:00:09. > :00:12.Those are the latest headlines from BBC News.
:00:12. > :00:22.Now for the latest financial news with Sally Bundock and World
:00:22. > :00:24.Business Report. US retailers come up with their own
:00:24. > :00:27.plan to improve conditions in factories in Bangladesh.
:00:27. > :00:30.Britain is set for the biggest privatisation in over a decade as
:00:30. > :00:40.the Government outlines its plans to sell off the Royal Mail.
:00:40. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:44.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the
:00:44. > :00:47.programme: China's exports miss expectations and fall for the first
:00:47. > :00:56.time in 17 months, adding to concerns about weakness in the
:00:56. > :01:05.recovery of the world's second-largest economy.
:01:05. > :01:07.But first, horrific pictures that shocked the world. When a
:01:07. > :01:10.Bangladeshi garment factory collapsed in April, killing more
:01:10. > :01:13.than 1,200 people, it was clear something needed to be done to
:01:13. > :01:20.improve the working conditions in the country's 5,000 factories or
:01:20. > :01:22.more. European retailers agreed to an international pact designed to
:01:22. > :01:32.improve safety standards but many American companies - including the
:01:32. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :01:42.worlds biggest retailer Walmart - did not sign up to the deal. --
:01:42. > :01:45.world's. Now a coalition of US retailers and garment makers have
:01:45. > :01:47.come up with an alternative plan and will announce the details today.
:01:47. > :01:52.We'll get the reaction from Bangladesh in a moment.
:01:52. > :01:56.But first, Samira Hussain reports from New York.
:01:56. > :01:58.Since the collapse of the garment factory, there has been a push for
:01:58. > :02:04.Western retailers to take responsibility for the working
:02:04. > :02:08.conditions in the factories. For months, companies like Walmart and
:02:08. > :02:11.target have been working together to come up with an agreement that would
:02:11. > :02:16.improve fire and safety regulations in these factories. The problem is,
:02:16. > :02:23.an international pact already exists. While the European retailers
:02:23. > :02:27.have signed on to. European companies like hate and am. American
:02:27. > :02:32.companies are not on to it. They said it would leave them to
:02:32. > :02:37.vulnerable to lawsuits. They have come up with their own agreement.
:02:37. > :02:43.But the problem with that is that we will now have an American agreement
:02:43. > :02:47.and an international one. Their breath and to protect workers in
:02:47. > :02:50.Bangladesh but there are two set of rules and two set of standards to
:02:51. > :02:59.adhere to, bikini drop of protecting the workers that much more
:02:59. > :03:01.difficult. So how has this news been received
:03:01. > :03:10.in Bangladesh? Our reporter Mahfuz Sadique is in the Bangladeshi
:03:10. > :03:20.capital, Dhaka. Could this be too complicated for
:03:20. > :03:22.
:03:22. > :03:27.those running factories in Bangladesh to implement? The garment
:03:27. > :03:33.Association does say that they feel that these are two deals can be
:03:33. > :03:36.worked together. On the European pact, they feel they were not
:03:36. > :03:41.consulted in the decision-making process. If there are disputes in
:03:41. > :03:46.the future, they feel they cannot act as arbitrators. From the trade
:03:46. > :03:50.union point of view, the workers themselves, I have spoken to some of
:03:50. > :03:58.the leaders. They say that all of the safety packs as well as the
:03:58. > :04:02.European Union contacts, they are good measures. They welcome them. At
:04:02. > :04:07.the same time, there are sceptical because the government has delivered
:04:07. > :04:14.similar measures before but have not delivered. What has changed since
:04:14. > :04:20.April? There is renewed pressure from various quarters including
:04:20. > :04:25.retailers and Western governments, the European Union, the US. There
:04:25. > :04:35.has been announced suspension of trade benefits of Bangladesh. There
:04:35. > :04:35.
:04:35. > :04:40.the government to show that it is doing enough, giving labour rights
:04:40. > :04:47.to the workers in response to the incident. But observers do feel that
:04:47. > :04:50.with the scale of industry, and the complexities involved, the lack of
:04:50. > :05:00.resources, whether these measures by the government at the moment are
:05:00. > :05:05.
:05:05. > :05:11.going to be enough, there is scepticism. Thank you.
:05:11. > :05:17.I am sure you know what that is. E-mail is the form of communication
:05:17. > :05:19.that is more popular now. But Britain is expected to push ahead
:05:19. > :05:22.with its biggest privatisation in decades. It will unveil plans today
:05:22. > :05:26.for a �2.5 billion stock listing of the state postal operator Royal
:05:26. > :05:34.Mail. Around 150,000 postal workers will receive free shares and we'll
:05:34. > :05:36.also find out how others can buy shares if they wish. The main postal
:05:36. > :05:46.union remains opposed to privatisation and has announced
:05:46. > :06:16.
:06:16. > :06:22.plans to ballot for industrial valued at up to �3 billion. -- Royal
:06:22. > :06:26.mail. The postal union is but privatisation. This week, it took
:06:26. > :06:30.the message to the city and the banks that stand to make millions
:06:30. > :06:34.from the sale. The union plans to ballot for industrial action, which
:06:34. > :06:40.could lead to strikes in the autumn, which is when they sell-off is
:06:40. > :06:48.expected to happen. We don't make apologies. To add offending members.
:06:48. > :06:54.We know the sale of the Royal mail will be attacked. That is why we are
:06:54. > :06:59.fighting the sale. It is bad for the workforce. The union is worried
:06:59. > :07:04.about competition. The rival postal firm TNT has 1000 postman on the
:07:04. > :07:14.streets of London. They had to 20,000 around the UK in five years
:07:14. > :07:17.
:07:17. > :07:21.time. -- they hope to have around 20,000 in the UK.
:07:21. > :07:24.If you were a gambler and placed your bets on where the Chinese
:07:24. > :07:27.economy is headed, then you may need to give up on following economists'
:07:27. > :07:29.predictions. The majority have got it wrong again. In the month of
:07:29. > :07:33.June, exports and imports were expected to rise. Actually exports
:07:33. > :07:36.fell by just over 3% and imports dropped slightly as well. Rico Hizon
:07:36. > :07:42.is in Singapore for us to make sense of this data.
:07:42. > :07:48.Perhaps we should get your predictions. They might be better.
:07:48. > :07:56.It goes to show China's economic numbers have now become so
:07:56. > :08:02.unpredictable with the predictions of economists being off target. It
:08:02. > :08:09.is a decline in those months. This is a reinforcing sign of an economic
:08:09. > :08:13.slowdown in the second quarter. How did this happen? There was a
:08:13. > :08:18.crackdown on the use of fake export shipment documents, closing a
:08:18. > :08:24.loophole for short-term money inflows that had basically
:08:24. > :08:27.exaggerated China's export performance. There are getting their
:08:27. > :08:35.paperwork straight. It is good for the long-term. It is all about
:08:35. > :08:45.transparency, broke into China's exports. -- breaking down China's
:08:45. > :08:45.
:08:45. > :08:50.export. Going forward, analysts say China's exports face challenges. You
:08:50. > :08:56.have the appreciation of the US dollar and the Chinese government's
:08:56. > :09:06.recent crackdown on speculative industries.
:09:06. > :09:10.
:09:10. > :09:13.South Koreans have crossed over into North Korea today to visit the joint
:09:13. > :09:16.industrial zone at Kaesong for the first time in three months. The
:09:16. > :09:19.industrial zone, which is run jointly by the two Koreas, was
:09:19. > :09:21.shuttered in April during weeks of high tension on the Peninsula. The