japan's most high—profile female politician — yuriko koike — secures 3 third term as governor of tokyo, one of the region's key financial hubs. and following a landslide victory for the labour party, we examine how the new uk government will reset trade ties with asia. hello and a warm welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. we begin here in asia, where citizens injapan�*s capital have just re—elected yuriko koike for a third term as the governor of tokyo. she was seen as the preferred candidate forjapan�*s ruling party. it's a key election because tokyo is

an economic engine ofjapan. it's home to a tenth of japan's population and its economy accounts for a fifth of the country's gdp, approximately the same size as the economy of netherlands. yuriko koike will have an annual budget worth $100 billion at her disposal as the city continues its push to be asia's main financial centre. but competition has been stiff with the likes of hong kong and singapore as alternative hubs. so what will her top priority be as she enters her third term? let's bring in nobuko kobayashi to find out. thank you so much forjoining me this morning. firstly, want to get your take on her winning this third term in office. what do you put that down to? it means that the tokyo citizens have chosen a continuity over drastic change. obviously she has been a popular governor, and people appreciate her policies and implementation for

child care and medical infrastructure. she also navigated covid times, so that's recognition for her performance.— that's recognition for her performance. into clearing victo , performance. into clearing victory. miss _ performance. into clearing victory, miss koike - performance. into clearing victory, miss koike said i performance. into clearing| victory, miss koike said her main challenge how to proceed with digital transfer may as industries have changed significantly. tokyo has a lot of ground to make up there? yes, the administrator process is materially manually based in japan, and tokyo is no exception, but they are making strides on digitising the ministration processes —— the administration process is. while tokyo tries to can be with hong kong and singapore as well for being a financial hub in the region, there are differences when it comes to tax rate. japan has the weak yen to deal with as well that makes it perhaps less attractive forjapanese attractive for japanese capital. what attractive forjapanese capital. what would you think is going to be impacting for with koike in charge? those are the headwinds, _

with koike in charge? those are the headwinds, and _ with koike in charge? those are the headwinds, and in - with koike in charge? those are the headwinds, and in tax, - the headwinds, and in tax, there is little the government can do, and it is truejapan in tokyo alike has a very tax rate for corporate, around 30%, compared to singapore and hong kong come around 16, 17%, and on a personal tax front, japan has a fairly high tax, on the income bracket, but it is not very adventitious for foreigners living here. so there's the headwinds. in terms of the weak yen, and the wages that we get here, international comparison tales against the equivalent professional ranks, so that is also a negative. you mentioned _ so that is also a negative. you mentioned the _ so that is also a negative. you mentioned the electorate will have voted for her as the continuity candidate. what do you think your priorities will be going forward? her priorities _ be going forward? her priorities will - be going forward? her priorities will be - be going forward? her priorities will be to - be going forward? he: priorities will be to keep her reform, which is bringing innovation to tokyo as number

one. she has done start number two, she is friend make tokyo a financial hub again —— trying to make tokyo. vis—a—vis singapore and hong kong. thirdly, medicaland singapore and hong kong. thirdly, medical and welfare. just a living standard improvement. the wage increase and making sure that the social safety net is there.— safety net is there. nobuko, thank you — safety net is there. nobuko, thank you very _ safety net is there. nobuko, thank you very much - safety net is there. nobuko, thank you very much for - safety net is there. nobuko, | thank you very much for your time today, nobuko kobayashi. turning to the uk, incoming prime minister keir starmer has a daunting in—tray as his labour party gets to work governing britain. he has to fix a crippling cost—of—living crisis, and economic growth is in the doldrums. to boost the economy to put more money in the pockets but that also means navigating a more turbulent geopolitical the us and china.

ian, thank you for your time today. firstly, want to get your thoughts on how using the labour government navigating the us china relationship. goad the us china relationship. good mornin: , the us china relationship. good morning, thanks _ the us china relationship. good morning, thanks for _ the us china relationship. good morning, thanks for having - the us china relationship. (emf. morning, thanks for having me on. so i think there are several things that we may see some continuity with the previous conservative government, structural things that will change. in addition to the us china rivalry, we have the issue of supply chains, which became very, very prominent over the pandemic. we have the issue of the uk looking for newer markets after brexit. so those things will continue. the branding may change a little bit, but to do so at a time when there is more concern over technologies, that will certainly feature in the us china rivalry, and also the labour government, before coming into government, has talked about an audit of the uk relationship with the prc. that is a terribly important also accomplish relationship, not just because of the us rivalry

but also because of issues to do with security, issues to do with trade, issues to do with investment, so all this will be investment, so all this will be in the mix. if investment, so all this will be in the mix— investment, so all this will be in the mix. if you look beyond the us and — in the mix. if you look beyond the us and china _ in the mix. if you look beyond the us and china and - in the mix. if you look beyond the us and china and turn - in the mix. if you look beyond the us and china and turn ourj the us and china and turn our attention to india, perhaps, and fta has been floated by the labour party? do you think they'll move forward? 50 labour party? do you think they'll move forward? so ethic there will _ they'll move forward? so ethic there will be _ they'll move forward? so ethic there will be an _ they'll move forward? so ethic there will be an effort - they'll move forward? so ethic there will be an effort to - they'll move forward? so ethic there will be an effort to make progress, but fta is a terribly complex things, they often take a long time to negotiate, because they have to do with various domestic aspects, various... there will be various... there will be various kind of resistance from pockets that will have to mollified somehow, and then there's also the bilateral side, so i think that will be an effort to push forward, but i would not be holding my breath to see and fta materialise any time soon. find materialise any time soon. and what about _ materialise any time soon. and what about how _ materialise any time soon. and what about how a _ labour government will mean for the rest of asia? for labour government will mean for the rest of asia?— the rest of asia? for the rest of asia, the rest of asia? for the rest of asia. they _ the rest of asia? for the rest of asia, they will _ the rest of asia? for the rest of asia, they will look - the rest of asia? for the rest of asia, they will look to - the rest of asia? for the rest of asia, they will look to the | of asia, they will look to the uk to be a partner. the uk has

made that ship some years ago and i think the thing to look at for the continuity would be also to see how the uk handles the relationship with the prc. there have been issues that have come up with police stations, espionage. also a company, these questions of trade and investment. the uk, how it navigates that with its relationship with the rest of visual be important, how divestment from the prc, that will be another thing to watch. how labour addresses asia is one thing, but the other way is another way to look at it. how will china addressing a party in power?— will china addressing a party in power? the prc has had a re in power? the prc has had a pretty rough _ in power? the prc has had a pretty rough time _ in power? the prc has had a pretty rough time with - in power? the prc has had a pretty rough time with the i pretty rough time with the previous conservative government, but some that has to do notjust with the conservatives, some of that has to do with what the prc had done. there were differences

over hong kong, the treatment of hong kong, issues of human rights, the starmer government has said they will look at human rights issues, so we'll see how that comes up. the prc i think will be quite wary of the schism, will be quite defensive on some of these fronts. at the same time i think they do want to look at the uk as a partner in some ways, deceit where trade, investment, inroads into the european market might be able to open up through the uk —— they see where. ian to open up through the uk -- they see where.— to open up through the uk -- they see where. ian chong, from they see where. ian chong, from the national _ they see where. ian chong, from the national university _ they see where. ian chong, from the national university of- the national university of singapore, thank you for your thoughts today. india's bajaj auto has launched the world's first cng—powered bike. it's fuel—efficient and more environmentally friendly, which the company says will get more people to make a shift to using this cleaner technology in the coming years. the bbc�*s india business correspondent nikhil inamdar sent us this report from the launch. this is a globalfirst, a motorbike that runs on compressed natural gas — or cng — launched by india's bajaj auto.

so from cars to tuk tuks, cng automobiles have existed for a while, but this is for the first time that this technology has actually been introduced on a two—wheeler. never come to the market. of trial and error. having a very standout design... but why has it taken so long? unlike three—wheelers or even cars, where there is a lot of space with which you can play around with, in a motorcycle, space is limited, and then you have a cng tank, which weighs 15 kilos. a normal empty petrol tank is five kilos. it is very challenging to package it. the bike's flexible fuel option allows riders to toggle

and before we go, the largest labour union of samsung electronic is set to begin a three—day strike on monday. workers are demanding better pay, especially given the firm's strong performance recently. the union asked its workers to

stage a rally at the company's building in the capital seoul. this is only the second time in the company's history the union has taken industrial action. and that's it for this edition of business today. goodbye for now.