:00:00. > :00:16.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:18.Zooming exports and crumbling classrooms.
:00:19. > :00:25.The paradox of Germany's lopsided economy.
:00:26. > :00:27.Plus will Iran stay open for business?
:00:28. > :00:28.Conservatives pledge to roll back Rouhani's reforms,
:00:29. > :00:37.as companies nervously await next week's presidential election.
:00:38. > :00:41.Also coming up, playing for big "steaks."
:00:42. > :00:47.China agrees to buy US beef as trade talks continue.
:00:48. > :00:51.We start in Europe's economic powerhouse,
:00:52. > :00:53.because in a couple of hours' time, Germany will release
:00:54. > :00:57.Growth is expected to have accelerated in the first three
:00:58. > :01:00.months of the year, fuelled by global demand for the country's
:01:01. > :01:03.But it's not all cause for celebration.
:01:04. > :01:14.Last year, Germany clocked up its biggest ever trade surplus.
:01:15. > :01:16.That's how much more it exports than it imports.
:01:17. > :01:19.At $275 billion Germany has one of the biggest trade surpluses
:01:20. > :01:24.It's a source of tension with its neighbours and allies.
:01:25. > :01:28.Look at how much more Germany sells to these top economies than it
:01:29. > :01:32.The US in particular has accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued
:01:33. > :01:33.euro to get an unfair trade advantage.
:01:34. > :01:36.An over-reliance on exports isn't the only problem.
:01:37. > :01:38.The European Commission says Germany just too frugal.
:01:39. > :01:40.It is saving too much, and investing too little.
:01:41. > :01:43.It wants to see some of that cash invested
:01:44. > :01:44.in the region's struggling economies.
:01:45. > :02:07.But many Germans think the spending should start closer to home,
:02:08. > :02:19.Home time at this school in the south of Berlin where students have
:02:20. > :02:23.more reason than most to want to get out of the building. We have
:02:24. > :02:27.classrooms we have to paint ourselves and windows that don't
:02:28. > :02:31.close and toilets that are so filthy students don't drink anything all
:02:32. > :02:37.day so they don't have to use them. Also, the pay makes it difficult to
:02:38. > :02:44.find the bull who want to do the job at all. Conditions are terrible and
:02:45. > :02:50.schools are falling apart. It is not just public investment that is the
:02:51. > :02:57.problem. Germany has a $300 billion current-account surplus. That is a
:02:58. > :03:00.good figure, but it suggests that German companies preferred to invest
:03:01. > :03:06.money abroad, perhaps because they see German schools like this, ageing
:03:07. > :03:12.infrastructure, and a lack of investment. And it is becoming a
:03:13. > :03:18.political problem. We see that, for example, in current discussions with
:03:19. > :03:23.the Donald Trump administration, and with France, where Emmanuel Macron
:03:24. > :03:27.has recently said Germany should try to bring down its current account,
:03:28. > :03:34.we see that German policymakers are actually with there back against the
:03:35. > :03:40.wall. -- their backs. They have to defend the economic strength Germany
:03:41. > :03:47.is seeing. This is a problem because it creates tensions. Now, in just a
:03:48. > :03:52.few months' time, German voters will get to choose their next parliament,
:03:53. > :03:55.and as they do so, they may have one of the following questions. If the
:03:56. > :04:02.German economy is growing so strongly, they ask, why are tax is
:04:03. > :04:09.still higher, and why are my benefits still so low? -- taxes.
:04:10. > :04:13.More simply, will I see an improvement in my quality of living?
:04:14. > :04:16.Joe Miller, BBC News, Germany. And since US President Donald Trump
:04:17. > :04:20.and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Florida last month,
:04:21. > :04:23.the two countries have been in talks to try and reduce
:04:24. > :04:25.tensions over trade. Well, it looks like those talks
:04:26. > :04:28.are beginning to yield results. In the last hour or so,
:04:29. > :04:32.we've heard there could soon be more access to China's markets for US
:04:33. > :04:34.farmers and financial firms. Rico Hizon is watching developments
:04:35. > :04:51.for us in our Singapore bureau. Tanya! Hi! He loves to jump in. What
:04:52. > :04:54.is happening? Do you know what, this is a turnaround after all of the
:04:55. > :05:01.negative rhetoric from President Trump on China before Xi Jinping's
:05:02. > :05:08.visit. But from the looks of it, it is positive, with the US and China
:05:09. > :05:12.expanding trade and beef and chicken. And they are increasing
:05:13. > :05:17.access for firms. The plan is to reduce the massive trade deficit
:05:18. > :05:29.with Beijing. The secretary said the deals are the first tangible results
:05:30. > :05:33.of trade negotiation allowing US import of beef no later than July
:05:34. > :05:36.16th, and Chinese cooked poultry will be allowed in the US markets.
:05:37. > :05:40.And other services will begin a licensing process in a sector where
:05:41. > :05:45.the union pay system in China has had a near monopoly. The secretary
:05:46. > :05:48.said these deals will bring down the trade deficit between the two
:05:49. > :05:56.economic superpowers and will have an impact on the Chinese surplus by
:05:57. > :06:06.the end of the year. So, Tanya, on paper, the US has the upper hand.
:06:07. > :06:07.Thank you very much, Rico Hizon, reporting from Singapore.
:06:08. > :06:10.We are also looking at Iran, which holds its presidential
:06:11. > :06:13.It will be closely watched by hundreds of companies worldwide
:06:14. > :06:18.The current president, Hassan Rouhani, has opened up Iran
:06:19. > :06:20.to foreign investment and has attracted some
:06:21. > :06:26.But conservative challengers have said they would reverse his policy.
:06:27. > :06:29.Later today the candidates hold the last in a series of presidential
:06:30. > :06:32.debates, which will focus on business and the economy.
:06:33. > :06:48.Two years ago, jubilation on the streets of Tehran. World powers
:06:49. > :06:51.promised to lift sanctions on Iran after Hassan Rouhani promised to
:06:52. > :06:58.scale back the nuclear programme. The economy, close to collapse, is
:06:59. > :07:00.now growing at 7% a year. Hassan Rouhani says foreign trade and
:07:01. > :07:12.investment are vital for future growth. Iran has struck trade in the
:07:13. > :07:20.oil and gas sectors and ordered new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. And
:07:21. > :07:22.Peugeot are back making cars. But the main conservative challenger to
:07:23. > :07:27.Hassan Rouhani says the rapprochement with the US is
:07:28. > :07:32.failing. One in eight Iranians is unemployed. The wealth gap is
:07:33. > :07:36.widening. He wants to give Iranian firms the lead in rebuilding the
:07:37. > :07:40.economy, rather than dealing with the West, and wants more trade links
:07:41. > :07:43.with countries like China and Russia. He also promises to create
:07:44. > :07:45.millions of new jobs for young Iranians. But he has not yet said
:07:46. > :07:50.how. Jeremy Howell, BBC News. Reza Shaybani is Chairman of
:07:51. > :07:53.the British Photovoltaic Association which is working in the solar
:07:54. > :08:03.energy business in Iran. Welcome to the programme. Thank you.
:08:04. > :08:12.Are you concerned about the elections? Some of the markets could
:08:13. > :08:16.be reversed. Not really. We see the acceleration of the growing economy
:08:17. > :08:22.will carry on regardless of... Because the desire is there to make
:08:23. > :08:26.it happen? Absolutely. Iran is a growing economy with a young and
:08:27. > :08:30.dynamic highly educated population. It has the ability to grow further
:08:31. > :08:35.in the region. So I don't see any problem with it. What has been your
:08:36. > :08:39.experience during the time that Hassan Rouhani has been in power?
:08:40. > :08:44.Before that, things were different. Things are different. Look no one
:08:45. > :08:51.can fix the economy and everything else the Iranians have had to deal
:08:52. > :08:54.with after ten years of sanctions. Hassan Rouhani took office that a
:08:55. > :09:00.difficult time when Iran was isolated and the economy was in a
:09:01. > :09:06.bad state. In a short period of time he has made significant progress. Is
:09:07. > :09:10.the job done? No, it is half done. Even in this period, the Iranian
:09:11. > :09:17.government has attracted over $3 billion in foreign investment. And
:09:18. > :09:22.they managed to get over 40- $50 billion of Iranian assets which were
:09:23. > :09:33.frozen. Tell us your experience of the country and what you do they.
:09:34. > :09:38.Right. We invest in renewable energy in the solar sector. We did this
:09:39. > :09:45.successfully in the UK. In Iran we are doing exactly the same. Iran has
:09:46. > :09:53.lots of land and son and a growing economy in need of powers. --
:09:54. > :09:57.??MACRO1 solar energy needs a strong framework and access to finance. We
:09:58. > :10:01.are like that in the UK we have all of these and what we are doing is
:10:02. > :10:07.exporting expertise in these fields to Iran. Last year, during the visit
:10:08. > :10:12.of the Iranian Energy Minister to London, we signed a framework
:10:13. > :10:15.agreement to invest in one gigawatt of solar assets in Iran, are
:10:16. > :10:23.proximally 1.5 billion dollars. Thank you very much. -- apprimately.
:10:24. > :10:26.London-based virtual reality firm Improbable has raised $500 million
:10:27. > :10:29.in one of the biggest ever investments in an early-stage
:10:30. > :10:32.Japan's Softbank is backing the company, which builds
:10:33. > :10:34.large-scale virtual worlds and simulations, in a funding
:10:35. > :10:36.round that values the business at more than $1bn.
:10:37. > :10:39.Improbable was founded just five years ago by Herman Narula
:10:40. > :10:41.and Rob Whitehead, who had studied computer science together
:10:42. > :10:53.Shares in Macy's have plunged after the US department store owner
:10:54. > :10:59.Rivals, Kohls and JC Penney, were also down sharply amid fears
:11:00. > :11:02.about the health of the traditional US retail sector.
:11:03. > :11:05.The rise in on line shopping has seen US department stores shed more
:11:06. > :11:08.than 32,000 jobs in the past year, according to US government
:11:09. > :11:24.A quick look at what has been happening on the markets now. The
:11:25. > :11:30.main thing is the stabilisation of the oil price. Looking at European
:11:31. > :11:35.markets. The GDP figures for Germany will prove pretty influential this
:11:36. > :11:42.week. No move on interest rates in the UK at the moment. Inflation
:11:43. > :11:49.emerging from the UK on that. The US still affirming support for rate
:11:50. > :11:53.hikes over there. Don't forget that you can get in touch with me and all
:11:54. > :12:05.of the team on Twitter. Some of them don't like to make themselves too
:12:06. > :12:07.available. I am Tanya Beckett with the BBC.
:12:08. > :12:10.In the 19th century, public baths and washhouses