hello, this is the business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. can government calls for unity lead to the economic change that will improve the lives of millions? shutdown embarassament. a top microsoft executive tells us america's inability to keep the government open doesn't look good on his country. —— for. and on the markets, a big fall in the us last night has been followed by a less turbulent trading session so far in asia, worries about the global economy continue to push investors away from riskier assets. we start in zimbabwe, where the president's call for national dialogue has failed to stop what the opposition describe as a terror campaign inflicted by the army. they've been cracking down on protestors, who took 2to the streets a week ago, after the government embarked

on its latest economic reforms. this a country whose prosperity once meant it was known as the bread basket of africa. but this month, the price of petrol and diesel was sharply increased, as you can see. the government says that was meant to tackle shortages, but instead, it means already impoverished zimbabweans now have some of the highest fuel prices in the world. the violent protests that followed have led president emmerson mnangagwa to cut to short his trip to the world economic forum in davos. he had been hoping to raise much needed foreign investment to try and repair decades of economic mismangement. the damage done under the rule of robert mugabe means the country is so short of cash, it was forced to ask south africa for an emergency $1.2 billion loan last month to try and stabilise the economy — but that was rejected. however, zimbabwe already has debts of almost $17 billion. so when mr mnangagwa became president little over a year ago, he was quick to declare

the country open for business, but to be honest, he's struggled to attract foreign investors. his finance minister is still in davos and told reforming zimaba bwe‘s economy wasn't an easy job. we have a plan. one of the reasons why we're having this kind of situation is because of the plant, which is a reform agenda. there is no reform agenda without paying. so what has happened is this, we in a situation of disequilibrium and posters of correcting that, that ec, thatis posters of correcting that, that ec, that is owl road map for cheating macroeconomic stability, making sure we create a private sector economy, as we move towards our vision 2030 of getting an upper income status by that year. gervais williams is a senior executive director at the investment firm, miton group. you have a lot of experience and

looking at overall economies and how they work. putting aside the overall politics at the moment, hard is it to bring economic forum to a country like zimbabwe? power behind, they have had problems in the past. the country is not very productive. it is all about improving productivity, and that is the key issue, which is not being improving until recently. and what are the differences between zimbabwe and other countries which are trying to push forward economic reform? whatever differences is in the last decade, we have a qualitative easing. unfortunately in the past the years, quantitative easing has moved to qualitative tightening in the us. that has led to problems in countries such as turkey and others, is more difficult investment is now. that is because it is linked to the dollar, right? absolutely, and the whole investment world is linked to the dollar as investment currency and yet there are investment currency and yet there a re less dollars investment currency and yet there are less dollars around, there is less dollars around for investment

in marginal territories. less people are happy in zimbabwe with a way that the government is moving forward. what advice would you give to anyone who would be interested in investing in zimbabwe because investment is what they would be looking for? of course, small investment would go a long way. they've got a lot of natural resources , they've got a lot of natural resources, there is opportunity to make a commercial return. the problem is if you are investing in zimbabwe, it is unsettled, then obviously that tends to attract investment. what we need is stability, we need unfortunately, not such jerky movements. there have been very aggressive moves in terms of pricing of energy and touch things and i think that is meant the local population is just unable to invest. and of course, the level of debt the zimbabwe has now been burdened with, that also is a factor thatis burdened with, that also is a factor that is holding back, back. yes, it is actually millions of pounds but

it is still not much in comparison to places like the us and uk. it has got thejudicial system to places like the us and uk. it has got the judicial system that is good, it has an investment system thatis good, it has an investment system that is intended to bring good outcomes too, we just need more stability. what advice would you zimbabwean government? where were you see the growth opportunities from? i think the growth opportunities very much coming from the economic side. clearly, the mining is also very strong. particularly as about stability, it is about rather than making such extreme changes, more modest changes along the way. 0k, it is so good to have you. thank you very much indeed. the us government shutdown is embarrassing for the country, that's according to the president of microsoft. brad smith told the bbc that the world's biggest economy needs a government that is open. it comes as senate leaders have agreed to hold votes on thursday, which could pave the way for the crisis to end. it's already led president trump to cancel his administation‘s trip to the world economic forum

in davos, snd that is where sally bundock has been speaking to mr smith. i think it is an unusual action. it is not an action that us governments are typically taking. as with a lot of different things, we will see how it turns out. we will not know until the movies over whether the plot made sense. how do you feel this impasse is being handled between the republicans and the democrats on money for the wall? 800,000 federal employees have not had paid for a long time, is this notjust embarrassing? it is embarrassing. as an american, we need a government thatis an american, we need a government that is open. for many years in the united states, we are called, talk about having a government that helps. i guess now it is won a government that is open. we need people to be paid, these are the people to be paid, these are the people who are responsible for keeping our airports safe, for

ensuring that new products are approved to go to the market, the fundamentally supporting our society asa fundamentally supporting our society as a whole. it takes two to reach an agreement. what to say about leadership on capitol hill? well, is not where we should hope it should be, ithink not where we should hope it should be, i think is the short answer. i think across the business community, certainly in the tech sector, but i think across the country, we all hoping that we'll see agreement emerged sooner rather than later and people get paid and people home will get back to work. we talk about action on the part of the us government, the us government has been very bright. it has arrested the chief dental officer of highway because of turns about national security. what is your take on these moves ? security. what is your take on these moves? well, at one level, we do not have access to the same information that any has. can rest assured that any government, probably any tech company, is watching that with interest. any time you see its chief

executive extradited or arrested, clearly everyone else becomes a little more concerned as well. —— huawei. but i think the border question is probably then more important to the public as a whole. this technology does have implications to national security, for a national security. we'll want to see national security protected. ideally, we want to see that national security protected in a way that enables companies to participate in the world market, distract the right balance. i think a lot of options are made on the table here injanuary. hopefully, as this year unfolds, we will see more options on the table. sally bundock has been speaking to quite a few of the great in the business world at davos. there will be more from her throughout the week he won bbc world news. —— here on.

japan is the latest asian country to feel the pain of the global economic slowdown. december saw exports drop the most in two years because of falling demand from china's manufacturers. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon is following the story. are those doughnuts on your thai? visa doughnuts, it means it is good luck, it means the world continues to go round and round and round. the lark and delicious at the same time. the pen, what is going on here with the export sector? well, you mentioned it. the root cause has been a weakness in the chinese economy. trade is penned's ‘s trading partner in exports to the mainland fell by 7% in the year to december, and that drop is quite be given the outbound shipments in december dropped by and 8% from a year ago levels. —— japan and's. it is also hit south korea's quarterly exports. the maitland is a major market here in asia forjapan‘s

mainly manufacturers to ship medical supplies, mobile phones, and other goods fall is not —— mainland. the worry is that the severe disruption could drive down corporate profit in japan and give the —— put the economy a sharp downturn this year. thank you very much. that is all from us here in the business briefing, goodbye for me. —— from me, the family of a young woman who died

in a speedboat crash on the river thames — has urged the home secretary to step up efforts to bring her killer tojustice. jack shepherd went on the run before he was convicted lastjuly — in his absence — of the manslaughter of charlotte brown. the bbc‘s helena lee reports. this is the last picture of charlotte brown, on the left, with her sister. three days later, she was killed by her date in a speedboat crash. this footage, recovered from charlotte's phone, shows jack shepherd speeding along the thames. oh my god, you're going so fast. "you're going so fast", charlotte says. soon after, they crashed, and the boat capsized. he survived, but charlotte died in hospital. jack shepherd had been speeding and drinking. his boat was also defective. he went on trial for charlotte's manslaughter last summer, but didn't attend, and went on the run before his conviction. despite being in hiding, shepherd has won the right to appeal against his conviction. today, charlotte's family met with the home secretary,

sajid javid. they demanded to know from him what was being done to find her killer. the home secretary has underlined his personal commitment to see that shepherd is arrested and that the current man—hunt is given the necessary resources and priority it requires. our message is clear. there can be no hiding place forjack shepherd. the bbc has been told there are records of jack shepherd entering the former soviet state of georgia, with no sign of him having left. charlotte's family say theyjust want him caught so he can face justice. helena lee, bbc news, westminster. coming up at 6am on breakfast, louise minchin and dan walker will have all the day's news, business and sport. do stay with us here on bbc news, plenty more still to come. this is the briefing from bbc news.

the latest headlines: there have been vigils in france and the uk for missing footballer, emiliano sala. the search for his plane is set to resume in the english channel. zimba bwe's brutal crackdown on protestors continues, the president has promised to investigate claims people were systematically tortured. strongly rejected suggestions from the european commission that a hard border would be necessary films? 5 3 $52le ii! §§ez meanwhile, the independent says, according to the confederation of british industry, a no—deal brexit will significantly hurt the economy of all uk regions, with northeast england most severely damaged. the research found that areas more heavily reliant on exports and manufacturing are likely to be most severely damaged. the guardian business pages have this picture of sirjames dyson, the british

billionaire inventor and outspoken brexit supporter who has previously called on the government to walk away from the eu without a deal. meanwhile, mr dyson is to move the headquarters of his vacuum cleaner and hand—dryer technology company to singapore. in the times, uk schools should tell teachers to ignore their emails when they leave work to avoid being pestered by parents. education secretary damian hinds said that although the internet had revolutionised communication between parents and teachers, he warned that at many schools it has gone too far. and finally on the front of the ft, the 2019 oscar nominee's have been announced. —— nominees. this year's interesting development is that netflix films have scored 15 oscar nominations, including best picture for the movie roma. people are now asking could the popular streaming service be disrupting the silver screen the same way it has done to television? with me is james hughes who's

chief market analyst, at axi trader brexit today. is it still going on? yes it is still happening on the 29th of march. the irish times, the headlined the government strongly usage —— rejecting the border. it might come as a bit of a shock to hear that the eu is now saying no—deal brexit, hard border. hear that the eu is now saying no-deal brexit, hard border. is seems like a bit of a flip in a comment. it took back the irish officials because it was kind of a