:00:18. > :00:22.Virtual reality, robots and futuristic cars, oh yes!
:00:23. > :00:27.It's all the latest gadgets and tech stuff on display at the massive
:00:28. > :00:30.consumer-electronics show in Las Vegas, it officially opens today.
:00:31. > :00:32.Talks continue into extra time to settle trade
:00:33. > :00:34.conditions between the US and South Africa, at stake, South Africa's
:00:35. > :00:42.access to the world's biggest economy hundreds of millions
:00:43. > :00:51.Welcome to World Business Report, I'm Aaron Heslehurst.
:00:52. > :00:54.Across the globe, tech industry insiders are charging their
:00:55. > :01:15.CES kicks off today a sprawling consumer technology
:01:16. > :01:18.showcase that seems to extend to more Las Vegas venues every year.
:01:19. > :01:22.This show has seen the launch of everything from the VHS recorder
:01:23. > :01:38.Today Samsung to one-person start-ups, thousands of companies
:01:39. > :01:40.will demonstrate new products, while, behind-the-scenes, deals
:01:41. > :01:43.will be struck to make further generations of gadgets possible.
:01:44. > :01:53.The BBC's Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is in Las Vegas.
:01:54. > :02:00.It's the week when the technology world arrives with a view of the
:02:01. > :02:08.future. Virtual technology is all the rage. This is headset mixes the
:02:09. > :02:13.virtual and real words go back worlds. There are all kinds of
:02:14. > :02:22.robots in all shapes and sizes. Meet a robot shop assistant. It will take
:02:23. > :02:25.you to the bread counter. A lot of these products never make it to
:02:26. > :02:31.market, but this is the place to come if you want to see something
:02:32. > :02:35.that is going to be big next year and the year after. The people who
:02:36. > :02:39.are here are making the products that will build the future. We are
:02:40. > :02:42.used to seeing all sorts of things that this show, but this is
:02:43. > :02:50.different. This is the first rollable flexible television screen.
:02:51. > :02:54.I seem to have not broken it! This is a prototype, but when they get
:02:55. > :03:01.much bigger, you will be able to roll your television up when you are
:03:02. > :03:08.not using it. This is becoming a motor show, a brand-new Chinese firm
:03:09. > :03:13.launched this car. It is never likely to move from fantasy to
:03:14. > :03:17.reality. But it does have a more realistic electric car in the
:03:18. > :03:22.pipeline. Everything is smart, everything is intelligent. You have
:03:23. > :03:32.smart watches, smart jewellery, smart toilets. Everything except the
:03:33. > :03:34.car. So our plan is to build the most intelligent vehicle on the
:03:35. > :03:42.road. And here is something really futuristic, a headset which
:03:43. > :03:54.stimulates hair growth with leases. But even the latest technology
:03:55. > :03:55.cannot work miracles. We will have a lot more coming from that over the
:03:56. > :04:06.next couple of days. The clock is ticking but
:04:07. > :04:09.South Africa says it still hopes to solve a dispute with the United
:04:10. > :04:11.States over farm exports, despite At stake is South Africa's
:04:12. > :04:20.membership of the African Growth and Opportunity Act,
:04:21. > :04:27.also known as AGOA, a US programme designed to help African
:04:28. > :04:28.exporters. Last
:04:29. > :04:29.year the US set the deadline saying it would
:04:30. > :04:32.revoke the duty-free status of South African agricultural produce
:04:33. > :04:38.unless Pretoria took action by the end of the year to loosen
:04:39. > :04:42.restrictions on US farm exports. Eliminating barriers to US
:04:43. > :04:45.trade and investment is one of the criteria for membership of AGOA,
:04:46. > :04:52.which provides duty-free access into the
:04:53. > :04:54.world's biggest economy for goods from sub-Saharan African countries,
:04:55. > :04:57.ranging from crude oil to clothing. South Africa exported $176 million
:04:58. > :04:59.in agricultural products to the Speaking back in August, the
:05:00. > :05:14.US Bureau of African Affairs I think African countries have not
:05:15. > :05:20.taken full advantage of the opportunities provided. We are
:05:21. > :05:23.working with those companies through consultations with American
:05:24. > :05:29.companies and trade ministers to try to increase the productivity of
:05:30. > :05:34.companies that are exporting to the United States to increase the
:05:35. > :05:41.quality of the products they are. Increasing working with them to show
:05:42. > :05:45.them how to provide quality products for the US market. It is a long-term
:05:46. > :05:51.process, it's not something that will happen overnight. But I think
:05:52. > :05:57.the companies get it. Certainly the eligible countries to get it.
:05:58. > :05:58.With me is Razia Khan, Chief Economist,
:05:59. > :06:15.What is this all about? It is not just the US being rosy? To let
:06:16. > :06:19.Africa have access to the world's biggest economy, they are saying
:06:20. > :06:24.they would have to be some restrictions? Yes. There is a level
:06:25. > :06:30.of reciprocity. A number of African countries receive duty-free
:06:31. > :06:34.opportunities which is important given the size of the market, but
:06:35. > :06:39.they are not allowed to place their own restrictions. In this instance,
:06:40. > :06:50.South Africa perhaps have some health concerns... Health concerns
:06:51. > :06:55.with US products? Yes. We see negotiations trying to continue the
:06:56. > :07:01.deal and a brief on imports into South Africa. This is a potential
:07:02. > :07:08.stumbling block. Isn't part of the problem for South Africa that it
:07:09. > :07:12.needs to deal with the US more than be reversed? Yes, that is always the
:07:13. > :07:20.case when you are looking at countries that really represent much
:07:21. > :07:27.smaller economies. Clearly, this is something that the South African
:07:28. > :07:33.economy does need. South Africa's growth has been disappointing since
:07:34. > :07:40.the GIC. It has never really resumed its precrisis growth. There are
:07:41. > :07:48.issues. -- GFC. Although the South African currency has come under
:07:49. > :07:52.pressure, there has not been any significant movement in our
:07:53. > :07:55.performance. South Africa is not in a position where it can afford to
:07:56. > :08:02.say, we have lost that export market, let's look elsewhere. It is
:08:03. > :08:07.interesting that you say that the South African currency has lost a
:08:08. > :08:11.lot of work. It makes things in South Africa very cheap? But the
:08:12. > :08:18.flipside is that it is very expensive to buy American products?
:08:19. > :08:22.Yes. If you look at the way the trade relationship has traditionally
:08:23. > :08:27.gone, you see that South Africa's imports, China has become a much
:08:28. > :08:31.more important trading partner. Oil imports have always been quite
:08:32. > :08:35.significant. South Africa has really been held back because of its
:08:36. > :08:39.dependence on commodities and because of the problems in its
:08:40. > :08:44.mining. Even with the benefits of a more competitive currency, it has
:08:45. > :08:49.not necessarily seen a game. It is not really in a position to be able
:08:50. > :08:54.to withstand the pressures potentially associated with the loss
:08:55. > :09:01.of an export market if the negotiations are not successful. The
:09:02. > :09:07.deadline was the end of last year, we are now looking at extra time to
:09:08. > :09:13.try and reach a deal. We will all be keeping an eye on it.
:09:14. > :09:15.In other news: Activity in China's services sector grew
:09:16. > :09:18.at the slowest pace in 17 months in December, according to
:09:19. > :09:25.China's services sector has been one of the few bright spots
:09:26. > :09:28.in the economy over the last year, helping to offset the slump
:09:29. > :09:34.Twitter users who struggle to stay inside the limits of their
:09:35. > :09:37.140-character tweets could see that extended by thousands after the
:09:38. > :09:45.Following reports, the social networking site may now employ a
:09:46. > :09:55.new feature allowing users to tweet up to 10,000 characters at a time.
:09:56. > :09:58.Internet firm Yahoo has shut down its video hub Yahoo Screen after the
:09:59. > :10:04.The closure is part of the company's efforts to cut
:10:05. > :10:15.Yahoo will now spread its video content throughout the website.
:10:16. > :10:20.Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on