:00:00. > :00:16.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:24.The boss of the UK trade body that's expelled the public relations firm
:00:25. > :00:29.for the worst breach of ethics in its history is here.
:00:30. > :00:34.Leaders of the largest emerging nations are discussing how to build
:00:35. > :00:56.Also in the programme, as Cuba opens up its domestic
:00:57. > :01:00.economy, we'll be taking at how fresh investment is sparking
:01:01. > :01:06.a revival in the country's mining industry.
:01:07. > :01:09.The public relations firm Bell Pottinger has been expelled
:01:10. > :01:18.The Public Relations and Communications Association says
:01:19. > :01:21.the company was unethical and unprofessional and brought
:01:22. > :01:25.In an unprecedented move its expelled Bell Pottinger
:01:26. > :01:32.This follows the companies media campaign for the wealthy Gupta
:01:33. > :01:35.family of South Africa that was heavily criticised
:01:36. > :01:40.for stirring up racial tensions in the country.
:01:41. > :01:45.The Guptas have been accused of benefiting financially from close
:01:46. > :01:48.links to South Africa's President Zuma and hired Bell Pottinger
:01:49. > :01:52.The trade body says the secret media campaign is the worst breach
:01:53. > :02:01.Well Francis Ingham, Director General of the PRCA.
:02:02. > :02:13.Thank you for coming in. It was a difficult decision. We have expelled
:02:14. > :02:20.Bell Pottinger for at least five years. The breach of ethics is the
:02:21. > :02:27.worst I have seen in my ten years as Director General and it is important
:02:28. > :02:36.to show the industry has standards. James Anderson's decision to resign
:02:37. > :02:41.was not enough? It was necessary but not sufficient. The industry needed
:02:42. > :02:47.to make a stand and a kind of work, staring up racial tension in a
:02:48. > :02:52.fledgeling democracy, in many ways, is just unacceptable and we have
:02:53. > :02:57.expelled them. We have not done anything of this magnitude before
:02:58. > :03:03.and we wanted to make clear we have standards and we will enforce them.
:03:04. > :03:08.It is a very well-established PR company, one of the world 's biggest
:03:09. > :03:13.and it has been around for a long time. Either they knew what was
:03:14. > :03:20.happening and turned a blind eye all the internal processes were so bad
:03:21. > :03:27.that a few people could do this. Either way it is not acceptable.
:03:28. > :03:35.This contract, i.e. Providing media PR for the Guptas was worth 100,000
:03:36. > :03:40.pounds a month. It is a big contract. It is not one he did not
:03:41. > :03:45.keep a close eye on. That is the question people in the industry are
:03:46. > :03:51.asking. Something clearly went badly wrong. If Bell Pottinger is even to
:03:52. > :03:57.be considered to come back after five years, they would have to prove
:03:58. > :04:04.they have changed fundamentally. Will the companies survive these? In
:04:05. > :04:11.my view, it is highly unlikely. It is an astonishing lapse of judgement
:04:12. > :04:18.and ethics and that is why we have expelled them. I must admit, the
:04:19. > :04:27.cynical of us in journalism I thinking this is how PR parades. It
:04:28. > :04:34.is not. The vast majority of PRCA members are ethical and run their
:04:35. > :04:37.companies well and care about doing the right thing. That is why we
:04:38. > :04:43.expelled Bell Pottinger because they did the wrong thing. Thank you for
:04:44. > :04:45.coming in. More detail on our website.
:04:46. > :04:48.It's the final day of the summit involving leaders of Brazil,
:04:49. > :04:50.Russia, India, China and South Africa -
:04:51. > :04:55.The group has been quick to condemn North Korea for their nuclear
:04:56. > :04:57.missile tests, but discussions have also centred around
:04:58. > :05:05.While the White House is pushing a protectionist trade agenda,
:05:06. > :05:13.President Xi Jinping wants to use this summit to promote
:05:14. > :05:18.what he describes as "an open world economy".
:05:19. > :05:21.Then there's the BRICS bank - a smaller, alternative
:05:22. > :05:23.to the World Bank- used by governments
:05:24. > :05:36.It handed out $1.5 billion of loans last year and has
:05:37. > :05:42.pledged $2.5 billion in funding for this year.
:05:43. > :05:45.China itself has pledged $80 million in funding for BRICS
:05:46. > :05:47.projects, including an economic and technology cooperation plan.
:05:48. > :05:49.But there are doubts about whether the BRICS summit
:05:50. > :05:55.Beijing is busy with its own hugely ambitious Belt and Road initiative,
:05:56. > :05:57.pledging $124 billion to expand trade links
:05:58. > :06:12.Who better to find out than from Rico Hizon on. The group represent
:06:13. > :06:17.3.6 billion people, about 40% of the world population and the five
:06:18. > :06:24.nations together have complained to GDP of around 17 trillion dollars,
:06:25. > :06:30.equivalent to 22% of the gross world product and an estimated four
:06:31. > :06:38.trillion US dollars in combined foreign resources. They are focusing
:06:39. > :06:44.on the feasibility of a free trade area. China wants a position as a
:06:45. > :06:53.catalyst of localisation in the face of President Trump's America first
:06:54. > :06:59.agenda and detection is initiative. The president, Xi Jinping, said they
:07:00. > :07:08.want more trade liberalisation and facilitate a global chain and global
:07:09. > :07:15.rebalancing. Other countries could expand their reach and growth.
:07:16. > :07:20.Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea, all spread across the continent from
:07:21. > :07:24.where the original BRICS are located. Despite the challenges,
:07:25. > :07:29.economists forecast BRICS will play an increasingly important role in
:07:30. > :07:34.the world with the World Bank expect the growth to pick up to 5.3%.
:07:35. > :07:37.Now to Cuba which has also been hit by the recent downturn in commodity
:07:38. > :07:40.prices and that's because it is the world's sixth
:07:41. > :07:44.So in an effort to boost the mining sector, the Cubans have launched
:07:45. > :07:47.joint ventures with foreign companies, and opened the first
:07:48. > :08:02.Following an investment of almost $300 million, this new mine in
:08:03. > :08:08.north-western Cuba is expected to produce around 100 tons of zinc and
:08:09. > :08:12.lead concentrate every year. Even though the mining sector has been in
:08:13. > :08:20.decline, the Swiss company behind it is a joint venture with the state is
:08:21. > :08:25.confident it will succeed. The first new mine in over 20 years does come
:08:26. > :08:31.at a certain environmental cost. Open mining always will beat is one
:08:32. > :08:35.of the Cuban government considers it necessary in order to begin to
:08:36. > :08:40.diversify its economy away from tourism. At the recent National
:08:41. > :08:46.Assembly, the president addressed some hard economic realities. Last
:08:47. > :08:52.year, the economy shrank by 1%, partly following a drop in support
:08:53. > :08:56.from oil-rich Venezuela. But the government points to new investment
:08:57. > :09:04.in tourism as well as construction, and mining, in the hope to kickstart
:09:05. > :09:08.a new era of growth. Cuba nickel is the traditional driver of the
:09:09. > :09:13.mining. It has seen difficult years with low global prices. The Cuban
:09:14. > :09:22.state has again had to embrace a joint venture this time with a
:09:23. > :09:26.Toronto -based company. They want to expand, in crisp reduction and fast
:09:27. > :09:33.to do the best job we can. To become one of the more efficient producers
:09:34. > :09:38.in the world. An estimated 240 different mining and managing
:09:39. > :09:44.projects are supposedly available for foreign investment. Despite the
:09:45. > :09:46.optimism, the challenge in Cuba is getting such project off the ground
:09:47. > :09:59.in the first place. That's World Business Report. The
:10:00. > :10:08.News review coming up in just a few minutes, I will see you then.
:10:09. > :10:12.The Syrian army is closing in on the eastern city of