be asia? i ask this because in my view, the world's largest democracy, india, should be an integral part of our asia policy. as the world's third largest economy, india has the potential to become a major economic player in east asia and is already playing a constructive role in maritime issues. china regards asia as a strategic hole with the one belt and one road policy and aiming to expand chinese influence beyond east asia through central asia to the caspian. yet the state department structure with three different bureaus responsible for south and central asia and east asia and the pacific, i believe, creates an artificial barrier to cooperation across the entire region. so i would like to hear what state department is doing to overcome obstacles that deals it with as a priority that includes south and central asia. staying for a moment with structural issues in the state department, i would like to discuss if we're doing all we can from a resource standpoint to insure our asia policy will

have on easthis is asia or countries of east asia, including, of course china? but maybe not simply just china. you have done work not only comparedut also dimensions of asia and europe. looking at this nexus of arms trade and nationalism on regional security, what is distinct today about asia? either in comparison to europe inay or, perhaps, to europe other, more volatile times in european history? anything other than simply that the situation in asia today is more combustible than in europe today? you first. jonathan: great question. one where think about great powers versus not great powers is great powers are in the privileged position where the economic and should tj incentives for producing weapons at home are the same. a huge economy of scale. if you have a big enough budget, you have strong security reasons for keeping as much of your technology production in-house. u.s. area and the great powers by that definition. japan is not. australia is not. europe is not. none of these countries -- they have to struggle with this idea of "i can build a really good

asia? i ask this because in my view the world's largest democracy, india, should be an integral part of our asia policy as the third largest economy, india has the potential to become a major economic player in east asia and is already play a constructive role in maritime issues. china regards asia as a strategic whole with us on, on world policy. we need to extend china's influence on east asia to central asia. if the state department structure in three different bureaus responsible for south and central asia and east asia and the pacific, i believe create an artificial barrier to cooperation across the entire region. i would like to hear about what the state department is going to overcome obstacles and deal with asia as a whole, single, strategic priority that includes south and central asia. staying for a moment with structural issues at the state department, i'd like to discuss if we are doing all we can from a resource standpoint to ensure our asia policy will succeed. the east asia b

do we believe investors believe in southeast asia? southeast asia is 633 million people. when of the fastest-growing internet populations in the world. google just released a report on that. people at softbank and cic believe grab is positioned. emily: can you share how much you raised in the last round? anthony: in total, close to $700 million. emily: do you plan to continue to raise money to fund your expansion? anthony: we are always open to great investors and great partners all throughout the world. peoplewe have seen like softbank being very bullish about southeast asia and grab. emily: did, for example, is said to be targeting an ipo next year. what about you guys? anthony: grab right now really targets at building more value, building the greatest, biggest mobile tech company. we have bold ambitions. we try to find how to build great partners. ipo's is one of the many options for us. in 2014 thatid grab might consider in ipo when the number of rides books reaches 2 million a day. where are you now and would you reiterate that today? anthony: today, we are doing qu

ubt, chief economist of asia. bloomberg markets and middle east coming up at the top of the hour.manus cranny is standing by in to buy -- what you have? manus: we have one of the biggest telecom players in thailand. and we willn in, get to grips with what's going on with one of the most demanding markets in the middle east in terms of data, what's going on in that world, how does this man see vision 2030? ceo. the we also caught up with the uae , 50 was old and passe and 60 is the new 50 in terms of oil markets. the saudis have arrived in vienna. this opec meeting is one with a bit of slacker in change. there is a new man in town and he is going to put his stamp all over this meeting. we also catch up with the latest changes on netanyahu's government. what does it really mean for the middle east politics? that's a state of play. a lot of telecoms, oil, looking forward to it. angie: and we are, too, of course. thanks for that. we are watching for it. that's it for us on this edition of "asia edge." a lot more comin

we have a really obviously key strategic interest in asia and in southeast asia in particular. we have a strategic interest in advancing our relationship with veelt nam and across-the-board, economicically, diplomatically, security and in terms of human rights, and we have an opportunity here to use the leverage of potential additional security relationships to leverage a further progress on human rights. now i'm not here to defend the vietnam human-rights record. i don't think anybody who is informed about it could at this point. but it does provide us with additional leverage going forward, but really important, charlie, is this is a strategic step by the united states to take into account all those elements that i mentioned. >> but do we raise the question of human rights. tony blankens what said who you know well, has said in a speech he made last month that there has been some progress on human rights. that is in anyway our relationship conditioned on more progress in human rights. >> well, a couple of things, there has been some progress. i don't think we should overstate

the linking theme around asia is consumption. have two point 5 billion people joining the middle class in asia between now and 2030, which is a huge driver of consumption. rishaad: virtually everybody. matthew: i mean, it is. absolutely. as countries like china and india mature, the people from the bottom moved to the middle class. i think this is the great asian story. this is why i would be invested in asia. it is not about the prada handbag story. people from the country to the city are getting their first job, buying their first electric van, their first bicycle. rishaad: getting their first health care package. matthew: sure. education. getting a smartphone. doing transactions on the internet. that is why our portfolio managers are finding most of the good ideas in the services and consumption areas. rishaad: thank you so much for coming in. matthew with a look at what has been going on across asia. 2.5 billion people in the middle class. >> the investigation into hillary clinton's use of private e-mails or the state departm

we are asia-pacific focus. -- focused. it was a bit bazaar of china sending out the message that that is not really an issue. to beses some eyebrows raise, doesn't it? we talked about the portfolio position we have taken, and while we are invested in chinese and hong kong equities, we have decided to take no position in chinese rank debt. it is an opportunity, but one we prefer to forgo. one of the chinese banks is raising money in australia. the market,ally tap but we are going to stand back a bit, because it some stage it will be a debt blowout. how they respond to it politically and socially is very important. reading your research, it was quite interesting that because you do mention the prospect of the spec or or tor of social discontent, what would be the capitalist -- catalyst for that? >> i don't know what the catalyst would be. s.don't think anybody know is very for power interesting. it was a different cocktail in the 1960's. the power was being passed to the people and not the military, relying on the populist t

asia. which is one of the most important geostrategic initiatives of his presidency. it's rooted in the belief that the future of asia in the united states are tightly tied together going into the 21st century. it involves investment across the board in terms of all elements of national power, diplomatic security, and military. and in terms of his time which is the most important asset that the president has come day in and day out. it is meant to reinforce the leadership role that the united states plays in asia. it is meant to extend the fact that the united states has provided the platform for their social economic development for records of a century. the president came into office believing we were underinvested, and has gone about increasing the investment. the vietnam peace is an important part of the rebalanced. the balance involves a lot more attention and engaging with our allies but also with emerging nations in asia, including vietnam. rebalancing of the northwest asia and south

that is coming up on "asia edge ." ♪ angie: welcome back. you are watching "asia edge." angie lau. manus cranny is standing by. manus, what do you have for us today? manus: you were going to be shocked here. i am going to start with oil. it is not just about the changing dynamics. i will just expand a brief form that region. we have the ceo that is going to talk about the funny story and also get a bit of context as to what happens with the next opec meeting. what way will the swagger form from the society as we go from the first opec meeting with the new man in charge? we also have the ceo over at mas hrick securities and we're going talk about oil and in a world of 0% interest rates, if you could get 3% for a single a rated bond, i would know where i would put mine. angie: i want to know or that is. [laughter] here, it is right right here in the middle east. angie, back to you. dubai,manus cranny in manus, think you so much. north korea has its five-year economic plan to focus on energy and manufacturing. we have a look at how north korea has changed under kim's rule. the old eco

the past number of trips, he's emphasized the rebalance or pivot to asia. in 2014 he was really focused onta tour through asia of reassurance, reassuring allies about article 5 treaty commitment to japan over the slavndz as well as to strengthen the u.s.-philippine alliance. but this was reconciliation with former enemies, with vietnam, lifting the lethal ban sale totally in terms of making that announcement in vietnam, a country that he's hoping will be part of the trans-pacific partnership as well, so both a trade and security partnership in the next 20 years in contrast to being a former enemy or struggled through normalization and created a steening partnership, in japan, connecting with the people of japan at a level deeper than any president in recent memory because to have the hiroshima speech, at the same time, renne forcing his global message and his legacy message of averting nuclear war through nonproliferation and tamping ton nationalism and competition. this was about reconciliation. >> ian: jen, is obama putting points on the board? >> he's pu

keyave an obviously strategic interest in asia and southeast asia in particular. we've a strategic relationship and across the board. an opportunity here to use the leverage of potential additional security relationships to leverage further progress on human rights. i'm not here to defend the human rights record. i do think informed about it could but it does provide us with additional leverage going forward. and really important is that this is a strategic step that takes into account's all those elements i mention >> to we raise the question of human rights. >> toiling can has said in a speech in may last month that there has been some progress on human rights. anywhere in relationship condition on more progress in human rights. >> a has been some progress but i don't think we should overstate that progress with respect to the regime in vietnam . the has been progress in terms tween theationship unstated vietnam and the security economic and other areas which are important to us. we talked about the top of the conversation. to rebalance asia is critical. in asia

there has been a lot of contraction amongst firms in asia, and globally. is asia cutting jobs? ryan: no. that is the short answer. if you look at our market in this part of the world, we have been growing at an exceptional pace relative to the rest of the firm. we are also much smaller compared to the rest of the firm. from the investor perspective, from a client service perspective, and bringing not just global product here but also increasing capabilities in local markets has been a big focus. we are expanding our team, and we are looking at the fixed income side and the alternative space. expand. the expertise and the service. angie: you got your post, october 2014. thank you for joining us in the studio today. i'm looking forward to spending the next couple of days with you at the symposium for blackrock. we will have more from blackrock in the coming days. you do not want to miss the exclusive interview with larry think coming up on "trending business." up, a potential deal in australia's energy sector could see orange and take off at the market open. details ahead. ♪ an

>> asia has been on the backboard. with rates rising, you will see further liquidity coming out of the market here. i don't think there is accelerated growth in asia relative to what is going on in the u.s. that said, we are long-term buyers of china and greater asia. we have a tremendous operation here in china and across hong kong and the rest of the region. morgan stanley is here to stay. anna: morgan stanley ceo there. with us is the ceo of investment management. great to have you. let's start with the conversation about china. we heard from stephen engle, a banking analyst with autonomous research talking about china will need trillions of dollars of bailout. contextualize your concern around china. there is a debt burden. debtthink, look, there is and it is mostly in the regional banks. it will take a lot of money to bail them out. i'm not surprised because we knew about this for some time. when you visit china, it is clear that there are debts. i'm not so sure that is the biggest story. 6.9% growth, it is still

keep in mind, this is only the second year it has come to asia. it is the biggest tradeshow in the world, going on for half a century, but here, we have numbers ofn attendees and exhibitors doubled from last year's exhibition. you can see all around me, the buzz of excitement, the new technology. there said that, though are real issues that plague a lot of companies like apple, facebook, and google, when it comes to this very lucrative and difficult chinese market. earlier week spoke to the president and ceo of the company that runs this event. thepoke a little bit about balancing act between western countries wanting to get into china, and some of the issues they are dealing with right now. take a listen. >> these things are cyclical. there are always ups and downs. china is too big and established , and too embroiled with trade to be isolationist. i am optimistic, i think these things work out over time. so it is not just fun and toys, although there was 20 of that. other big companies were here. also, carmakers like volkswagen, and others. , in

kicking off aa is weeklong trip to asia in hanoi. he is seeking closer economic and security ties with vietnam. we are traveling with the president right now. president obama want to accomplish on this trip? >> good morning. it is a significant trip for president obama, wrapping up his time as u.s. president. his event toement asia, which has been a top priority for his administration for trade in defense relationships. onwants to press vietnam human rights, a country he thinks that has made progress, but will be meeting with civil society leaders while here. he wants to show to the world that vietnam is an increasingly important u.s. ally. angie: three days there, how significant is that? it is very long. it is unusual for the president to spend three days in a country like vietnam. next, buted to japan to spend three days in vietnam, , that'sg to two cities a big deal. i think vietnam knows it. it is an important visit for the vietnamese leaders. president obama will meet with four different the enemies leaders one-on-one, so that

our southeast asia correspondent , what we know about air asia's plans? >> the target is five more planes next year. if there is demand, it may add as many as 10. air asia currently has a fleet of 117. air asia to expected to have the strongest growth in terms of air travel demand, so expect more travel frequencies, chinese routes. for us to be the biggest air travel market in two decades. just take a look at all the indicator so far. strong economic growth in asia compared to most parts of the world, rising income, flying has become more affordable to more people, and it's not just air asia trying to capitalize on the trend. 10ther airline ordered single aisle jets with a price tag of $850 million. also chinese dinner lines, a $10 billion order, more planes to hopefully meet more demand for air travel. not too long ago, as we mentioned, there were concerns about overcapacity. has that issue taken a backseat now? are still concerns. it was in february, when there was that warning about overcapacity. it's it carries in the region are facing intense competi

as asia goes its own way. paul: i am not sure if central banker from the world, but certainly for most of asia. asia is still very much a dollar-ized region. managed their currency, so all the trades are nominated and dollar. from an asia-pacific standpoint, that is mainly true. .om: paul gruenwald with us brian belski will join us later on, the u.s. equity markets. we dive into real news tomorrow with the jobs day. capital,ross of janus and james glassman will join us from jpmorgan. our usual a team for jobs day. ♪ francine: welcome back. we look at currencies, commodities, and the markets. i am francine lacqua in london, tom keene in new york. barclays is carrying out its promise to shrink the thanks global footprint, selling one third of its stake and barclays africa for $879 million. jes staley said the bank will treat from africa, one of the measures he is taking to raise cash and lighten its capital burden. rolls-royce says earnings will start to revive in the second half of the year. a forecast they w

this is "asia edge." angie: default there on the rise in china and so was the litany of unusual excuses. tom mackenzie has been taking a look at this. excuses, excuses, excuses. >> creative excuses. angie: this is an initialized official stance. >> it has been part of chinese bureaucracy for decades. examples of a cement cannot make said we the payments. a utility company saying, our manager has gone off so we cannot do anything about it. likeave examples of things assets being shuffled around on balance sheets. managers who go disappearing sometimes. investors concern. a chairman disappeared in december. this is pushing up concerns. onshoref in chinese bonds. these kinds of concerns, strange excuses point to chaos and some of the management. -- in some of the management. there has been a selloff. in april, a selloff in high-yield debt. a lot of concern around this. needed more transparency more protection for foreign investors. the regulators have been looking at the underwriters and there are question m

vietnam is southeast asia's biggest exporter to the united states. what he mentioned today, the president that $16 billion in signed commercial deals with vietnam has been done. but all of this i think when we look at it and especially in dealing with, you talk about it really relieving some of the reliance on vietnam and russia for its hardware. but also, i mean even though the president said that it was done independent of what is going on with the aggression in the south china sea, you have to believe that to some extent it weighed on the decision. >> certainly i would think so. the other thing is the issue of human rights. both leaders danced around and made nice about. the united states are very concerned about the human rights situation here in vietnam. recently there were elections that the united states and obama administration said neither were free or fair. a communist state. he said they have a good record on this matter. free speech. freedom of religion. reports of journalists and bloggers who have been arrested, detained and harassed. it

asia. how significant is this? very significant for vietnam, the united states, and when you think about that relationship, history, it wasn't that long ago that there was an awful war and the u.s. and be enemies were enemies, and now you have a very friendly relationship, and now there is a possibility the u.s. will even start selling weapons, so it is pretty extraordinary. host: that is the headline -- u.s. likely to lift that ban -- the president also over there. i know some of the ministrations talked before and supported it, including the defense secretary, but others have concerns. guest: it is kind of a case study, what should the president do? should the united states opt for and anic relationship improvement in the strategic position because acp anomalies important in this rivalry in the south china sea with a contrary to china's aggressive moves, but there is another voice in the administration and outside that says, no, there is a terrible human rights record in vietnam, and by l

in the asia pacific region. he added that he is looking forward to discussing the global economy, security and other issues at the summit. the two leaders agreed that their countries will strengthen a framework for bilateral dialogue to promote economic cooperation in the infrastructure and energy fields. they also confirmed that the two countries will promote security cooperation amid china's maritime advances in the south china sea and north korea's nuclear and missile development. >>> japan's diet has passed a law to raise public awareness of hate speech. the measure on tuesday. the law gives a definition of hate speech. and it says official systems must be in place to receive complaints and prevent conflict. it says the government must promote education and awareness of the subject. in consideration of freedom of expression, the law stops short of banning hate speech. it also lacks any mention of penalties for those who break it. the legislation was proposed to combat the problem of discrimination against th

in addition to asia, the initiative puts emphasis on russia and africa. it calls for active investment and resources and energy development. at the meeting, prime minister abe stressed the need to promote exports of this kind. >> translator: promoting high quality infrastructure exports is important for japan's economic growth and will help partner countries with their economic development. it's a win, win relationship. >> he'll call on other leaders of the g 7 countries at the summit to work on developing global infrastructure. >>> it has been more than a month since a series of powerful earthquakes hit the country's southwestern region. seismic activity is still continuing and officials at the cabinet office tried to put a price on the damage from the quakes. they say the combined damage to the prefectures is estimated between 22 billion and $42 billion breaking down the numbers they say damage t buildings including resident and industrial structures is put at between 14.6 billion and $28.4 billion. damage to infrastructure such as expressways, bridges

we speak to the man leading the pack in southeast asia. eric schmidt speaks out on breakthroughs ahead and technology. he -- we will have his exclusive -- interview. peter thiel strikes back, we will bring you the full story on how he has been secretly funding hulk hogan in multiple cases against gawker. but first, this week saw new alliances forged between traditional automakers and the right hailing challengers. the news comes as a car industry braces for change, especially when it comes to the future of car ownership. by investing in the main players in the space, the world's biggest car brands are hoping to secure a place in the future. toyota tied up with uber and vw took a stake in get. we take a look across the ride-hailing space to see who is leading the pack. ♪ >> carmakers are choosing sides in the right hailing wars, this week alone volkswagen invested $300 million in get and toyota committed an undisclosed amount to uber with plans to get into the car leasing game. in january, general motors today $500 million stake in lyft a

's new and existing shares in asia's second biggest ipo this year. -- asia's second-biggest ipo this year. there was a default by one mdb in april. fei company is being investigated around the world for alleged money-laundering. db consistently denied wrongdoing. shares in virgin australia are searching at the open on the asx after the airline announced that china's would take a 30% stake. let's go to paul. what are the details? paul: it has been called a strategic alliance. is h and dayhat buying a 13% stake in virgin. 139 million us trillion dollars worth of new shares. they are paying $.30 per share for those. it is going to give them a sizable chunk of virgin australia. they intend to expand that over the coming years to about a 20% stake. hna full also be invited to nominate a director to the board. the deal is still pending. timemes at an interesting with air new zealand saying in march he wanted to get out of their stake in virgin currently holding about 26%. we do have virgin shares up, very healthy, 5.3% this morning. it has been an underwater -- underwhelming investment for

this is "asia edge." top stories this hour, wait and see, the asia-pacific edge mark is largely unchanged -- benchmark is largely unchanged. omics asssure on aben the yen strengthens. the differences were laid bare at this weekend's talk. china warns hong kong not to rock the boat. data suggests the ship is already taking on water. president obama arrives in hanoi. haidi: keep an eye on the markets as a brand-new trading week is underway. 2/10 ofific up about 1%. a fourth straight week of losses. we are seeing the makings of a rally, although we are

david sanger is also back from asia. he is the chief political correspondent for the "new york times." i think you just got off a plane as we taped this hours before. thank you for coming by. >> always good to be with you. >> rose: give me an overview of this trip. put it in context. part of it is legacy building. part of it is reminding americans he is talking about the importance of asia. >> that's right, charlie. i think the two big parts of this trip are the vietnam side, which is what he did the beginning part of the week. which was the first time he had gone to vietnam and was important because he is trying to wrap vietnam into the overall strategy of the asian pivot, and to try to get vietnam, the philippines, others in the region to all participate in this effort to jointly contain the chinese without making the chinese view it as containment. and it's not an easy-- it's not an easy trick, as you can imagine. because, on the one hand, he's trying to engage the chinese, saying we understand we need to work as part

. ♪ >>> the island of cebu in the central philippines is home of some of the best beach resorts in asia, attracting more than 3 million tourists each year. ♪ cebu city, located in the middle of the island is the second largest city in the philippines, following manila, the capital. english-language schools have been opening all over cebu city. at present, there are more than 200. they range from schools with only a handful of students to schools with thousands. ♪ the majority of the students are young people from asia. last year alone the number coming to cebu to study english grew to 150,000, with the figure rising every year. cebu city's largest english school sits in a district of government offices. smeag global education opened two years ago, through a joint investment between south korean and japanese firms. it has three buildings in the city, accommodating about 1,000 students in total. ♪ all the students stay in dormitories. there are cafeterias, stores and other facilities for students to enjoy, so they don't really need to leave the campus. there is also a movie theater,

stay with us for "asia edge." we'll talk to virgin australia's chief executive. ♪ >> it's the middle of the asian trading day, a live, beautiful look of hong kong. stocks, little changed, poised for the biggest monthly drop in january. we are live in hong kong. this is "asia edge." top stories this hour. oil is heading for its longest set of monthly gains in five years, driven higher by the output disruption in nigeria and canada. it's a mixed picture in japan with industrial production and job numbers. production fell more than expected on a weak export market. and a bit short in china. the last bearish bets were so high, that bull markets turned into a $5 trillion rout.; also, version australia chairs take off as they take the stage. it would take a look at why the billionaire founder is on a global buying spree. and i am keeping my eye on what's happening with your money this tuesday. it's the last trading day of may, and despite what will be a monthly loss, it is shaping up fairly decent, a fighting chance,

we speak to the man leading the pack in southeast asia. and eric schmidt speaks out on breakthroughs in house technology. we will have his interview from the breakaway summit, next. and peter thiel strikes back, we will bring you the full story on how he has been secretly funding hulk hogan in multiple cases against gawker. but first, new alliances forged between traditional automakers and the ride hailing challengers. the news comes as a car industry braces for change, especially when it comes to the future of car ownership. by investing in the main players, the biggest car brands are hoping to secure a place in the future. this week toyota tied up with uber and vw took a stake in gett. here we take a look across the space to see who is leading the pack. ♪ >> carmakers are choosing sides in the ride hailing wars, this week alone volkswagen invested $300 million in gett and toyota committed an undisclosed amount to uber with plans to get into the car leasing game. in january, general motors took a $500 million stake in lyft and let's not

it leveled off early this inning in asia stop sent -- asia. since then, it has gone forward. the dollar index is writing for the first time in eight days. is offth korean ring it the back. have a look at what is happening across the commodities space. let me point out what is happening with southeast asia. that is sort of like a fairly bright pocket of weakness. that is your chart year today. we are on nine straight days of decline on the southeast asia index. the data earnings coming through -- the big earnings coming through out of singapore, a election's coming through next weekend, or this coming weekend, and manila in the philippines. -- in manila in the philippines. this is something they keep in mind. on a day like this, there is very little appetite for risk. this is one pocket in asia that usually gets hit the hardest. manus: david ingles there with the latest on the markets. you can get more of that and the rest of the day's news on our brand-new digital destination. you will find in-depth reports, market data from the region. plus, you can watch all of our reports,

we have talked at length about asia. we are expecting to see that weigh in a very negative way when it comes to the first quarter results. the first quarter was a brutal one when it comes to equity trading in asia. we are expecting to see the great bulk of that downside to come through from the investment bank and global markets division. hsbc says it is confident of by 2017.ithis the pretax profit was partly better than we expected at $6.1 billion. as the details come through, we will be looking at how much a part asia played in the downside we see in earnings. they are continuing to expand the exposure when it comes to the chinese mainland markets. they just adopted the delta strategy a few weeks ago, when it comes to getting more into markets loans there, credit cards, and retail banking. here in hong kong, we are exciting to see quite a bit of weakness when it comes to retail banking private wealth as the slowdown in china continues to affect business and demand here in hong kong we will also be watching for trade fi

. >> today's eye on asia starts in the philippines. the country will soon have a new leader and it appears it will be rodrigo took place monday. the special headquarters of the election commission in manila is tallying the votes. millions took to the ballots to choose from a closely contested field of candidates. early tuesday morning, the commission announced it counted the large majority of votes. the mayor of the southern city is in the lead with over 38% of the vote. he ran on a crime campaign and drew backlash from many controversial colts. the president urged the candidates to unite. his own choice to succeed him is currently in second. filipinos were passionate about this election. >> here in the heart of manila, campaign pollsters can be seen up to polling day. locals are interested and excited about this important election. filipinos are clearly enjoying this festival of democracy as they choose the leader at the one in six years presidential election. and that festive mood is in full swing at more than 1600 convenient stores

re launching in southeast asia that is a difference. the mobile telephonic market in a smartphone market here is used for all sorts of purposes, perhaps more events in other parts of the world. guest: absolutely. one of the reasons we are listing on the tsx is that asia has been a leader in mobile activity and investment in we are going to open an office here because a large segment of our customer bases in southeast asia so we can improve our business operation by being here. whysx -- why asx? asia has shown leadership when it comes to investment in mobile? asx is aize that the great vehicle for participation. it also has credibility to us when we work with operating partners that we are listed company. everything is transparent. what is the china in parity of? what are you looking at there yet could do you have already partnerships lined up with alibaba? is guest: in a closed shop? guest:you are definitely in conversation. i cannot say -- i can't just yet. we're working in southeast asia right now. the next steps are latin america. ri

you're watching "asia edge." singapore has been told it must urgently transform its economy to ensure job creation and growth. the prime minister says globalization and technology are forcing the country to change to remain relevant. let's go right now to singapore to our correspondent. how is singapore responding to these challenges? >> well, it is really about getting workers to have the right skills for the jobs being created and jobs to be created key to transforming things for the economy and is becoming more urgent because growth is slowing. the labor market is tightening. competition in the region is intensifying. singapore is in the midst of this transformation and has set up a committee for the future economy to look at how this can be achieved. there is a sense of urmingensy. here is what the prime minister had to say in his may day rally speech. >> the only way to do that is ransform the economy, create new opportunities, and opportunities not just to earn the pay but to upgrade ourselves. do the jobs.

asia x.is air for air asia, we're focused on india and china. they have been showing tremendous growth. the interesting thing is travel has grown. we are connecting the dots at a lower margin. we have been investing of the last 15 years, and now we can connect the dots and add frequency. frequency is what adds to the bottom line and the margin. -- themoment, hawaii alliance we have had with air tremendously.wn we will have to leave it. thank you for joining us. stay with us. plenty to come. ♪ okay, ready? whoa! [ explosion ] nothing should get in the way of the things you love. ♪ get america's fastest internet. only from xfinity. it is a 30 a.m. in the morning and singapore, and overcast day, half an hour from the open of trading. you're watching "first up". asianp stories this hour, stocks under pressure despite growing confidence that global economy is ready for u.s. rate hike. the dollar rally continues to weaken the yen after janet yellen said it would be appropriate. retreat,pped a two day $49.50. japan's retail sector has considers shi

one one looks at the world, has to distinguish between asia -- and i remain optimistic about asia, even if the chinese growth rate of 4%, that is still a hell of a growth rate. latin america is more problematic because of low investment rates; that needs to be financed either by greater savings or by foreign investment. the foreign investment remains worried. africa is a big question mark it; it is a frontier. in the long run, it has potential, tremendous but in the short run, it remains small and the global economy. guy: what are those countries with big current-account deficits? turkey -- i'm sure you have some it to say on that. south africa, you just referenced africa. how do you think they will fare? at the moment the fed is throwing them lifeline. >> yeah. south africa, it's a big political problem, the uncertainty is very high. the inequality is very high. with nigeria, these are the big economies in africa of course, and it has great potential, that i think in the short-term it needs a lot of reform and a lot of political reform also. guy: yeah. if you look at brazil, at south a

i think the united states stands firm in asia. you know, obviously, we ended the arms embargo because we want the vietnamese to work more closely with us because the vietnamese, of course, are pressured by the chinese. and so is japan. so, you know, i think that, really, the region is looking at this as a reassertion of washington's initiatives. and that's going to be generally viewed as a good thing. and, you know, with regard to the japanese people, you know, some of them want an apology. many of them, though, don't expect it. and just the president going to hiroshima really says that the united states is standsing with japan. and i think that is the dominant message that will come out of the visit. >> is that the dominant message or is the message china, we are making sure others around are equipped to make sure you stay in check sthp. >> well, of course, it's beth. but the most important way is how you communicate that and the president's going to gentleman an, not only for the g7 meeting, which is really important because of

or are you looking more towards asia and the middle east? bill: we are doing what we need to do to get to the place were we have options open to us. we needed to strengthen our foundations and get our capital position rocksolid. we are in a good place right now. second is to tighten up everything around our control environment, risk controls, expense controls. the ethical culture in the bank is fantastic. we were a little bit loose in how we just kept track of things. as a result little mistakes got , amplified. hence the bad financial year last year, we had a very bad and the very bad challenge getting out of that. we need to execute better. we need to invest intelligently and create long-term franchises off our core strengths. that is what we are doing. francine: how do you cut enough fat that you have enough time to play out? bill: shareholders have been supportive. we went to them with a strategic plan last year, and said it was a three to five-year plan. we set out knowing a poor operating environment with low growth and low commodity p

let's see what is going on in asia. it is interesting to see the japanese asset really standing apart from the rest of the asia story in the trading session, although that is because of the dollar strength as well. >> it really is. we saw the dollar rise on the speculation we could see two more rate hikes. that is put more pressure on the yen which has put more so on the nikkei. those gains in japan has helped the rest of the region which had a bit of a volatile start. we have seen the market in china really in and out of positive and negative territory. the cpi number coming out of china -- 2.3% in april year on year which is online with what the market was looking for. the number is still less than expected and we have seen some gains coming through. pricetory of the crude playing on energy sectors putting the han seng down. philippines coming back online after its election. up by half of 1%. we are seeing the filipino peso rise against the dollar. earlier losses -- we have seen downward pressure on those energy and m

next is asia. and my judgment is that the next president should build on president obama's rebalance to asia. our alliance system in asia remains rock solid but the allies ask for greater engagement, economically and militarily and ratifying the tpp which is the economic centerpiece of our rebalance is central to cement our leadership in the region. and last north korea presents in my judgment the most serious security challenge we face in asia and the most serious proliferation challenge we face globally. north korea has undertaken in the word of one analyst a nuclear frint seeking an icbm that can reach the united states with a nuclear weapon. it's on the path to become a first class crisis for the united states and its allies with that, mr. chairman and ranking member and i conclude and look forward to your question and, mr. secretary, it's a privilege for me to be here today. >> it's a privilege for us to have both of you. thank you for your opening comments. i'll reserve my time for interjecti