:00:00. > :00:00.programme. It's the country's first official visit from an EU figure in
:00:00. > :00:24.six years. With less than one week to a
:00:25. > :00:28.referendum in Crimea, dismiss leaders in Ukraine called for calm
:00:29. > :00:35.and a diplomatic solution to the crisis. -- business leaders. Trade
:00:36. > :00:45.talks between the US and EU resume but disagreements over farming looks
:00:46. > :00:49.set to block progress. Also in the programme, we look at poor economic
:00:50. > :00:57.news from the world 's second and third largest economies. First, as
:00:58. > :01:01.you have been hearing, a referendum in Crimea on the region joining
:01:02. > :01:04.Russia is less than one week away and tensions on the peninsula are
:01:05. > :01:09.rising. Ukrainian business leaders warned that escalating tensions are
:01:10. > :01:14.causing more damage to a near bankrupt economy, as the stand-off
:01:15. > :01:18.continues to draw the attention of leaders around the world. How is
:01:19. > :01:32.business on the ground being hit by this uncertainty? Thank you for
:01:33. > :01:36.joining me. You are joining us on a personal capacity. It's a critical
:01:37. > :01:43.week for Ukraine, with this referendum of sorts happening in six
:01:44. > :01:50.days. Give us your take on what is happening at the moment. There has
:01:51. > :02:04.been an invasion by Russian troops. That is fairly obvious. The
:02:05. > :02:06.referendum in six days, I'm told, cannot actually take place properly
:02:07. > :02:13.because there is not enough time to organise it. In terms of what
:02:14. > :02:17.business leaders say and those involved in the economics of the
:02:18. > :02:21.region, there is huge frustration because the economy is close to
:02:22. > :02:27.bankruptcy and is in need of immediate financial assistance, and
:02:28. > :02:41.yet Ukraine has huge potential. It has enormous potential. Ukraine 's
:02:42. > :02:47.potential comes into areas. The most important is that within a decade,
:02:48. > :02:55.food supplies in the world will become quite tight. Ukraine is the
:02:56. > :02:59.only major agricultural producer that has not been sensibly
:03:00. > :03:04.developed. It could probably increase its food production by
:03:05. > :03:10.about 400%. When food becomes tight, the world will look to Ukraine for
:03:11. > :03:13.food and the Middle East and North Africa will probably depend upon
:03:14. > :03:17.Ukraine for food, which makes it a very strategic place. Crimea in
:03:18. > :03:24.particular could become the California of Europe and North
:03:25. > :03:30.Africa and the Middle East. It has a warm microclimate but it depends on
:03:31. > :03:36.Ukraine for its water. The gas potential in the Black Sea as well.
:03:37. > :03:45.That's important, isn't it? Again, especially in terms of Crimea. It's
:03:46. > :03:53.very important. Exxon Mobil has made a major discovery near Romania.
:03:54. > :04:02.Several companies now have the right to drill off the Crimean short, the
:04:03. > :04:06.rights with Ukraine. But this depends on Crimea remaining with
:04:07. > :04:14.Ukraine. What do you think the outcome of all of this will be?
:04:15. > :04:19.Given that Ukraine had a referendum in 1991 and voted 93% in favour of
:04:20. > :04:23.independence and that in 1994, Russia, the UK and US guaranteed the
:04:24. > :04:28.territorial integrity of the Ukraine, I believe that Russia
:04:29. > :04:30.should withdraw and the Ukraine should continue to be the state as
:04:31. > :04:43.it is. Thank you. Of course, we will keep you
:04:44. > :04:49.up-to-date as well. Now, let's talk about something else. Trade talks
:04:50. > :04:55.are resuming again between the US and EU today, the so-called
:04:56. > :04:59.Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership aims to boost economic
:05:00. > :05:06.growth and jobs on both sides by liberalising trade and investment
:05:07. > :05:09.between the two largest economic regions in the world. But with
:05:10. > :05:14.Europe reluctant to make any exceptions on importing GM crops and
:05:15. > :05:23.hormone treated beef, is any kind of deal feasible? We are not going to
:05:24. > :05:31.change our basic legislation, which means the existing GM legislation
:05:32. > :05:40.remains in force. On the other hand, we will also realise that about 50
:05:41. > :05:48.GM products have been authorised. The legislation does not forbid GM.
:05:49. > :05:51.Instead, there is a process of authorisation on the basis of the
:05:52. > :05:56.proportional principle and the commission has to decide. There is
:05:57. > :06:02.legislation. What about public procurement. A lot of American
:06:03. > :06:10.states have legislation to buy American. Politically, it will be
:06:11. > :06:19.difficult for them to make an exception. What stands with GM also
:06:20. > :06:22.stands for hormone treated beef. That is related to our concerns for
:06:23. > :06:28.health and safety. This is not for discussion. You will not give ground
:06:29. > :06:34.on that but at the same time, you expect the Americans to give ground
:06:35. > :06:42.on by American legislation. That is completely different. National
:06:43. > :06:47.preferences is a traditional trade issue. This is a trade issue. It's
:06:48. > :06:53.not an issue that is to do with health and safety. It's completely
:06:54. > :06:57.different. To be clear, you think that whatever concessions you end up
:06:58. > :07:03.making, the prize of the deal with the US is worth it? Yes because it
:07:04. > :07:13.will widen the market and it will create growth and jobs and it will
:07:14. > :07:16.enormously facilitate, I believe, small to medium-sized enterprises in
:07:17. > :07:20.the American market, which will become much more transparent to
:07:21. > :07:26.them. Apart from that, we should also realise that the next major
:07:27. > :07:33.battle on trade is going to be about laws and standards and regulations.
:07:34. > :07:41.That's what the next contest is going to be about. That was the
:07:42. > :07:46.trade commissioner of the EU. It has not been a good start to the trading
:07:47. > :07:49.week at all in Asia thanks to some pretty dismal news about the world
:07:50. > :07:58.'s second and third largest economies. You are always smiling,
:07:59. > :08:05.regardless of what the news might be. Good morning and nice to see
:08:06. > :08:09.you. As always, light at the end of the tunnel. Many people, you are
:08:10. > :08:16.that light. What is the news from China? It's all about the export
:08:17. > :08:20.sector. Outgoing shipments from garments, machinery to consumer
:08:21. > :08:25.electronics, came in worse than expected, falling more than 18% in
:08:26. > :08:30.the month of February compared to the same period last year. The
:08:31. > :08:34.forecast was for an increase of 7%. You can see the discrepancy. As for
:08:35. > :08:40.imports, it had a steady 10% year-on-year increase. That falling
:08:41. > :08:46.exports unexpectedly swung this whole trade balance into deficit.
:08:47. > :08:49.When you speak to analysts about China 's deficit, they say that this
:08:50. > :08:57.does not bode well for the country's trade this year. It comes just days
:08:58. > :09:05.after the mainland 's premier Li Keqiang set the growth forecast at a
:09:06. > :09:09.steady 7.5%. We will have to see if they can stick to that forecast. The
:09:10. > :09:15.growth figures out of Japan were also pretty dire. They have been
:09:16. > :09:22.revised downwards further. Yes. The initial estimate was 1% but it just
:09:23. > :09:27.grew by 0.7%. This revised data brings about concerns about the pace
:09:28. > :09:32.of the economic recovery under the prime minister Shinzo Abe. On the
:09:33. > :09:37.current account deficit front, it widened to a record $15 billion in
:09:38. > :09:43.January, the largest since records began in 1985, and these figures
:09:44. > :09:48.will now turn focus on the bank of Japan. There is speculation they
:09:49. > :09:51.could unveil further monetary easing measures to counter a possible
:09:52. > :10:01.slowdown from a sales tax hike, which begins on the 1st of April.
:10:02. > :10:06.Thank you. Looking at the financial markets, as you can imagine,
:10:07. > :10:11.sentiment has been hit across-the-board. Japan is down over
:10:12. > :10:16.1% at the moment, so is Hong Kong. All of the markets have lost a bit
:10:17. > :10:26.of ground. Looking at the currencies as well before we say goodbye.
:10:27. > :10:46.Stay with us. We will be talking about the front-page headlines
:10:47. > :10:48.next. Thank you. Now, talking about the weather transport system
:10:49. > :10:52.operates for patients we need new lungs. It's a scandal and needs to
:10:53. > :10:53.change, according to