24/02/2014 World Business Report


24/02/2014

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and employment laws. Those are the latest headlines from

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BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news

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with the World Business Report. The fight over the future of North

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Sea Oil. The UK and Scottish cabinets hold separate meetings in

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Scotland to announce their plans. Smartphones, smart watches and smart

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everything.... The Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona and

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we are there to give you your latest tech fix.

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Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the

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programme, the gap between the rich and poor is widening. We look at

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plans to change taxation in Africa in a bid to bridge that gap.

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The politicians are out in force in Scotland today. For the UK it is

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only the second time a full cabinet meeting has taken place in Scotland

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for 90 years. The reason - the future of north sea oil, an industry

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worth billions, and one that is at the centre of the debate over

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Scottish independence. Prime Minister David Cameron says the oil

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and gas industries would be best served by Scotland remaining in the

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UK. But Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond argues independence

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would bring "enormous" benefits to the sector. With me is Lawrence

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Gossling, Editor-in-Chief at Investment Week. Good morning. Good

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morning. The debate is getting stronger the closer we get to the

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vote that will happen later in the year. What is your take on the

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arguments? It is critical to the future of Scotland's. The G sector

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is hugely important the UK economy -- energy sector. It has played a

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huge part in creating new jobs and generating tax revenue. The London

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based government does not want to lose access to that. Post-

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devolution, is unclear. Companies like Shell and BP operate from

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Scotland because the UK is a global place to do business. As the debate

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continues in this country about the future of Scotland and the UK, many

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economists are saying they are concerned about this because it is

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difficult to predict what the outcome will be. In terms of what

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the UK will be like as a place to invest and do business, there is a

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cloud of uncertainty surrounds in this vote. Certainly. They want the

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UK to be the place to do business for international business and the

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energy sector is a big part of this. We are not sure how easy it is. Who

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controls what comes out of the North Sea? Is it Scottish? That creates a

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huge amount of uncertainty and may make BP and Shell want to spend

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their money in other parts of the world. Thank you Lawrence. He will

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return to help us review the papers this morning. Let's move on. It's

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the event mobile phone fans the world over has waited for. Today

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Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona, Spain. This year there is

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more buzz than usual as the great and the good of the industry from

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Samsung to Nokia are expected to show off their latest gear. One

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absentee is notable though. Apple will not be at the event. They have

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their own events. And although it doesn't open officially until today.

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Some exhibitors jumped the gun, like South Korea's Samsung, that showed

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of the second generation of it's smart watch, the Gear two. It hopes

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that by adding some health related features it will be a bigger success

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than its lack-lustre predecessor. Another was Huawei, the world's

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third largest mobile phone maker. It showed off its version of wearable

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tech, the TalkBand. Mark Gregory met up with them at the show.

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This is the first event of this year 's Mobile world Congress, and the

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Chinese are coming. This event is being hosted by her Wiley, the

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ambitious Chinese company that wants to be one of the top makers by 2017.

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Let's see what they have to offer. This is one of the most senior

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executives in the business division of the company and he will show me

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some of its new products. What is on your wrist? It is a torque band. So

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it is not just a smart watch. If I have a phone call, I can put this

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against my ear. So it is working with the tablet? You can talk on the

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phone, listen to music, all sorts of things. Another thing is tracking.

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This will track your sleep, your working... So it is a bit like

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fitness bands to monitor your bodily functions. You can share it to the

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cloud it is a talk in and tracking band. Can you consider it yourself

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is world number one one day western yellow it is our target. He will

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give us more as it progresses. Unprecedented economic growth in a

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number of African countries is going hand in hand with soaring

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inequality, according to a new report from the international

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development agency Christian Aid. And not only that, the report claims

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the surge in inequality is not simply the result of the rich

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getting richer; instead, there is clear evidence that in many cases

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growth is taking place at the expense of the poor. Tax is one of

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the most potent tools governments have to address inequality, but tax

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systems in many African countries currently do not fulfil that

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function. Instead, taxes have been introduced that disadvantage the

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poor, while the rich manage to avoid them. With me is Andrew Hogg,

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Spokesperson for Christian Aid. Good morning Andrew. Please explain how

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these tax systems are not benefiting the poor. The tax network and

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Christian aid looks at the tax systems in eight countries in

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Africa. We discovered that the tax system encouraged by companies has

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caused the government to lower tax rates on consumption. Those taxes

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disadvantage the poorest. The revenue authorities are also failing

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to go after the higher net individuals. That is particularly

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true in South Africa. The level of exemption being given to

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multinationals is far too high, and the industries that are benefiting,

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whereas it used to be the extractive industries that would get the tax

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breaks, it is now spreading into other sectors. How can this be

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overcome? Many countries look to the IMF for funding and they need to

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follow their guidelines in terms of taxation policies. Also, there is

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the sense in some African economies, those highly net worth individuals,

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there is a relationship thought to be had between them and government

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officials. They want to encourage business investment and what is

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growing. The secret is greater transparency. There are three

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reforms that introduced at a national level, how they could make

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a difference. This is beneficial for owners of companies. We want to see

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that in every country. Automatic exchange of information between tax

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authorities. The requirements of multinationals to report on the

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profits they make the tax they pay. We have to leave it there. We talk

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about this for a long time. Before I say goodbye, I want to show you the

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markets. We have a tale of two lost cities. That is not the right way to

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put it, but we have two scenarios going on Asia. In China we have had

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a rough session. It is mainly on reports that there are property

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lending curves going in China, to curb lending. That will give you a

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sense of how things are going. That is all for our business report.

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Stagings and we will review the papers.

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-- stay tuned. Many thanks for that.

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Some of Jimmy Savile's victims say they weren't believed when they

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first reported the attacks. A joint report from the police and NSPCC -

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based on interviews with 57 people who reported abuse -

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