:00:04. > :00:14.Those are the main news headlines. Let's now you-to-date you in all
:00:14. > :00:15.
:00:15. > :00:19.the stories in business. It's over Hello. Thanks for joining us here
:00:19. > :00:23.on World Business Report. I am Sara Coburn. The Italian Prime Minister
:00:23. > :00:28.attempts to reconcile employers and trade unions as he fights to
:00:28. > :00:31.maintain momentum on his labour reforms.
:00:32. > :00:35.I'm Rico Hizon in Singapore. China hikes the price of fuel for the
:00:35. > :00:39.second time in a month as it struggles with the rising cost of
:00:39. > :00:42.crude in the international market. And advertising in a connected
:00:43. > :00:52.world - how one sector tells us a lot about the state of the global
:00:53. > :00:55.
:00:55. > :00:58.Now, the Italian Prime Minister will make a last-ditch attempt to
:00:58. > :01:03.reconcile employers and trade unions on Tuesday, as he fights to
:01:03. > :01:07.maintain momentum on his labour market reforms. Mario Monti will
:01:07. > :01:11.meet with union representatives in the hope of persuading them to back
:01:11. > :01:15.his project by the end of the week. Since he came to power in November,
:01:15. > :01:19.the Prime Minister has insisted the reforms are a crucial priority for
:01:19. > :01:24.the government. But the main employers' lobby that is threatened
:01:24. > :01:29.not to sign a deal if he gives too much ground to the unions. Let's
:01:29. > :01:34.get more on this. Vaginaing us now from Rome is John Wyse from the
:01:34. > :01:37.School of Economics in Italy. Thanks for joining us. First of all,
:01:37. > :01:42.how big a challenge do you think it is going to be for Mario Monti to
:01:42. > :01:46.get these two sides to agree? it is definitely gonna be a big
:01:46. > :01:53.challenge for him. The question is not so much if it's a big challenge,
:01:53. > :01:56.but if he's gonna be able to pull it off. And, uh, although the, uh,
:01:56. > :02:00.the discussions were quite negative, the positions of the unions were
:02:00. > :02:04.negative in terms of going ahead with the agreements, it seems that
:02:04. > :02:07.there should be some last-minute efforts and should be some efforts
:02:07. > :02:14.on the part of the President of Italy, to try to convince the
:02:14. > :02:19.unions to go ahead and eventually sign off on this deal. So I think
:02:19. > :02:24.that I wouldn't be - I am confident that the things are gonna be worked
:02:24. > :02:28.out in the end. And, uh, that we're gonna find a way out of this crisis.
:02:28. > :02:31.Mario Monti has made it very clear that he is determined to press
:02:32. > :02:37.ahead with these reforms with or without the backing of the unions.
:02:37. > :02:41.But if he were to do that, without the unions agreeing, how
:02:41. > :02:45.sustainable would that be? Well, it is not gonna be that sustainable,
:02:45. > :02:49.because although he is getting the support from the majority, meaning
:02:49. > :02:55.the three major parties that are backing him you, he is gonna find a
:02:55. > :03:05.lot of hurdles along the way. And, uh, probably there's gonna be a
:03:05. > :03:05.
:03:05. > :04:17.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 72 seconds
:04:17. > :04:20.Rico, we were gonna talk about petrol prices in China today. It
:04:20. > :04:26.looks like we're gonna see a big rise there. There's a worry about
:04:26. > :04:30.what that might mean for inflation? That's right. Sara, it is the
:04:30. > :04:38.biggest increase in close to three years in China. And the second hike
:04:38. > :04:43.in a month. The price of petrol has been raised by about 6%. And diesel
:04:43. > :04:47.7%. There is pressure on authorities to make the move
:04:47. > :04:51.because global oil prices have been high because of tensions with its
:04:51. > :04:56.key supplier, Iran. This also basically ensures the fuel supplies
:04:56. > :05:00.and to help local refining companies cut their heavy losses.
:05:00. > :05:04.Economy - this is also a sign that the mainland government is less
:05:04. > :05:08.concerned now about rising prices for inflation, because this was a
:05:08. > :05:12.concern you until early this year, Sara, as rising prices had been a
:05:12. > :05:18.problem on the mainland since the global financial crisis led
:05:18. > :05:25.authorities to introduce stimulus packages four years ago. Consumer
:05:25. > :05:29.prices, July of last year, 6.5%. It has now eased to about 3.4% in
:05:29. > :05:33.February, compared with eurozone levels, which are still below the
:05:33. > :05:38.government's targets of 4%. And under the country's fuel-pricing
:05:38. > :05:42.system, the method of prices can be adjusted when international crude
:05:42. > :05:50.changes by more than 4% over a period of 22 days. According to
:05:50. > :05:55.analysts, we could still see more price rises on the mainland going
:05:55. > :05:59.forward. Farah. Thank you very much, Eureka, from Singapore. Let me
:05:59. > :06:08.update you on other headlines. The Australian Senate has pushed
:06:08. > :06:12.through into law a 30% tax obiron ore and coalmine -- on iron ore and
:06:12. > :06:18.coalmining companies. It will affect BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and
:06:18. > :06:24.Xstrata. It's to use the benefits from the recent boom in natural
:06:24. > :06:29.resources. It comes into effect on the 1st of July. John Carter is now
:06:29. > :06:34.officially a flop of galactic proportions. Disney expects to book
:06:34. > :06:38.a loss of $200 million on the movie in the quarter through to March.
:06:38. > :06:45.That's one of Hollywood's biggest ever money users. The production
:06:45. > :06:49.costs are estimated to be around $250 million. $100 million more was
:06:49. > :06:58.spent on marketing. The film is based on a series of books written
:06:58. > :07:02.by the Tarzan creator, Edgar Rice Now, the global advertising giant,
:07:02. > :07:05.M&C Saatchi, will reveal its full- year results later today.
:07:05. > :07:09.Traditional advertising channels are feeling the impact of the
:07:10. > :07:13.increase in digital ad campaigns. In fact, global digital advertising
:07:13. > :07:19.spend is set to outstrip newspapers anticipate print revenues for the
:07:19. > :07:24.first time next year. So it's no surprise then that M&C Saatchi is
:07:24. > :07:27.targeting growth through social media and also through the Asian
:07:27. > :07:31.market. This is just one particular execution. There's two others
:07:31. > :07:34.here... The advertising world may be coming out of the doldrums, but
:07:34. > :07:37.it's facing a very different environment than it's been used to.
:07:37. > :07:42.M&C Saatchi and many others like it believe devices such as tablets and
:07:42. > :07:46.mobile phones are set to drive advertising further into the
:07:46. > :07:49.digital world. As our lives become more hectic, more of us are turning
:07:49. > :07:53.to social networks to not only manage our professional lives but
:07:53. > :07:58.our personal ones too. And the big brands are set to spend a lot of
:07:58. > :08:01.money on digital platforms across the next two years. In fact,
:08:01. > :08:05.industry spend is expected to double.
:08:05. > :08:11.Digital marketing is set to grow due to the personalised message
:08:11. > :08:16.companies can get across to the consumer. Industry experts say
:08:16. > :08:20.advertising expenditure for online marketing may increase as much as
:08:20. > :08:25.25% of the total piefplt and with nearly half the -- pie. And with
:08:25. > :08:31.nearly half the Asian population enjoying increasing access to
:08:31. > :08:34.platforms and search engines, it's no wonder eyes are on China.
:08:34. > :08:40.think consumer behaviour is different in China. They spend
:08:40. > :08:44.twice as much time online as in the US. That's driven - spend that's
:08:44. > :08:49.driven consumer markets and also confidence as well is higher there
:08:49. > :08:53.than I think perhaps in Europe. Companies are seeing that they are
:08:53. > :08:58.investing, the ad market in China is going to grow by $70 million
:08:58. > :09:01.over the next three years. It's going to overtake Japan as the
:09:01. > :09:05.second-biggest market when it comes to advertising over the next three
:09:05. > :09:14.years. I think it's driven. You know, it's a relatively new market
:09:14. > :09:18.for advertising, so it's a very big area for expansion. Time-wise,
:09:18. > :09:21.advertising was relatively simple. Buy print space and air time,
:09:21. > :09:26.create a spot and target a captive audience. Today it's very different
:09:26. > :09:30.and ad firms have to cater for those passive viewers who still
:09:30. > :09:34.exist, alongside the ever-changing consumer, who can ignore ads at the
:09:34. > :09:39.touch of a button, or can engage with them so much that they pass