08/05/2017 World Business Report

Emmanuel Macron wins the French Presidency,

but that may prove to have been the easy part.

We assess how his En Marche! movement hopes to tackle the huge

And President Trump wants to cut red tape to get drugs on the market

faster, but the pharmaceutical industry is wary of presidents

So now let's focus on the business implications of that result in

France. We'll look at all the market reaction as well in this of World

Business Report. So, he got the job. Emmanuel Macron

is to be the French president. His first challenge will be to form

a government with crucial The outcome of that will determine

how much power the new president has to tackle the lengthy list

of economic problems. As we've highlighted before on this

programme France has had a high unemployment rate

for many, many years. Currently it is about 10% of the

workforce, or 3 million people. That compares with 4.3% across the border

in Germany. The problem is worse for young people. Pretty 4% of those

between the ages of 15 and 24 do not have a job.

The other big issue is the size of the public sector

in France - one of the largest in the world.

accounted for over 50% of national income.

This is something Macron has promised to tackle

With an economy that has seen faltering growth for years some

experts say it will bring much needed savings.

Joining us now from Paris is Laurent Clavel, Head

I assume you are breathing a sigh of relief? Yes we are.

Markets were very happy to see this result. That already was the feeling

that polls had got the popular vote right, and they should be no

surprise yesterday evening. The question now is about the

parliamentary elections in June, and how much power Emmanuel Macron's

party will get. Absolutely. France has a semi- presidential regime. The

president alone cannot do that much. The goal for Emmanuel Macron is to

get an outright majority in the lower house to pass his progress

through Parliament, or at least to have a relative majority, which

means having more MPs than other parties. The goals for the other

parties, the right wing, for example, which was expected a year

at Lisa do better, is to lead a coalition and decide on the policy

agenda. But he has promised a change for the economy, as did Francois

Hollande and Nicholas Sarkozy. Many have failed to bring the changes

that they said they would. Will he deliver? That is a good question. I

think your comparison is probably interesting in the sense that for

many, many years, possibly even decades, French governments, French

presidents, have promised their European partners reforms against

deficit slippage. We believe we have reached a point where European

partners are not interested in hearing is at a bargain. -- our

European partners. We have reached a point where it France will deliver

reforms of to stay ahead of the curve in the international

competition. Where is the fiscal stimulus which is probably needed

for the eurozone to grow out of the global financial crisis and the

global recession that we have been struggling with a decade, is going

to come from a different country, namely, Germany. We will keep a

close eye on Germany, of course. They are next on the list. Thank you

very much for joining us Laurent Clavel.

So what effect has Mr Macron's win had on the financial markets..

Sharanjit Leyl is in our Asia Business Hub in Singapore.

This was no surprise, was at? Not really, but you said that breathe a

sigh of relief. That was true here to. -- was it. -- too. There was a

lot of nervousness after the populace wins last year and after

the Brexit vote. Investors who took their cues from the Wall Street

rally. That was as dealers rallied after the job raises. He did fall

back again because his win had been factored in, but there were lots of

fears that a win for Marine Le Pen could see France leave the EU.

Japan's share average has hit a level not seen in nearly 17 months

as a more business friendly view of Europe is helping business here.

Little risk is a huge fear and it was considered a major market theme

here. But this win by Emmanuel Macron, and the Dutch win for

another centrist candidate, was very reassuring to Asian investors.

Political risk is letting in Europe. Thank you for joining us, Sharanjit

Leyl. The Trump administration's response

to slow but steady growth in the US has been to declare that cutting red

tape will boost company profits The President has issued

orders and initiatives Donald Trump has said that cutting

regulation will make it easier for drug companies to get new medicines

to market. But how realistic is this proposal?

Samira Hussain has been weighing it up.

Donald Trump said that lowering the cost of prescription drugs had to be

done. Howell? Cutting regulations. I will be streamlining the process so

that from your standpoint, if you have a drug, you can get it

approved, instead of waiting for many years. In that meeting at the

White House was the influential pharmaceutical lobby group, Pharma.

We are living with regulations to Veldt 40 years ago. We have to keep

safety first, but there are opportunities to modernise the

system and to get medicines to the marketplace faster and to help

patients. Faster approval by the FDA would mean more drugs on the market,

which should increase competition and bring down prices. But the cost

of that idea could be even greater in patient safety. This drugs

company is testing cancer treatment. These are the countries that take

most of the risk when getting a drug to market. It is a process that

could cost billions of dollars, to 15 years, and no guarantee of

success. -- the company. But surprisingly, companies that this

are not convinced faster approvals are a good idea. What is important

is to develop effective therapies that are also safe. I do believe we

should lower the bar. I think we have to work creatively with our

partners in the regular tree industry, with other stakeholders,

including patients and caregivers, to make this process more efficient.

We should do that without sacrificing quality. The President's

views on the pharmaceutical industry, like his view on others,

is that there are simple business solutions to its problems. However,

the testimony from the industry itself demonstrates that Donald

Trump's solutions don't always have much to do with the underlying

problem. And of course there is a lot more on

our website in terms of business stories, so take a look when you

have a moment.