:10:19. > :10:22.to a two-year high - casting a shadow over
:10:23. > :10:24.an already worsening outlook It wasn't a huge surprise
:10:25. > :10:31.but coupled with a lack The Federal Reserve said it
:10:32. > :10:36.would keep interest rates unchanged It also cited the UK's referendum
:10:37. > :11:02.on EU membership as an issue. Now that the US Federal reserve has
:11:03. > :11:06.spoken, investors will be looking to economic data for signs of strength
:11:07. > :11:11.in the US economy. On Thursday we will get the consumer Price index
:11:12. > :11:17.for the month of May. CPI looks at how much prices of certain consumer
:11:18. > :11:21.goods change month over month. The annual changes are used as a measure
:11:22. > :11:28.of inflation. Now it's expected that the CPI will have gone up by 0.3%
:11:29. > :11:33.for the month of May. And a big part of that is because Americans are
:11:34. > :11:36.paying more for gasoline. And also happening on Thursday, the US
:11:37. > :11:40.Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Denmark and Finland. Arctic
:11:41. > :11:42.exploration, climate change and trade are among some of the topics
:11:43. > :11:46.that will be discussed. Joining us is Tom Stevenson,
:11:47. > :11:55.Investment Director Good morning. Let's talk about
:11:56. > :11:59.Japan, we were discussing this earlier in the Green room. It was
:12:00. > :12:03.quite a big reaction to the fact that there is no action by the
:12:04. > :12:07.Central bank. Many were predicting there would not be action, either.
:12:08. > :12:14.Yes, so given that was the case it was a very big reaction in the
:12:15. > :12:19.currency market. A year ago it took 125 yen to buy a dollar, now it just
:12:20. > :12:24.takes 103 yen. A massive strengthening in the yen. That is
:12:25. > :12:28.important for the Japanese stock market. So many companies listed on
:12:29. > :12:33.the Tokyo stock exchange big exporters, and a strong yen makes
:12:34. > :12:38.their product less competitive in overseas markets. What we have seen
:12:39. > :12:43.is a 24% decline in the value of the nick a index. While we have been
:12:44. > :12:49.watching Brexit and the Fed, quietly the Japanese market has been
:12:50. > :12:53.deflating. Let's talk about the Fed, although we have heard a lot about
:12:54. > :12:57.it, deciding to do nothing again yesterday, this is a story we will
:12:58. > :13:01.follow, clearly they are taking in the impact of events around the
:13:02. > :13:06.world, not least the potential Brexit? Yes, she mentioned the
:13:07. > :13:11.Brexit vote. What was interesting about the Fed yesterday and last
:13:12. > :13:13.night was the fact that the expectations for future interest
:13:14. > :13:16.rates and the expectations for future growth in the American
:13:17. > :13:21.economy just keep coming back and coming back. Just chipping away
:13:22. > :13:27.slowly. It just means that interest rates will stay much lower for
:13:28. > :13:31.longer. Even further away than September for example? Yes, the Fed
:13:32. > :13:36.is still expecting to make to rate rises this year, the market is not
:13:37. > :13:40.expecting that, and there has been that disconnect for some time. Lots
:13:41. > :13:42.of good stories to discuss later when we look at the business press.
:13:43. > :13:45.How to feed a growing global population?
:13:46. > :13:48.Could food grown in laboratories be the answer.
:13:49. > :13:53.It's called cellular agriculture - and as the cost of technology
:13:54. > :13:55.falls, could it be coming to a dinner table near you?
:13:56. > :14:00.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:14:01. > :14:06.The Governor of the Bank of England has sent an angry response to one
:14:07. > :14:09.of the most senior figures in the Vote Leave campaign
:14:10. > :14:11.after being warned about rules banning "any public comment"
:14:12. > :14:17.Mark Carney's three-page letter, obtained by the BBC,
:14:18. > :14:21.says that what senior Bank officials considered
:14:22. > :14:30.a "threat" contained "numerous and substantial" misconceptions.
:14:31. > :14:35.Simon, the significance of this letter, talked us through it? It
:14:36. > :14:39.stems from the significance of the Bank of England Governor Mark
:14:40. > :14:42.Carney. In the past he has warned that there could be economic
:14:43. > :14:46.consequences of a vote to leave the European Union. He has admitted we
:14:47. > :14:52.could see a technical recession after the referendum vote. That of
:14:53. > :14:56.course angered the vote Leave campaign, they thought he should not
:14:57. > :15:00.be bandying words around like recession. Bernard Jenkin, the
:15:01. > :15:03.chairman of the select committee, who looks after constitutional
:15:04. > :15:06.issues, wrote to him and said I do hope you will keep your mouth shut
:15:07. > :15:11.between now and the 23rd of June because we wouldn't want you raking
:15:12. > :15:16.the purdah rules. And he got this angry 3-page letter shooting back to
:15:17. > :15:20.him singing he really fundamentally misunderstand the bank 's role of
:15:21. > :15:26.independence. We are obliged to give what he called evidence -based
:15:27. > :15:30.submissions on what would happen to the UK economy. Bernard Jenkin said,
:15:31. > :15:34.we know how you feel about the referendum. Mark Carney wrote back
:15:35. > :15:38.saying, no you don't, all I have done is given evidence base
:15:39. > :15:41.admissions, as is my duty. A real war of words about whether the
:15:42. > :15:45.governor of Bank of England can make comments on this. As it happens, in
:15:46. > :15:49.a few hours' time we will get the minutes of the last monetary policy
:15:50. > :15:51.committee meeting, and it is inconceivable that they will not
:15:52. > :15:56.mention what they have mentioned so far, that there could be some
:15:57. > :15:57.economic impact of a vote to leave. So very angry war letters this
:15:58. > :16:07.morning. You can read those letters on the
:16:08. > :16:10.Business Live page now, the 3-page letter from Mark Carney to Mr
:16:11. > :16:16.Jenkins, and if you scroll up you are then able to see the letter that
:16:17. > :16:22.was sent to the Governor of the Bank of England from Bernard Jenkin is
:16:23. > :16:27.that led to that 3-page angry response. Do take a look at those
:16:28. > :16:33.and read if you are interested. Well worth reading. The life page
:16:34. > :16:37.will have all of the other stories as well but we have not managed to
:16:38. > :16:38.squeeze in. A busy day in the business world.
:16:39. > :16:41.You're watching Business Live - our top story:
:16:42. > :16:47.Rebuilding bridges - Russia and Europe hold
:16:48. > :17:00.It is often dubbed Russia's Davos, meeting for the first time in a long
:17:01. > :17:05.time, sanctions imposed on Russia and Europe as a result of that.
:17:06. > :17:06.Jean-Claude Juncker has not been for a few years so it is interesting he
:17:07. > :17:10.is there. By 2050, the world's population
:17:11. > :17:12.is likely to hit nearly 10-billion. But how will we feed
:17:13. > :17:14.all those people? One possible answer could be
:17:15. > :17:17.to 'grow' meat and animal products in laboratories rather than rearing
:17:18. > :17:19.them on farms. But, ethics aside, can it ever
:17:20. > :17:25.be financially viable? You might remember the Dutch
:17:26. > :17:29.scientist Mark Post who unveiled the world's first lab-grown
:17:30. > :17:34.burger in London in 2013. It came with a hefty
:17:35. > :17:38.price tag - $330,000. Egg whites can also be made
:17:39. > :17:52.in the lab using yeast, which produces a protein-based
:17:53. > :17:54.mixture but without involving It's suggested the technology
:17:55. > :17:57.could revolutionise the food supply chain -
:17:58. > :18:00.making food more efficiently and reducing the impact
:18:01. > :18:01.on the environment. Gilonne d'Origny is chief
:18:02. > :18:03.development officer at New Harvest. It's a non-profit organisation that
:18:04. > :18:16.brings together all those working Welcome to the programme. Gilonne,
:18:17. > :18:20.you may have been watching at the beginning, we asked our viewers to
:18:21. > :18:24.get involved in the conversation and scanning some of the comments, most
:18:25. > :18:28.of them saying they are quite up for the idea of eating a manufactured,
:18:29. > :18:34.that is not quite the right word, a scientifically made hamburger bug.
:18:35. > :18:40.Cultured hamburger. Tell us more about the process. Cellular
:18:41. > :18:43.agriculture is making any agricultural project from the
:18:44. > :18:48.cellular level up, rather than harvesting that product from an
:18:49. > :18:52.animal, plant, or synthesising a petroleum product. So we are using
:18:53. > :19:00.the technologies that have been advanced in medicine, tissue
:19:01. > :19:05.engineering, for instance, to grow hearts all ears, and see if it can
:19:06. > :19:09.be applied to making food. We touched on the issue of the growing
:19:10. > :19:12.global population, dealing with things like world hunger, but it is
:19:13. > :19:16.potentially somewhere down the line, we are not there yet, but it could
:19:17. > :19:21.help solve some of those problems? Oh, yes. The life-cycle
:19:22. > :19:28.environmental impact assessments that have been done so far comparing
:19:29. > :19:36.the production of meat made in an animal and meat made in cultures, it
:19:37. > :19:41.is in the parable, savings of up to 90% in water consumption, in
:19:42. > :19:45.greenhouse gas emissions, it allows vertical farming in cities. From the
:19:46. > :19:49.point of view of the environment the benefits are clearer, but is it
:19:50. > :19:53.financially viable? First of all we are a long way from the point where
:19:54. > :19:56.we can buy one of these burgers, so there will be a long road in terms
:19:57. > :20:00.of research and development which has to be funded, and how will it
:20:01. > :20:06.work in terms of making it financially viable, could people
:20:07. > :20:11.afford to buy this meet? We are a research institute precisely to
:20:12. > :20:18.establish these basic tools, so that we can then bring these products
:20:19. > :20:22.closer to market. The first computers were prohibitively
:20:23. > :20:27.expensive, progressively they've become less and less expensive. Same
:20:28. > :20:35.thing in aviation. You need a concerted effort from Kovtun,
:20:36. > :20:40.universities, private institutions and foundations and research
:20:41. > :20:43.institutes like ours to start pushing these technologies said they
:20:44. > :20:49.are developed sufficiently for entrepreneurs to start picking them
:20:50. > :20:52.up. But until and unless universities start to develop
:20:53. > :20:57.specific disciplines where students can start being educated in this
:20:58. > :21:01.field, just like happened with computer sciences once you had
:21:02. > :21:07.computer science departments are you started having experts coming out.
:21:08. > :21:13.We have covered the cost, which is falling, the technology, which is
:21:14. > :21:16.improving, but there will always be the ethical, moral, perception
:21:17. > :21:20.issue, Sally said a lot of people have got in touch to say they would
:21:21. > :21:24.be fine with it, but a lot of said, it is a beer into genetically
:21:25. > :21:29.modified territory, I don't know where it is from, I would steer
:21:30. > :21:34.clear of it. How do you get public perception on your side? First of
:21:35. > :21:39.all the exercises terrible cognitive dissonance to meet today, the vast
:21:40. > :21:45.majority comes from a factory farm, animals are protein factories. There
:21:46. > :21:49.are about 60 billion animals that were growing last year for our
:21:50. > :21:57.conception. 36 billion of those were chicken. It is an efficient protein
:21:58. > :22:02.factory right now but it is very dangerous, it is a vector of
:22:03. > :22:07.diseases, it is a reason why we have antibiotic resistant at the scale we
:22:08. > :22:10.do, and it is not really necessary any more if we manage to develop
:22:11. > :22:16.these technologies sufficiently that we can take out the animal from this
:22:17. > :22:23.industrialised system. We are not talking about farms where cows roam,
:22:24. > :22:28.we are talking about the industrialisation of the animal. It
:22:29. > :22:32.is absolutely fascinating, and it is all stuff of future years. Thank you
:22:33. > :22:37.very much for coming game, very happy day year what you are finding
:22:38. > :22:38.out that. But we have to move on, as ever, and we returned to that big
:22:39. > :22:45.decision... It's just a week until
:22:46. > :22:48.voters in Britain decide whether the UK should remain
:22:49. > :22:50.in the European Union or leave. All this week we are hearing
:22:51. > :22:53.the views of small business owners In the latest of our special series,
:22:54. > :23:06.here's one who thinks he's far I am one of the owners of a textile
:23:07. > :23:11.company, we have been recycling textiles the 26th year. Our main
:23:12. > :23:19.business partner is Britain, we import 45 trucks a day, I hope
:23:20. > :23:24.Britain will stay in the EU. There are three main reasons. One of the
:23:25. > :23:30.reasons is the customs duties, obviously if Britain leaves the
:23:31. > :23:41.customs duties might be imposed, which makes goods expensive. The
:23:42. > :23:46.other reasons, things that make the procedure longer, more expensive,
:23:47. > :23:50.more difficult, sometimes impossible, and also the currency
:23:51. > :23:54.fluctuations. No-one knows what will happen but if the pound gets
:23:55. > :23:59.stronger obviously the price will be much more expensive for us. Finally
:24:00. > :24:03.there is an even bigger problem. If Britain leaves, the whole EU might
:24:04. > :24:08.break up and that would not be good for anyone.
:24:09. > :24:14.A lot more views online, of course. Tom is back with us in the studio.
:24:15. > :24:17.Before we dig into some of the papers, laboratory burgers? Your
:24:18. > :24:21.guest made a good point about cognitive dissonance, we can put the
:24:22. > :24:27.reality of factory farming to one side... While we are talking in. But
:24:28. > :24:32.I still don't really fancy burger made in a laboratory! I think I am
:24:33. > :24:39.with you on that one! Lets move swiftly on, a great story today,
:24:40. > :24:42.California is a bigger than France. California the sixth largest economy
:24:43. > :24:51.in the world. Just explain this, it is crazy. California is beaten only
:24:52. > :24:54.by the rest of the US, Japan, China, Germany and the UK now in terms of
:24:55. > :25:01.the size of the economy. What is interesting about this, bigger than
:25:02. > :25:06.France's economy but the population of California, just 40 million
:25:07. > :25:10.people, 66 million in France, so it shows the amazing productivity gains
:25:11. > :25:14.that California has. Is it the technology firms? I think that is
:25:15. > :25:20.what is driving it, what was interesting about this article was
:25:21. > :25:23.that the economy grew by 5.7%, emerging markets rate of growth. Not
:25:24. > :25:28.long ago we were talking about it long ago we were talking about it
:25:29. > :25:32.being bankrupt. It shows the importance of the technology sector
:25:33. > :25:36.and silicon valley to the US economy. Nice to see you, thank you
:25:37. > :25:42.for coming in. And a lovely picture about serve their on that story
:25:43. > :25:46.about California. Not funny, raining all the time!
:25:47. > :25:57.Thank you for joining us, we will see using.
:25:58. > :25:58.Good morning, it will be another day of downpours