:00:04. > :00:14.his native country. Those are the top stories. Now what
:00:14. > :00:18.
:00:18. > :00:22.Hello. You're with World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. The
:00:22. > :00:26.headlines: Hitting the brakes - China's economy slows down as
:00:26. > :00:29.Europe and the US hit home with uncertainty.
:00:29. > :00:35.Standard & Poor's cuts the credit status of the eurozone's bailout
:00:35. > :00:39.fund. I'm Rico Hizon in Singapore. South
:00:39. > :00:49.Korea's largest conglomerate set to invest a massive $41 billion in
:00:49. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:55.2012, despite the uncertain global Good to have you with us. More
:00:55. > :00:59.pressure on the eurozone, the very mechanism designed to provide a
:00:59. > :01:03.safety net during the debt crisis. The much-wanted bailout fund has
:01:03. > :01:06.had its credit status downgraded by Standard & Poor's, on top of the
:01:07. > :01:15.downgrade of the nine eurozone nations by the ratings agency last
:01:15. > :01:19.week. Where does this leave then? To put it in perspective, Bronwyn
:01:19. > :01:23.Curtis joins us from HSBC. Given what happened to France and some of
:01:23. > :01:26.the other eurozone economies, it's not a surprise that they took this
:01:26. > :01:30.step late yesterday? It's not a surprise at all. In fact, if you
:01:30. > :01:35.looked at the way the bonds that were issued by the bailout fund
:01:35. > :01:40.have been behaving over the last few weeks, they've been cheapening,
:01:40. > :01:44.against German government bonds. It was really anticipated. So the
:01:44. > :01:48.market impact will be limited. But of course, it's another sort of
:01:49. > :01:53.nail in the coffin of the euro area. So what happens now? Because
:01:53. > :01:56.obviously the EFSF is a short-term mechanism - there's another new one
:01:56. > :02:02.kicking in that's more long-term, and then there's the issue of what
:02:02. > :02:10.the ECB might do. Do we have to be worried about this lack of
:02:10. > :02:16.credibility or less credibility of The fund are only issued about 21
:02:16. > :02:20.billion euros. That is about 10% of what they could issue with the
:02:21. > :02:25.triple A countries. But they are looking at issuing around 440. They
:02:25. > :02:35.could not do that. The European stability mechanism kicks in around
:02:35. > :02:45.media. That would also have its lending to pass the reduced. It
:02:45. > :02:52.does have a knock on impact. It is not good news. These countries need
:02:52. > :02:59.money. One of the things it may do his force more or of the euro area
:02:59. > :03:07.towards common bond issuing. -- force. So-called eurozone bones as
:03:07. > :03:12.opposed the existing mechanisms. If Italy were to be in less trouble,
:03:12. > :03:19.it is in a difficult situation, the fact that these funds are not able
:03:19. > :03:28.to lend as much or borrow as much, that is a problem? It is a problem.
:03:28. > :03:37.Italy is a massive country. It has been downgraded. That is a massive
:03:37. > :03:45.issue. Not having enough money. Mario Monti was speaking yesterday
:03:45. > :03:52.about have Germany has to help. It is a country that usually has the
:03:52. > :03:58.money to help. But they cannot help everybody. It may force the issue
:03:58. > :04:04.of greater fiscal integration. That is what we need. We will talk you
:04:04. > :04:10.further about this when we look at stories and been an international
:04:10. > :04:15.papers. To time to look at the European
:04:15. > :04:19.Commission who will announce what they will do with Hungary's
:04:19. > :04:22.controversial Central Bank reforms. If any part of the new laws are
:04:22. > :04:32.found to be in breach with the EU policies, they may place
:04:32. > :04:32.
:04:32. > :04:36.infringement proceedings. The far-right party rallied in
:04:37. > :04:44.Budapest on the weekend against the European Union. This is a party
:04:44. > :04:49.which won an only 17% of the vote for the last election. It is the
:04:50. > :04:54.only party to support has grown. TRANSLATION: Will not give up our
:04:54. > :05:00.sovereignty or the fruits of her work. Our answer to the European
:05:00. > :05:04.Commission is that Hungary should withdraw. Many in Hungary feel
:05:04. > :05:08.their country is being dictated to by Brussels and Washington. Others
:05:08. > :05:16.say the country has no choice but to do whatever it is told to get
:05:16. > :05:26.the development funds it needs from the European Union. Hungary is only
:05:26. > :05:29.a couple of months away from the fault. There is no alternatives.
:05:29. > :05:34.The Government argues that the national economy is on a firm
:05:34. > :05:44.footing. Their past record, not their future plans, are the cause
:05:44. > :05:51.of controversy. That is little consolation for school leavers.
:05:51. > :05:59.was three years ago. I cannot find anything. I cannot find a job. I
:05:59. > :06:07.have not got a big dreams. Minster the coldest weather of the
:06:08. > :06:11.new year, a hungry braces itself for news from Brussels. -- Hungary.
:06:11. > :06:19.Their critics say they should have passed laws carefully in the first
:06:19. > :06:27.place. Despite all the economic
:06:27. > :06:32.uncertainty, South Korea's biggest company has some bold ambitions.
:06:32. > :06:42.We are talking a lot of money and a lot of jobs to be created. Tell us
:06:42. > :06:43.
:06:43. > :06:49.more. That is South Korea's top conglomerate, Samsung. It includes
:06:49. > :06:59.Samsung Electronics. They are bold and aggressive. They are
:06:59. > :06:59.
:06:59. > :07:09.unperturbed by the uncertain global business outlook. The group will
:07:09. > :07:09.
:07:10. > :07:16.invest about $41 billion, a rise of 11%, an all-time high of 26,000 new
:07:16. > :07:24.employees. That is a lot of a job creation. The conglomerate did not
:07:24. > :07:29.announce how the investment will be divided among its 60 companies.
:07:29. > :07:33.Analysts believe a massive investment will be made in Samsung
:07:33. > :07:40.Electronics, particularly in new technologies such as logic chips
:07:40. > :07:47.and the next organic light-emitting diode flat-screen displays. This
:07:47. > :07:54.will consolidate its leading position in several areas. A
:07:54. > :07:57.technology expert said that Samsung is indeed awash with cash compared
:07:57. > :08:07.to its competitiveness -- competitors and can make a bold
:08:07. > :08:12.
:08:12. > :08:16.vets in new technologies. -- Boulder Bay its.
:08:16. > :08:21.A very interesting story coming out of that part of the world. The
:08:21. > :08:31.other big part of coming out of Asia is the story about Chinese
:08:31. > :08:32.
:08:32. > :08:36.growth. We cannot link up with it Correspondent in Beijing. This is
:08:36. > :08:42.out of story in business. The Chinese economy expanded it in
:08:42. > :08:47.wealth in the last year and in the 4th quarter. But at the slowest
:08:47. > :08:53.pace in 10 quarters. This is as export demand was moderated and a
:08:53. > :08:59.prolonged campaign against consumer and property prices is curving rows.
:08:59. > :09:07.GDP for that particular three months up 8.9%. If you look at the
:09:07. > :09:12.whole year, it is over 9% last year. The Chinese economy is cooling down.
:09:12. > :09:21.This raises lots of questions about where it is headed for the rest of
:09:21. > :09:27.this year. How much impact as the European debt crisis have? Showing
:09:27. > :09:30.you the markets quickly. The Chinese story boosted share trading.
:09:30. > :09:36.Economies were predicting the slowing down and would be more
:09:36. > :09:44.severe. That helped the market. This is a quick look at things