:00:00. > :00:00.British Airways resumes flights to Iran for the first
:00:00. > :00:09.But can it really become a global tourist hotspot?
:00:10. > :00:11.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday
:00:12. > :00:43.Today we find out how attractive flights to Iran will be.
:00:44. > :00:46.Plus - looking for new friends in Africa -
:00:47. > :00:49.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg tells us about his plans to sign up
:00:50. > :01:00.The European markets have bounced a bit higher today. We have the latest
:01:01. > :01:03.from the app boss about what he thinks about the European
:01:04. > :01:07.Commission's decision that they will have to basic dividend sums to the
:01:08. > :01:10.Irish government, he says it is maddening and political -- from the
:01:11. > :01:16.Apple boss. How do you handle logistics
:01:17. > :01:18.for events like Davos? Coming up, we meet the man
:01:19. > :01:21.responsible for getting the world's "thinking elite" together at events
:01:22. > :01:24.all around the world. And is Iran on your travel to-do
:01:25. > :01:28.list? We start in Iran -
:01:29. > :01:42.because later this evening the first British Airways flight in almost
:01:43. > :01:44.a decade leaves Heathrow The UK Foreign Office
:01:45. > :01:51.relaxed its travel advice to Iran last July, citing "decreasing
:01:52. > :01:56.hostility under President Rouhani's government" - raising
:01:57. > :01:58.hopes of a boom in both Relations with Iran have thawed,
:01:59. > :02:05.following the implementation of the nuclear deal,
:02:06. > :02:08.and the lifting of US sanctions The Iranian authorities are keen
:02:09. > :02:18.to grow the number of foreign visitors to the country as a much
:02:19. > :02:24.needed source of hard currency. Earlier this year Iran set a target
:02:25. > :02:31.of 20 million tourists a year by 2025 potentially earning
:02:32. > :02:33.the country revenues The gist ago issues and a culture
:02:34. > :02:49.clash. -- logistical issues. Women are expected to conform
:02:50. > :02:51.to local customs like wearing a headscarf - and in
:02:52. > :02:53.some areas full hijab. And few businesses like tour
:02:54. > :02:55.operators and hotels can accept With me is Amir Paivar
:02:56. > :03:08.from the BBC's Persian Service. The Victoria talking us through the
:03:09. > :03:13.challenges, and they also have big ambitions, they want to see 20
:03:14. > :03:20.million in terms of tourists every year by 2025, is that realistic? It
:03:21. > :03:33.is a very attractive destination as a destination for cultural tourism.
:03:34. > :03:37.Women do head to cover their heads, a small light headscarf will
:03:38. > :03:43.suffice, but still. It has a very diverse geography, deserts,
:03:44. > :03:49.mountains, lakes, some of it as lush as the UK, and also amazing history.
:03:50. > :03:55.The attraction is there, but the problem is, the infrastructure.
:03:56. > :03:59.many new hotels and they are already many new hotels and they are already
:04:00. > :04:04.on the job, one of the fastest-growing sectors in the
:04:05. > :04:07.country after the sanctions were lifted, and there is also the
:04:08. > :04:12.question of domestic flights. Not enough of them. Iran has been
:04:13. > :04:24.suffering from sanctions and has not been able to purchase new jets. The
:04:25. > :04:28.orders are in. Yes, but with the banking sector, there are problems.
:04:29. > :04:33.It is also a question of services in general. All of those have two
:04:34. > :04:41.improved quite significantly in order to cater to that ambitious
:04:42. > :04:48.target. A key problem, for those travelling business travellers who
:04:49. > :04:53.travelled to the United States or Americans citizens, they will have
:04:54. > :05:01.issues in terms of the US Visa situation. That is right, a few
:05:02. > :05:06.months now, a British person does not need a Visa to travel to the
:05:07. > :05:14.United States, but if you travel to Iran, which the US still thinks is a
:05:15. > :05:22.place which has linked to terrorism, then even as a British person or the
:05:23. > :05:27.European, you will need to apply for visas and that will be a problematic
:05:28. > :05:32.thing for people who travel a lot on business, and it will be a turn-off
:05:33. > :05:38.that will put off people from applying for visas and going to
:05:39. > :05:45.Iran. Thanks for joining us. Very interesting developments. Much more
:05:46. > :05:49.information on that on our website. We have a story developing this
:05:50. > :05:54.morning, this regard is Apple and the row over tax, the chief
:05:55. > :05:58.executive Tim Cook has described the ruling that the firm should pay back
:05:59. > :06:03.?11 billion worth of back taxes to the Irish government as political
:06:04. > :06:07.and unfair and he also said it is maddening. This is his first
:06:08. > :06:12.broadcast interview and he said Apple was outraged to be associated
:06:13. > :06:20.with either legality and challenged the calculation stash with
:06:21. > :06:28.illegality. This is his first broadcast. We can listen to what he
:06:29. > :06:32.had to say. Can I ask direct questions, were you given deals
:06:33. > :06:39.which were only available to Apple and word available to any other
:06:40. > :06:44.companies? -- word. No, not a single time. Were you treated differently
:06:45. > :06:53.to everyone else, were you given special treatment? Sweetheart deals?
:06:54. > :06:59.No, never. The European Commission said yesterday, the Commissioner, he
:07:00. > :07:10.said in 2014 Apple paid an effective corporate tax rate of just 0.005%,
:07:11. > :07:15.that is 50 euros out of every 1 million euros profit you made it one
:07:16. > :07:21.of your subsidiaries, do you accept this? No, this is a false number,
:07:22. > :07:30.and I've no idea where the number came from. It is not true. He is the
:07:31. > :07:36.truth, in that year we paid $400 million to Ireland and that amount
:07:37. > :07:46.of money was based on the statutory Irish income tax rate of 12.5%. That
:07:47. > :07:51.was the voice of Tim Cook. The chief executive of Apple speaking to the
:07:52. > :07:58.Irish broadcaster RTP. He is coming out fighting. No surprise that Tim
:07:59. > :08:03.Cook is angry, this ruling by the European Commission cuts to the
:08:04. > :08:05.heart of their tax strategy and he is questioning the commission's
:08:06. > :08:11.interpretation of the facts for a start. Although given the length of
:08:12. > :08:15.the time the commission have been working on this, they will be sure
:08:16. > :08:21.of their ground, as well. Apple has little choice, it is an expensive
:08:22. > :08:24.bill, and this ruling questions whether in the future it will be
:08:25. > :08:29.able to draw up individual tax deals with individual countries because
:08:30. > :08:33.the certainty that Davis, you have a letter from the government which
:08:34. > :08:37.says this tax deal is fine and then a few years later and international
:08:38. > :08:41.body says no it isn't and you have got to pay that money back, that
:08:42. > :08:47.cuts to the heart of the tax planning and it is no surprise that
:08:48. > :08:50.this has happened. Almost impossible to overstate the management of this
:08:51. > :08:57.story, because this is potentially likely to overshadow US elections
:08:58. > :09:02.and the product launch next week for Apple and it will be a huge debt in
:09:03. > :09:06.their finances. It is not just about Apple, the European Commission has
:09:07. > :09:11.been investigating Google, and isn't not just about European companies --
:09:12. > :09:17.and it isn't just about American companies. Fiat has also been
:09:18. > :09:21.tackled by the commission over its deals with the European government,
:09:22. > :09:24.but the number of European Commissioners have said this is a
:09:25. > :09:30.watershed moment because what the commission is doing is saying that
:09:31. > :09:36.governments are not doing enough to assess the way multinational
:09:37. > :09:39.companies are paying tax, and they have chosen a strategy which tackles
:09:40. > :09:43.them on the ground and says we are not going to put up with this and we
:09:44. > :09:48.are going to use every two to make these companies paid tax -- every
:09:49. > :09:53.tool. Companies said they do everything by the book and by the
:09:54. > :10:01.law and they pay or the taxpayer oh, this is what they say. -- they pay
:10:02. > :10:09.all the tax they owe. We have more about that on the website.
:10:10. > :10:11.Let's go to Asia now, where Canada has been trying
:10:12. > :10:13.to strengthen trade ties with China, its biggest business
:10:14. > :10:17.The Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to join
:10:18. > :10:19.what's been billed China's version of the World Bank,
:10:20. > :10:21.known as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
:10:22. > :10:23.It's the same institution the US recently refused to join.
:10:24. > :10:36.This is a political readiness to strengthen ties? Yes, it is
:10:37. > :10:40.interesting, Canada has applied to join and it is the first North
:10:41. > :10:47.American country which has sought membership of the China lead bank
:10:48. > :10:50.and the move was confirmed by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin
:10:51. > :10:57.Trudeau, who is in Beijing on an official visit to boost ties. The
:10:58. > :11:02.China lead bank is a new international development bank and
:11:03. > :11:07.it marks China's most ambitious steps into financial diplomacy and
:11:08. > :11:13.global governance. The Chinese government is seeing Canada's
:11:14. > :11:24.application as a vote of confidence, especially as they tried to convince
:11:25. > :11:27.Washington. They say it will create good jobs and global economic
:11:28. > :11:34.growth. This was initially opposed by the United States but it has
:11:35. > :11:34.attracted many American allies including Britain, Australia and
:11:35. > :11:40.Germany. Thanks for joining us. And now to the Asian markets. Not
:11:41. > :11:52.much has been done to lift spirits. Asian shares dipped on Thursday -
:11:53. > :11:54.lower crude oil prices dented Wall Street and a pair of Chinese
:11:55. > :11:57.manufacturing surveys did little to inspire investors
:11:58. > :11:59.as markets waited to see if US employment data could put
:12:00. > :12:02.the Federal Reserve on track Bounce higher for
:12:03. > :12:04.European equities today. Lets hear what's ahead
:12:05. > :12:08.on Wall Street today. Car sales have helped drive America
:12:09. > :12:10.since the financial crisis, but new car sales have begun slipping in
:12:11. > :12:13.recent months suggesting the boom might be overcome and the latest
:12:14. > :12:19.sales report from global car-makers this Thursday is likely to confirm
:12:20. > :12:24.this. The researcher is forecasting a 2.5% drop from a year ago. But it
:12:25. > :12:27.is not all doom and gloom, the US car industry is still on track to
:12:28. > :12:33.set a new sales record for the entire year. We will also have a
:12:34. > :12:37.look at how manufacturing is doing because it has been slower to pick
:12:38. > :12:42.up in other parts of the economy and investors expect the latest report
:12:43. > :12:48.to show that factory activity slowed down in August. Will that give
:12:49. > :12:52.Federal Reserve officials a pause whether they consider whether to
:12:53. > :13:04.raise interest rates in September? I feel with -- that is all we talk
:13:05. > :13:08.about in this particular area. We have been talking about rates and
:13:09. > :13:13.the payroll figures out. That is overshadowing the markets. And also
:13:14. > :13:18.the Chinese data, surprisingly good, but hardly anyone touching on it.
:13:19. > :13:26.That is the we are so used Chinese data being terrible, and we... We
:13:27. > :13:30.say it is terrible, but sometimes it is not that terrible. The markets
:13:31. > :13:35.react and they already down before the numbers have been released, but
:13:36. > :13:41.these numbers are good out of China. You have got to pick up on the good
:13:42. > :13:44.numbers from China, the world's second-largest economy, it drags
:13:45. > :13:47.everything down when we have bad numbers, and today we have good
:13:48. > :13:51.numbers but we are seeing that come into the markets, but there is no
:13:52. > :13:55.volume out there at the moment. The other thing the markets are
:13:56. > :14:00.struggling with, low interest rates. The story in the Financial Times,
:14:01. > :14:05.Asia clamouring because they are looking for any kind of return, and
:14:06. > :14:10.Saudi Arabia are looking to boost their bond sale as a result, people
:14:11. > :14:14.are chasing yield. This could be one of the biggest bond sales ever, this
:14:15. > :14:20.is a norm is, they are looking to sell $15 billion worth of bonds --
:14:21. > :14:29.this is enormous. They are massively over subscribed. One of the reasons
:14:30. > :14:35.for them doing this is because of the oil price, which has fallen
:14:36. > :14:40.quite aggressively. We can't rely on the oil price anywhere above $50 at
:14:41. > :14:44.the moment and it seems that we get $10 swings within a couple of days
:14:45. > :14:49.at the moment, and the Saudis do not want to be so reliant on the oil
:14:50. > :14:53.stockpiles, and it looks like Babel raise a lot of money when this
:14:54. > :14:57.happens, -- and it looks like they will raise a lot of money when this
:14:58. > :15:03.happens. There are billions and billions of dollars heading to the
:15:04. > :15:07.Saudis. The other big story of the week, Apple and the European
:15:08. > :15:17.Commission, going after the taxes it is supposedly owing and Tim Cook has
:15:18. > :15:23.seemed very hacked. Not surprisingly.
:15:24. > :15:32.He suddenly has a 13 billion euros will pay up. We know the tax
:15:33. > :15:35.situation for the likes of Apple and Google has been a global issue for a
:15:36. > :15:39.long time, and it was only a matter of time before this happened. It
:15:40. > :15:52.will be interesting to see how this fits the share price. It overshadows
:15:53. > :16:00.the iPhone announcement. Thank you, James. Still to come we are going to
:16:01. > :16:02.meet the man with one of the most impressive contact Bucks in the
:16:03. > :16:05.business. Richard Attias is behind events
:16:06. > :16:08.as diverse as Davos, peace summits, You're with Business
:16:09. > :16:15.Live from BBC News. We have to talk about football. It
:16:16. > :16:19.has been another record-breaker. The Premier League's summer transfer
:16:20. > :16:21.window has slammed shut, and spending has surpassed ?1bn
:16:22. > :16:24.for the first time as clubs scramble to outspend each other
:16:25. > :16:26.to secure the best players. Manchester United sealed
:16:27. > :16:32.by far the biggest deal, spending a world record ?89m
:16:33. > :16:39.on securing Paul Pogba. We can speak to Omar Chaudhuri,
:16:40. > :16:41.Head of Football Intelligence Omar, is it really that
:16:42. > :16:45.surprising that huge amounts are being spent on players
:16:46. > :16:58.when clubs are richer than ever? Not really. If you look at inflation
:16:59. > :17:05.in revenues of the last few years, particularly from the last domestic
:17:06. > :17:09.TV deal, which went up to ?5 billion over the next three years, Premier
:17:10. > :17:12.League clubs are earning more than they ever have. If you look at the
:17:13. > :17:17.proportion of transfer fees relative to that revenue, it is more and line
:17:18. > :17:20.with what we have seen historically, perhaps even less. Although the
:17:21. > :17:26.headline figure is large, it is not surprising that clubs are spending
:17:27. > :17:29.this much money now. In terms of where this will end, every year
:17:30. > :17:36.there is a debate about how much footballers are paid. It seems to be
:17:37. > :17:41.endless. There is no cap, despite the argument that they are massively
:17:42. > :17:47.overpaid. They are paid a lot of money. You have to consider the
:17:48. > :17:51.context. Football clubs are unlike any other business. It is rare in
:17:52. > :17:58.business that such a material part of the business depends on a few
:17:59. > :18:02.individuals. If clubs lost their star players, they would be
:18:03. > :18:07.considerably worse. That is unlike a bank or any other company. People
:18:08. > :18:11.are willing to pay to watch them. The grounds of the Premier League
:18:12. > :18:13.are largely sold out and there is a worldwide audience bigger than any
:18:14. > :18:18.other league in the world. Although the headline figures look back, they
:18:19. > :18:28.are in proportion to the value of those players to the teams, and
:18:29. > :18:34.revenues, which have gone up. Moron the business live page for that
:18:35. > :18:36.story. We have been # More on the business live page for
:18:37. > :19:05.that story. British Airways is resuming flights
:19:06. > :19:05.to Iran for the first time in almost a decade.
:19:06. > :19:10.A quick look at how markets are faring.
:19:11. > :19:19.The oil price is up, helping energy companies. Markets are treading
:19:20. > :19:28.water ahead of Friday's News from the US, as interest rates there
:19:29. > :19:35.might increase. Let's get the inside track.
:19:36. > :19:38.In the '90s, Richard Attias met a German economics
:19:39. > :19:49.scholar named Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World
:19:50. > :19:55.Developing the largest global meetings of world leaders.
:19:56. > :19:57.In the '90s, Richard Attias met a German economics
:19:58. > :19:59.scholar named Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World
:20:00. > :20:03.He hired Mr Attias to handle logistics for Davos
:20:04. > :20:08.Other gatherings he's been behind are: the Clinton Global Initiative,
:20:09. > :20:11.the Middle East Peace Summit in Jordan, and the launch
:20:12. > :20:17.Attias is also the founder and chairman of the New York Forum,
:20:18. > :20:19.an annual invitation-only forum for global CEOs, economists
:20:20. > :20:23.and business leaders to share ideas and provide recommendations
:20:24. > :20:34.for new business models in a post-crisis world.
:20:35. > :20:41.He is with as in the studio. He managed to squeeze our sin. Thank
:20:42. > :20:45.you for joining us. Your brief is huge. There is so much that you
:20:46. > :20:51.cover of these big events, but tell us how you got into it. How do you
:20:52. > :20:57.become someone who organises Davos and other big events? I was a civil
:20:58. > :21:02.engineer, so I should have been building bridges and buildings, but
:21:03. > :21:10.I had the privilege to be born in Morocco, an Arab Muslim country. I
:21:11. > :21:15.am Jewish, and I was surrounded by people who were religious. It is
:21:16. > :21:19.important to talk about that today. I am someone who believes
:21:20. > :21:29.intolerance, in dialogue, and at the end of the day, the weighted solve
:21:30. > :21:32.the issue is the world is facing is to put people together. We are
:21:33. > :21:36.living in a socially networked world today, but nothing is better than
:21:37. > :21:41.putting people together. That is why this gathering of people is
:21:42. > :21:45.important to have a better understanding of who people are, in
:21:46. > :21:55.countries are, who compilations are. It is important to put people
:21:56. > :21:59.together. -- who corporations. Today we are talking about Donald Trump's
:22:00. > :22:04.speech and this wall he is going to build between North America and
:22:05. > :22:10.Mexico. We have a UK leaving the EU. It seems to be more about division
:22:11. > :22:17.today as opposed to collaboration. It is about understanding. There is
:22:18. > :22:22.a Chinese proverb that talks about people building more balls than
:22:23. > :22:28.bridges. These conferences are important. This is why we are trying
:22:29. > :22:34.to explain to people who countries are, who people are. You start with
:22:35. > :22:41.the British Airways flights going to Iran. I think it makes a lot of
:22:42. > :22:44.sense, because there is one which bite-mac thing which is the
:22:45. > :22:46.political aspect of Iran, but there also the people. The same story in
:22:47. > :22:53.Africa. There are a lot of countries Africa. There are a lot of countries
:22:54. > :22:59.that are not politically correct, are not democracies, but the people
:23:00. > :23:02.of these countries are very open to start relationships with Western
:23:03. > :23:09.countries. They want to take the best ask, I would say. This is why
:23:10. > :23:15.it is not to isolate countries and to brand them. Brand them with what
:23:16. > :23:19.they have cinema their assets, their people. That is your primary
:23:20. > :23:24.objective, the branding of Nations, isn't it? Do you think Iran suffers
:23:25. > :23:28.from a perception problem? Perception is important. The same
:23:29. > :23:33.thing in the UK after Brexit. We are trying to work on branding a nation,
:23:34. > :23:40.to change the perception. This is what we're to do in a few days. ...
:23:41. > :23:45.This is what we're trying to do. In a few days, we will in Argentina.
:23:46. > :23:52.The perception, which is sometimes right, is that these South American
:23:53. > :23:57.countries are corrupted. Not easy rule of law, not easy to do
:23:58. > :24:02.business. We will try to change this perception by presenting Argentina
:24:03. > :24:07.as it will be in the future, with new leadership. It has been great to
:24:08. > :24:11.have you. I wish we could talk for longer. Time is not on our site. See
:24:12. > :24:18.you next time. That is it from Business Live today. More tomorrow.
:24:19. > :24:26.See you soon. Apparently not! We have loads more time!
:24:27. > :24:28.To Nigeria now where the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg,
:24:29. > :24:31.has been making his first trip to Africa this week.
:24:32. > :24:42.The billionaire has defended Facebook's decision to continue
:24:43. > :24:48.There are 1 billion people in Africa, and I wanted to listen and
:24:49. > :24:53.learn and figure out what we could do to empower people to build the
:24:54. > :24:56.types of services that are not only improving lives of people here but
:24:57. > :25:00.all around the world. How will you improve internet
:25:01. > :25:06.access? There was controversy when you did it in India. It is a 3-step
:25:07. > :25:10.plan. First, we need to make sure there is network access everywhere.
:25:11. > :25:15.In some places there is a good cellphone signal, so we're launching
:25:16. > :25:20.satellites to beam down internet, or we are looking at solar powered
:25:21. > :25:25.planes to fly over rural areas. I think that is it. We squeezed in a
:25:26. > :25:27.lot today. Thank you for your time, and do join us tomorrow. Same time,
:25:28. > :25:51.same place. Goodbye. Hello. Some nice weather for most of
:25:52. > :25:52.us