11/09/2014 World Business Report


11/09/2014

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presence in Scotland will boost votes for independence. The race is

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tied with a week to go before the vote. Those are the latest headlines

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from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with Sally

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Bundock, and World Business Report. How Minecraft became a goldmine.

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Microsoft's in talks to pay two billion dollars for the tiny firm

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behind the blockbuster game. China's still open for business,

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says Premier Li Keqiang at the World Economic Forum, despite rising

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concerns foreign firms are being unfairly targeted.

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

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programme, a week until Scotland decides and big business makes

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contingency plans in case it's Yes to independence.

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We start with this ` if you have children over about six you'll

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probably recognise it. It's Minecraft, a game that's sparked a

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global internet craze. It involves building a sort of

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Lego while avoiding monsters. It looks very simple with basic blocky

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graphics instead of super`realistic animation. But it's about to make

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its inventor incredibly rich. software giant Microsoft is in talks

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to buy the company profits of around 115 million

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dollars last year. All great news Markus Persson, known as "Notch",

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usually seen wearing a black hat. The Swedish programmer has been

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outspoken in his criticism of big corporate technology firms. If the

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deal goes through though he stands become the latest tech billionaire.

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According to Bloomberg his stake in the company plus earnings so far

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would give him a net worth of 1.5 billion dollars. From New York,

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Michelle Fleury reports. Minecraft is a hugely popular game

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that makes lots of money for its owner. If a deal does go through

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with Microsoft, it would guarantee the availability of the game across

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their family of devices. Minecraft is a lot like virtual Lego but the

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money it makes is very real. The company reported profits of $126

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million last year. Players explore and build in a world of blocks that

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can be endlessly crafted and destroyed. The owner charges users a

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modest one`time fee to buy its software. Microsoft has not shown

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interest in buying a videogame company in the past, so why now?

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Part of the answer may lie in its popularity. When Moe Jang first

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released the game, it was downloaded more than 400,000 times in the first

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24 hours `` Mojang. The new chief executive of Microsoft has

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emphasized gaming and the cloud and while it is not clear how this would

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fit into that strategy, it would fit right into Microsoft's platforms.

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It promises to be a tense week ahead on UK markets as Scotland prepares

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to vote on whether to declare independence next Thursday. A poll

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at the weekend showing the Yes vote ahead for the first time send the

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pound plunging. It is becoming harder to predict what the

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referendum will be. Tensions have risen further in the business world

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overnight as it emerged that Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to

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move its headquarters to London in the event of a Yes vote. Chris

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Beachamp is from IG Index and joins me from their trading floor in the

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City of London. This latest news about RBS and also

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Lloyds, it is just adding to the tension in the market about what

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will happen next week. It is exactly the kind of thing that markets don't

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want to hear. Even if we were expecting to hear it. We hate

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uncertainty and we are not quite sure what will happen in the event

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of a Yes boat. `` vote. Many companies are making preparations in

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case they decide to go that way. From the point of view of these

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companies and in the case of RBS, big banks, they have had to say

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something to cause they have been getting inquiries from customers and

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investors wanting to know what their plan will be if next week is a

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positive. Yes and you can't blame an individual investor or shareholder

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for asking these questions. They are trying to reassure people that there

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will be a continuity of business and that their money will be safe. The

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question is not just a capital flight but also people worrying that

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the negotiations between an independent Scotland and the rest of

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the UK would lead to major disruption in the currency and so

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the best thing to do, they feel, is to play it safe and move their money

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southwards. When we talk about relocation, it is not about

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thousands of staff or buildings but it is about legal entities, isn't

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it? Is it not as big a deal as it sounds? It is about jobs and the

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elements that go with it, the tax revenue and so forth. The businesses

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have been saying that they would do the sensible thing and safeguard

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their businesses as much as possible but this does raise questions as to

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how they will maintain the fiscal responsibility in the event of a Yes

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vote. They have yet to be answered fully and to the satisfaction of

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many big companies. Thank you. To the Chinese port city of Tianjin

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now where the country's Premier Li Keqiang has been addressing the

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World Economic Forum. Premier Li has been reassuring global business

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leaders that the country's economy is in good shape despite fears of a

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sharp slowdown. He's also been addressing concerns the country's

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authorities have been unfairly targeting foreign companies over

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corruption after a spate of high profile investigations into

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multinationals including GlaxoSmithkline. The BBC's Ali Moore

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is there for us. But first, I will talk through some of those issues is

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Duncan Innes`Kerr of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Be missed recent

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economic news is telling us a different story from what the

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Tranmere is indicating `` from what Premier Li Keqiang is indicating.

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Yes, we're seeing a lot of weakness on the investment side of the

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economy at the moment and that is reflecting the fact that China is

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recovering from a credit of old in recent years and as they try to rein

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back in it is having a big effect on the real estate sector `` bubble. ``

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rein it back in. Some of the companies may have been put off I

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recent allegations against companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft

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`` by. As you said, China is the main source of economic growth in

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the world at the moment even at the slower pace it is going at the

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moment and although companies would like to consider other markets, they

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still need to be in China and so they are looking for the government

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to step up and improve the environment rather than relocating.

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Is the improvement taking place? When there was the change of

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leadership that happens on a very rare basis, many promises were made

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and many promises of reform, are we seeing evidence of that? We are

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seeing impact on the ground but the changes have yet to come through.

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The companies are feeling the force of regulatory attention and it is

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worth stressing that Chinese companies are also facing the same

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issues. It is not just foreign companies that are facing pressure.

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Thank you. In other news... Ana Botin has been

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named as the new head of Banco Santander following the death of her

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father Emilio, who suffered a heart attack aged 79. Ms Botin had been

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running the UK division of Santander, which is now the

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eurozone's biggest lender. Her appointment makes her one of the top

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three women in global finance, says the BBC's business editor, along

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with Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen and IMF boss Christine

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Lagarde full. Here are the financial markets. There is a lot of concern

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about what is happening as far as the federal US reserve is

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concerned. It is being talked about a lot on markets and affecting

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trade. A good close, look at the pound sterling there, you can see

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how it is trading at the moment. Figures from the Crown Prosecution

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Service show that a number of people were prosecuted for harassment

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