:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.
:00:00. > :00:17.Now for the latest financial news with the World Business Report.
:00:18. > :00:21.But do G7 finance chiefs gathering in Japan,
:00:22. > :00:30.With visitor numbers already down by half,
:00:31. > :00:41.does the latest disaster spell the end for Egypt's tourist industry?
:00:42. > :00:43.Welcome to World Business Report, I'm Aaron Heslehurst.
:00:44. > :00:48.We will be speaking to a tourism expert about Egypt in just a moment.
:00:49. > :00:51.We start in the city of Sendai in North Eastern Japan,
:00:52. > :00:54.where in the next few hours finance chiefs from the G7 group
:00:55. > :00:56.of industrialised nations will begin two days of talks.
:00:57. > :00:59.The rather fetching pink kimonos are out and the ceremonial barrels
:01:00. > :01:07.But for the top movers and shakers in global finance,
:01:08. > :01:10.the likes of IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Bank of England governor
:01:11. > :01:21.Mark Carney, the party atmosphere might prove to be short lived.
:01:22. > :01:32.Here are some of the things they will be talking about.
:01:33. > :01:35.Top of the agenda, fears of a worsening slowdown in the world
:01:36. > :01:47.The IMF has cut its world growth forecasts three
:01:48. > :01:51.It's still predicting growth of over 3% this year,
:01:52. > :01:54.but the sense is that things are getting worse, not better.
:01:55. > :02:06.The Japanese think governments should agree to spend more,
:02:07. > :02:09.it's a view shared in the US, France and Italy.
:02:10. > :02:11.But the Germans and the British are still convinced
:02:12. > :02:35.Then there's this elephant in the room.
:02:36. > :02:37.Britain's looming referendum on whether to leave the EU is
:02:38. > :02:42.And there has been a lot of finger pointing over tax havens, many of
:02:43. > :02:50.The Bank of Japan governor though has been reminding
:02:51. > :02:52.his guests of the devastating earthquake five years ago.
:02:53. > :02:55.He said if Japan can recover from that, we can work
:02:56. > :03:00.Makoto Itoh is a former Professor of the University of Tokyo
:03:01. > :03:05.Needless to say, we at currently faced with many challenges that need
:03:06. > :03:10.to be addressed on the global economic front. The indescribable
:03:11. > :03:19.difficulties of the last five years, they will give us the courage that
:03:20. > :03:20.the G7 needs to demonstrate to the world leadership in tackling the
:03:21. > :03:29.economic challenges facing us. Makoto Itoh is a former Professor
:03:30. > :03:43.of the University of Tokyo Can you explain, I think the big
:03:44. > :03:49.debate at this G7 Summit is, do you continue cutting government spending
:03:50. > :03:52.to see an improvement, or do you just continue spending more and more
:03:53. > :04:02.to try and get out of the problems? It is a very mixed opinion among the
:04:03. > :04:10.G7 chiefs. Thank you for having me on your programme today. I think
:04:11. > :04:25.that all over the world, after the recession is coming very near, some
:04:26. > :04:30.important countries are considering shifting from the austerity policy
:04:31. > :04:44.to spending more. But the content of the spending is more of an issue on
:04:45. > :04:50.the agenda behind the talk. The US Treasury Secretary, he has said that
:04:51. > :05:01.all these G7 chiefs, what they need to do is use every tool that they've
:05:02. > :05:06.got. One thing that many countries don't seem to have used, they have
:05:07. > :05:11.spent a lot of money but they don't seem to have used structural policy
:05:12. > :05:21.change. Basically they have reformed their economies from the ground up.
:05:22. > :05:33.Yes, the so-called austerity cutting off the budget cannot work for the
:05:34. > :05:42.present situation because of the deteriorating conditions of the
:05:43. > :05:59.economy. The contents of spending is hidden. In my will, when democratic
:06:00. > :06:07.governments were born in Japan and the US, the content of spending was
:06:08. > :06:14.shifted a bit more to welfare proceeds like childhood allowances
:06:15. > :06:19.and... So, more spending on humans and less spending on cement? We
:06:20. > :06:26.appreciate your time. Thank you very much for joining us.
:06:27. > :06:28.Let's return to our top global story now,
:06:29. > :06:33.Whatever the cause of the disaster, and whether or not it was
:06:34. > :06:36.terrorism-related, it could not come at a worse time for Egypt's tourism
:06:37. > :06:43.Millions of Egyptians rely on tourism to make a living,
:06:44. > :06:46.and it's a vital source of foreign earnings for the country.
:06:47. > :06:49.Since the downing of the Russian Metrojet flight in Sinai
:06:50. > :06:51.last October, tourist arrivals to Egypt had already plunged
:06:52. > :07:03.Now there are predictions the struggling industry could be
:07:04. > :07:06.Alan Bowen is Managing Partner at the travel
:07:07. > :07:23.Good to see you. Thank you for coming in. We know that the plane
:07:24. > :07:29.has gone, but even before yesterday's disaster tragedy at...
:07:30. > :07:34.Egypt's tourist industry has been hammered. The board of Egypt's
:07:35. > :07:40.tourist Council has said that the tourism hasn't dropped, it has
:07:41. > :07:48.collapsed. That is the case. Schar milkshake has virtually been empty
:07:49. > :07:55.for the last six months. Germany recently announced that they would
:07:56. > :07:59.re- in-state flights to the area, and the United States should follow
:08:00. > :08:05.suit next month. I suspect both of those will no longer happened at
:08:06. > :08:09.Sharm el-Sheikh. There are currently not flights going into the area? How
:08:10. > :08:16.long can a country that was relying on... The numbers vary, but the
:08:17. > :08:22.money that the Egyptian government brought in, about 15% came from
:08:23. > :08:28.tourism. If you look at the numbers, they have dropped... The average
:08:29. > :08:32.number of nights in February has dropped 67%. That isn't
:08:33. > :08:41.sustainable? It is not on a long-term basis. The Nile cruises,
:08:42. > :08:48.the Luxor, in terms of real business Sharm el-Sheikh it was a relatively
:08:49. > :08:52.popular and cheap destination. Airlines have decided that tourists
:08:53. > :08:58.don't want to go there this year, they want to go to Spain and
:08:59. > :09:03.Portugal which are absolutely full. The disaster in it it involves
:09:04. > :09:13.Europe because it left from child at all. -- Charles de Gaulle. The
:09:14. > :09:17.European share prices down, two operators fell yesterday. It is
:09:18. > :09:23.having a big impact. It does have a huge impact. We don't even know the
:09:24. > :09:29.cause it, but if it was a bomb, it may have been placed at Charles de
:09:30. > :09:34.Gaulle Airport. It is much wider question and, will you go to Turkey?
:09:35. > :09:37.People will be thinking, will we go to Paris on the weekend? Thank you
:09:38. > :09:40.for your time. In other news: German drug
:09:41. > :09:43.and chemical giant Bayer has confirmed it's launched takeover bid
:09:44. > :09:45.for Monsanto, the world's biggest seed company, that could be worth
:09:46. > :10:02.around $47 billion. The offer comes amid a wave
:10:03. > :10:04.of consolidation in the industry, with rivals Dow Chemical,
:10:05. > :10:07.DuPont and Syngenta all entering However, a tie-up between Bayer
:10:08. > :10:10.and Monsanto could raise US competition concerns because of the
:10:11. > :10:12.sheer size of the combined company and the control they would have over
:10:13. > :10:15.the seeds and sprays business. Farmers groups have raised concerns
:10:16. > :10:22.that such mergers could lead to Be back soon to take a look at some
:10:23. > :10:37.of the newspapers from around the world -- I will be back.
:10:38. > :10:40.Nearly a quarter of a million Vauxhall Zafiras,
:10:41. > :10:43.are being recalled, for a second time, because of a problem