:00:00. > :00:00.conditions. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now
:00:00. > :00:23.for the latest financial news with World Business Report. Japan restart
:00:24. > :00:27.exports of rice grown in exports for the first time since foreign sales
:00:28. > :00:33.were altered in the wake of the nuclear disaster in 2011. This
:00:34. > :00:37.year's big central bankers meeting. We look at what has been revealed
:00:38. > :00:45.about interest rates and the prospects for the global economy.
:00:46. > :00:48.Welcome to World Business Report. In a minute, retailers fight back
:00:49. > :00:57.against online shopping with new Beacon technology. But first: Now
:00:58. > :01:00.would you eat rice grown near an area of a nuclear disaster area? It
:01:01. > :01:04.seems some are happy to, because Japan has restarted exports of rice
:01:05. > :01:06.grown in Fukushima for the first time since foreign sales were
:01:07. > :01:10.stopped in the wake of that nuclear disaster in 2011. Since then it has
:01:11. > :01:14.been a slow process to get the rice from that region back on the shop
:01:15. > :01:16.shelves, but now a shipment of rice, harvested about 60 kilometres from
:01:17. > :01:20.the Fukushima nuclear plant, went on sale this weekend in Singapore and
:01:21. > :01:22.sold out in just over 24 hours, raising hopes of opening up new
:01:23. > :01:29.export markets for Fukushima's struggling farmers. Ashleigh Nghiem
:01:30. > :01:32.reports. If this goes well, it could mark a turning point for Fukushima's
:01:33. > :01:35.farmers. It is only 60 bags of rice, but it is the first shipment to be
:01:36. > :01:38.exported from the region since foreign retailers shunned it in the
:01:39. > :01:51.wake of the nuclear disaster in 2011. In a test case, we brought in
:01:52. > :01:55.60 bags. 300 kilograms in total. And within 24 hours, half has been sold
:01:56. > :01:59.already. The proof is in the eating, that is why they had decided to cook
:02:00. > :02:11.some of the rice for people to taste. Some have agreed to try it.
:02:12. > :02:15.What do you think of the rice, sir? Good meal. It is natural, it is
:02:16. > :02:18.normal. Would you be worried about eating rice from Fukushima? No, no.
:02:19. > :02:26.I'm sure they have done enough test and stuff like that to make sure it
:02:27. > :02:28.is safe for consumption. Trade officials from Japan have come to
:02:29. > :02:32.Singapore to reassure potential buyers. One of them explains to me
:02:33. > :02:50.how the rice is tested before it can be exported. There is no hiding
:02:51. > :02:53.where this rice has come from. Each bag has a sticker saying it is a
:02:54. > :02:56.product of Fukushima. At what is important here is this label. It
:02:57. > :02:59.says that it has been cleared for radiation testing, and has been
:03:00. > :03:02.certified as being safe to eat. With that clearance, Singapore was
:03:03. > :03:04.deliberately chosen as the first export market. TRANSLATION:
:03:05. > :03:07.Singapore is very strict about food safety. So we hope that now it has
:03:08. > :03:13.been approved here people realise it is safe. And this is why there is so
:03:14. > :03:15.much at stake. The tsunami earthquake which crippled the
:03:16. > :03:18.Fukushima nuclear plant years ago, spread radioactive material over
:03:19. > :03:32.nearby farmland. A region once known for its high`quality rice and fruit
:03:33. > :03:35.became a wasteland. Rice exports of more than 100 tons each year, mainly
:03:36. > :03:39.to Hong Kong and Taiwan, became zero. Back here, that fate is at the
:03:40. > :03:42.front of mind of some shoppers. So that is the main reason why you are
:03:43. > :03:45.doing it? To support Fukushima. Fukushima's farmers may have a tough
:03:46. > :03:48.time selling to other consumers. While in Singapore they seem
:03:49. > :03:51.comfortable buying the rice, there is plenty of public debate about
:03:52. > :03:54.whether the rice is safe to eat. Japanese authorities know they have
:03:55. > :04:06.a big challenge overcoming those concerns. If anyone thought Janet
:04:07. > :04:10.Yellen might clarify her view of the US job market in her speech at the
:04:11. > :04:13.annual summit of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Federal
:04:14. > :04:16.Reserve chair had one message ` the picture is still hazy, and Ms Yellen
:04:17. > :04:19.failed to give investors any clues on interest rate hikes. In a
:04:20. > :04:22.separate speech, head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi,
:04:23. > :04:25.said the ECB is prepared to do more to boost the shaky recovery in the
:04:26. > :04:27.18 nations that use the euro. But governments must co`ordinate efforts
:04:28. > :04:36.to reduce persistently high unemployment. So what have we learnt
:04:37. > :04:42.from this year's gathering? With me is Lawrence Goslin, editor in chief
:04:43. > :04:47.of Investment Week. Thank you for joining us here on World Business
:04:48. > :04:54.Report. Unemployment, employment very much in focus this year at
:04:55. > :04:56.Jackson Hole. They have moved on considerably. Unemployment,
:04:57. > :05:02.previously they have talked about only raising interest rates when it
:05:03. > :05:06.moves above a certain level. I think because the unemployment levels have
:05:07. > :05:09.gone down, but not the full`time level of unemployment that they are
:05:10. > :05:12.looking for. They are looking to create more full`time jobs. This
:05:13. > :05:18.cycle has been quite different because there have been quite a lot
:05:19. > :05:20.of part`time zero hours contract which have come in. That has
:05:21. > :05:24.slightly confused the central bankers. What have investors been
:05:25. > :05:27.telling you about how worried they are about the investment situation
:05:28. > :05:30.at the moment, especially in the UK? What they are saying is that the
:05:31. > :05:34.level of unemployment is an indication of how strong the
:05:35. > :05:37.recovery is. The recovery is OK, it is a load, but it is not as strong
:05:38. > :05:41.as they would expect that this normal point. Interest rates. There
:05:42. > :05:42.were some hints that interest rates in the US would not be raised until
:05:43. > :05:46.June next year. The rest of the June next year. The rest of the
:05:47. > :05:49.world very much focused on what the US is doing. Again this comes back
:05:50. > :05:57.to the point of unemployment. They don't want to derail the recovery.
:05:58. > :06:03.Janet Yellen indicated the middle of next year, in a sign that there was
:06:04. > :06:08.almost a bit of forward guidance in a way. How important are these kinds
:06:09. > :06:11.of central bank meetings to investors? Do they actually worry
:06:12. > :06:17.about what central bankers are thinking in terms of the future?
:06:18. > :06:19.Yes, there is a big pool of investors trying to second`guess
:06:20. > :06:22.what they will do so they can make an investment decision ahead of it.
:06:23. > :06:25.So you will see people pour over every single piece of many share in
:06:26. > :06:28.the comments and the speeches. They are incredibly important, more
:06:29. > :06:32.important than what the leaders of countries say. Do they give anything
:06:33. > :06:37.away? Yes, Janet Yellen has been quite clever. She is keeping things
:06:38. > :06:40.very close to her chest, not giving too much away, unlike her
:06:41. > :06:44.predecessor who perhaps suffered from being a little bit too
:06:45. > :06:48.talkative at times perhaps. They do focus very closely. She has given an
:06:49. > :06:52.air of confidence to the market. So although things are not amazingly
:06:53. > :06:56.good they are solid. That is probably what the markets want to
:06:57. > :06:58.hear. With shopping online now easier and more popular than ever,
:06:59. > :07:01.retailers are harnessing new technology to compete for High
:07:02. > :07:03.Street customers. London's Regent Street is Europe's first shopping
:07:04. > :07:06.street to pioneer a personalised mobile phone app with Beacon
:07:07. > :07:08.technology, which allows shops to send customers special offers for
:07:09. > :07:23.goods when they are walking past. The BBC's Technology Correspondent
:07:24. > :07:27.Rory Cellan Jones reports. Out in London's West End, doing a bit of
:07:28. > :07:31.window shopping, with a difference. The mannequins in this menswear shop
:07:32. > :07:36.know I am here and are communicating with iPhone. A few taps on an app
:07:37. > :07:39.and I can check what they are wearing and even buy it online
:07:40. > :07:44.without doing in the shop. Some revolutionary technology in the
:07:45. > :07:50.mannequins is making this happen. It is a Bluetooth low energy Beacon.
:07:51. > :07:55.Their backers believe that Beacon technology could transform shopping.
:07:56. > :07:59.It is huge. It is a way of bridging bricks and mortar and e`commerce
:08:00. > :08:06.that retailers are looking for, and it is also engaging for the consumer
:08:07. > :08:09.to Axa Avenue shopping experience to four hours a day. Will this was one
:08:10. > :08:13.of the very few shops where staff actually knew that our Beacon had
:08:14. > :08:17.been installed. In general we found that both retailers and shoppers up
:08:18. > :08:20.pretty unaware of the app and what it can do. It is all very well in
:08:21. > :08:23.venting an exciting new technology, but you then have to show shoppers
:08:24. > :08:28.how it will improve their experience. The smartphone is
:08:29. > :08:31.leading the charge, as all kinds of new technologies sweep through the
:08:32. > :08:35.shops. That means we will all be handing over more data, at this
:08:36. > :08:39.adviser on retail technologies as shoppers will need to be offered
:08:40. > :08:43.something in return. They are more and more willing to share
:08:44. > :08:45.information, but there has to be our value in that exchange. So if I am
:08:46. > :08:50.willing to exchange information with you, what do I get in return. And I
:08:51. > :08:53.think retailers have to be absolutely transparent in how they
:08:54. > :08:57.are obtaining and using data in the future. These days we are as likely
:08:58. > :09:00.to take a phone shopping as our wallets. And retailers are working
:09:01. > :09:10.out how they can connect better with us as mobile technology advances. In
:09:11. > :09:13.other news: Chinese oil giant Sinopec has beat forecasts with a
:09:14. > :09:16.36% rise in second quarter profits. It has posted a net profit of $3
:09:17. > :09:19.billion for the three months to June, compared to $2.2 billion a
:09:20. > :09:23.year earlier. The jump follows strong improvement at its refining
:09:24. > :09:26.business. Chinese carmaker BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams
:09:27. > :09:29.and is backed by US billionaire Warren Buffett, posted a 15% drop in
:09:30. > :09:32.first`half profit which fell to $58 million. Sluggish sales of gasoline
:09:33. > :09:48.cars dragged down profits and offset a surge in its electric car
:09:49. > :09:56.business. That is the round`up for all the business from me. Thank you
:09:57. > :09:59.for watching. Goodbye for now. Should Scotland be an independent
:10:00. > :10:03.country? This is a question which will decide the future of the United
:10:04. > :10:04.Kingdom. Two men who believe they know the right