this is business briefing. i'm samantha simmons. firing on all cylinders. the world bank says global growth has recovered to pre—financial crisis levels and will speed up later this year. and the race for artificial intelligence, we'll be hearing from the boss of sony about its push into robot pets, virtual reality and driverless cars. and on the markets, little change in asia after yet another record close in the us. also in the programme, toyota and mazda are expected to announce they're building a $1.6bn factory in alabama, we'll be live in singapore with the details. after a decade of hardship and austerity, things are looking up. the world bank says global economic growth is likely to strengthen this year and that it will be the first year since the 2008 crisis when the world will be operating

close to its full potential. overall, global economic growth is expected to edge up to 3.1%. that's after a much stronger—than—expected 2017. advanced economies will be around 2.2% while emerging economies are likely to grow by 4.5%. generally, this is because of increased investment, improved confidence and a rebound in commodity prices. this last one is especially important for developing economies. the world bank says the focus should now turn to the policies needed to boost potential growth and living standards. and it's these improvements that could have long—lasting benefits. franziska ohnsorge is the lead author of the report with the world bank. what you make of these figures, will was it a surprise? we were surprised by solid growth in 2017 and

indications are it will continue. it isa indications are it will continue. it is a cyclical recovery and they come and eventually they will fade. 0ur concern is that when this on fade it will fade as to a much slower growth rate than what we got used to say, ten yea rs rate than what we got used to say, ten years ago. ten years ago we might have expected growth to end up at five to 7%, and now it is more likely to end up around 4.3%. the question likely to end up around 4.396. the question is, what can the world do about it? -- fight when 796. there are policies that we elaborate on, we look at policies countries have implemented. —— 5.7%. the ten best yea rs of implemented. —— 5.7%. the ten best years of improvements and is expected decline could be a reverse if countries repeated their best ten yea rs if countries repeated their best ten years performance. telus about the

regional variation? —— tell us. years performance. telus about the regional variation? -- tell us. you see that the pickups are in commodity exporters but the surprises are best in the countries that are very open to trade. in asia, europe and central asia we have the largest or caste revisions simply because they are riding on a wave of global trade. obviously good news in a broader sense but not everybody will be benefiting, will they? the word globalisation has become a dirty world in some circles as they see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and the wealth gap getting greater. what are your concerns in that area? how do those who don't have many get the trickle—down effect? —— money. those who don't have many get the trickle-down effect? -- money. we estimate that they will benefit from improving education, especially in the economies that are better educated than other at countries,

that should reduce inequality in a majority of countries. you would say that actually things are getting better for the poor across—the—board? better for the poor across-the-board? for those poorer that are getting better educated, which is in the majority of emerging countries. we will see that things are getting better and income is beginning to converge. 0f are getting better and income is beginning to converge. of course there will be concerns where countries who are not better educated. forcefully they are in the majority. —— the minority. educated. forcefully they are in the majority. -- the minority. thank you. toyota and mazda are expected to announce a new $1.6 billion car factory in the us state of alabama later on wednesday. rico hizon is in our asia business hub in singapore, tell us more rico. welcome. president trump will be happy about this, isn't he? that's right. basically he promised to bring back manufacturing jobs to the

us after threatening tariffs on foreign production, this is good news for his administration. because these factories will create 4000 jobs and make up to 300,000 vehicles per year. jobs and make up to 300,000 vehicles per yea r. toyota jobs and make up to 300,000 vehicles per year. toyota has said it will build 150,000 models and mazda will use rest of the capacity for an unspecified model. alabama is home to three other vehicle facilities. toyota, the world ‘s largest automaker has a manufacturing presence in the midwest and south with factories in indiana, kentucky, mississippi and texas. the alabama plant would be its fifth in the united states. as for mazda, that plans opening mark the first time it

is building cars in the us since it stopped manufacturing vehicles with ford in 2012 in michigan. a huge investment by two majorjapanese automakers in the united states. serious expansion. great to talk to you as ever, thank you. now let's brief you some other business stories. boeing says it delivered a record 763 jetliners last year, which means it's likely to retain its title as the world's biggest plane maker. the firm says it also received more than 900 net new aircraft orders last year worth $135 billion. shares in kodak soared nearly 120% after it revealed plans to mint its own crypto—currency. the us firm says it will be working with wenn media group to launch the kodak coin. it has also given details of a plan to install rows of bitcoin mining rigs at its headquarters in the us. rail commuters here in the uk face another day of disruption in the latest 24—hour strikes in a dispute over the role of guards.

services on greater anglia, merseyrail, northern and south western are likely to be affected. union members plan to walk out again on friday. at the world's biggest technology show in las vegas, all the talk has been about artificial intelligence. american and chinese firms are competing to show they can be the leaders in making smart gadgets. and sony doesn't want to be left out. rory cellan—jones has been speaking to the firm's boss about the future of ai. digital cameras, facial recognition, thatis digital cameras, facial recognition, that is part of ai as well. we didn't makea that is part of ai as well. we didn't make a big splash but we were working on it for a very long time. 0ne working on it for a very long time. one of the combinations we talked about at ces is the culmination of oui’ about at ces is the culmination of our robotics technology. our entertainment robot that we announced in japan entertainment robot that we announced injapan in november. entertainment robot that we announced in japan in november. what does that do? it is an entertainment

robot, intelligent ai, it recognises the users and remembers interactions it had with the users and is connected to the network and so it stores all the knowledge into the cloud. each and every robot will turn out differently on how the owner interacts. you are also showing off autonomous driving capability. everybody seems to be in that, that must be a competitive market, how soon do you think we are from full autonomy? i think the technology, at this point is a lot further along than some of the regulations and legislation is that is required to support autonomous driving. as far as we are concerned, we know that our part in this big autonomous driving economy, shall we say, is our ability to provide to the very best capability. virtual reality was huge a couple of years ago, i get the sense that it has taken a pause. we are proud of the fa ct taken a pause. we are proud of the

fact that playstation vr is now at 2 million units, it won't be a rocket launch but it is something we have invested heavily in and the larger publishers see the value in creating content. i think it is growing steadily and we are very happy with where we are. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. the south china morning post reports on the collapse of a mobile phone deal between huawei and at&t over security grounds. it says a former beijing official thinks it will threaten china—us trade ties and countermeasures should be considered. space x says it's rocket did not cause the loss of a us spy satellite, that's according to bloomberg. the secretive satellite is believed to have been lost after failing to reach orbit. the wall streetjournal says the switzerland's central bank made $55bn last year, that's more than apple. it's all thanks to the bank's $800bn portfolio of stocks and bonds. and don't forget, let's us know what you are spotting online. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour —

but before we go — here are the markets. another record close in the us, for the dow, s&p and nasdaq. but that hasn't carried through to everywhere in asia where many markets are slightly down, except for hong kong which has risen slightly, helped by energy shares climbing with another surge in oil prices. let's take a look at oil, we've got brent at $69 a barrel and edging closer to $70 a barrel. brent is now at its highest level since 2015. up next, the news briefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media in the global media today. including virgin trains, taking the daily mail off their trains are. we ask is that censorship, because that is what they say it is a. stay with us. “—

is what they say it is a. stay with us. —— it is. the british army is launching a controversial advertising campaign which it says demonstrate it will "emotionally and physically support" new recruits. the one point £1.6 million campaign features a series of radio and tv ads asking questions such as "what if i get emotional? and "can i be gay in the army?. critics accuse it of poliical correctness and going soft. andy moore reports. the new ads pose a series of questions of. growing up, i had my heart set on the army. another reassures would—be recruits that religious faith will be respected. the army braces that you come from a different faith. even on exercise, there is a moment to go into a cabin

and find a corner and do your prayers there. recruiting for the army is a constant battle. every yearfor army is a constant battle. every year for seven years now, more soldiers have left the army then signed up. there is a lot of internal debate about how best it should be done. i love the idea of the army... the army says it is belonging campaign has already sparked a significant surge in interest, but others say that this new series of ads can do is too collecta ble new series of ads can do is too collectable —— to political correctness and the snowflake generation. last month, plans were ditched to use the be the best slogan on the internal reports stated it was elitist and noninclusive. this new campaign does include the slogan, but it is not given the prominence it once had. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, dan walker and louise minchin will have

all the day's news, business and sport. as well as more on plans to clamp down on plastic waste and tackle britain's "throwaway culture". it's part of the government's 25 year plan to protect the environment. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the president of south korea has again stressed his determination to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons. at least 13 people have died in floods and mudslides in southern california, which was hit only recently by a huge wildfire. rescue workers in santa barbara county near la say the bodies were discovered in debris brought down by a ferocious storm. floodwater washed away cars and telephone poles. there are reports of a major earthquake in the caribbean sea, off the coast of central america. tsunami warnings of waves up to a metre high have been issued for puerto rico and the us virgin islands. jamaica may also be at risk. a world bank report says global

growth has claimed chip reid financial crisis levels climb later year. a french actress has defended the right of men to hit women. she was one of a number of actresses writing about a new puritanism following the allegations of sexual harassment. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world we begin with the independent and the picture on their front page that shows delegates from north and south korea agreeing to stage their first talks in more than two years. pyongyang also said they'll appear together at the winter olympics. the ft looks ahead to world economic forum in davos where us president donald trump is planning to attend, making it the first trip by an american leader for almost 20 years .the whitehouse said mr trump would use the meeting to discuss his

‘america first‘ agenda. fox news reports donald trump's former chief strategist steve bannon has stepped down as head of the far right website breitbart. bannon was heavily criticised by mr trump and faced a backlash from supporters after the book "fire and fury" quoted him accusing the president's son and son—in—law of treason. the telegraph leads with brexit and says the uk's plan for a bespoke brexit trade deal is at risk of being derailed by germany after chancellor angela merkel stated she is against a british plan for so—called "managed divergence". and finally on the guardian website, virgin trains says it will no longer stock copies of the daily mail newspaper on its uk west coast route citing concerns from staff about the paper's editorial stance on issues such as immigration. the daily mail has called the decision ‘disgraceful‘.