japan releases better than expected economi growth japan releases better than expected economic growth figures for the first quarter of 2023. and we take a bite out of lab grown meat. but over two years, we check out what is the appetite for soft alternative protein. hi there, welcome to asia business report, with me, mariko oi. i want to start with japan this morning bacause it hasjust released its latest growth figures for the first tthree months of this year and the economy grew by 2.7% which is much, much higher than the initial estimate of 1.5% and much stronger than what analysts had also been expecting as well. growth was driven by robust business spending and a rebound in tourism, especially after covid restrictions were dropped earlier this year.

let's ta ke let's take a look at how the stock market is doing. flat to high. trading at a 33 year home. the last quarter it outperformed any major global indices partly because investors are hopeful about japan's economy. nobuko kobayashi, from professional services firm, ey, explains. yes, it beat expectation by one point which is quite phenomenal. if you peel down, break down the difference, the positive surprise comes especially from the investment in private sector. the personal consumption, which was considered to be jumping up, was in line with expectation, but particularly on the business side, it was a positive surprise. i want to ask you about consumer spending because we have been talking about how japan has never really had inflation for many decades and now,

having one, albeit much lower compared to other parts of the world, and yet wages have not been growing as much as expected, so why is consumer sentiment quite strong? consumer sentiment, i think, temporarily anyway, is affected positively by the end of covid era injapan. of course covid is still with us but a lot of restrictions have been dropped and people are feeling a sense of normalcy again. it came later injapan compared to other countries, so we are enjoying the back to normal again, a little bit. crosstalk. ..and kyoto is full of tourists for instance. i want to ask you about the stock market. we saw a bit of a dip yesterday but it has been trading at a 33—year high. what is actually behind this, is this just the optimism about the economy or is it something else? well, first of all, structurally speaking, there is an expectation that japan may be getting out of the deflationary period and this is supported most recently by this upbeat number on the gdp, nominal gdp is up on the annualized basis

by 8.3%, according to this freshly released data, which pushes up the nominal gdp to 570 trillion yen, which is a record high. so this correlates favourably to the nikkei price, nikkei average. so that's one thing. and secondly, the corporate earnings are higher than ever in three decades. so that's two. and thirdly, the geopolitical uncertainties around the world makes japan a relatively stable and safe destination. but do you agree with that assessment which some investors india's central bank started its three—day meeting to deliberate on monetary policy on tuesday and is expected to make its announcement clear on thursday. experts are anticipating the rbi is likely to keep rates unchanged, that is keep it at 6.5% and the main reason behind this is that inflation has been

showing signs of cooling down. this has been a primary economic concern for the country for a very long time now because inflation figures have remained on the higher side for a while. since may last year, the rbi has consistently hiked lending rates to try keep inflation in check but that has now slowly cool down and in fact in the month of march, inflation figures were around 5.7% and at the moment inflation figures around 4.6—4.7%%. it has always been a tight work to ensure growth does not suffer. at the moment the gdp forecast is 7-.2%. at the moment the gdp forecast is 7—.2%. projected at 7% so in fact on the high side. india's economy is likely to be of the

fastest growing economies in the well. ~ . , ., the well. we have been through a difficult time. _ the well. we have been through a difficult time. we _ the well. we have been through a difficult time. we are - a difficult time. we are forecasting profitability for the industry this year. it is a big figure 928 billion dollars but it represents a net margin of 4.2%. to make it another way, we will make a profit of $2 25 per passenger which would not buy you a cup of coffee in geneva where i live. there is still a long way to go. find geneva where i live. there is still a long way to go. and for an industry — still a long way to go. and for an industry to _ still a long way to go. and for an industry to come - still a long way to go. and for an industry to come from - still a long way to go. and for l an industry to come from pretty much shut down to where you are today, that inevitably has growing pains, it has problems. some of your members saying that. why is there a shortage of our plans?—

of our plans? the particular issue for— of our plans? the particular issue for the _ of our plans? the particular issue for the airline - of our plans? the particular| issue for the airline industry issue for the airline industry is getting spare parts and that is getting spare parts and that is impacting on the production of aircraft but more importantly getting new parts for aircraft that are in service. i have to be honest it is at a scale i have never seen before. we are getting complaints from just about every airline ceo in the world. by every airline ceo in the world. by all accounts will face this for a couple of years so it is a great concern to the industry because it is restricting the pace at which we can recover. how confident are you this summer will go without a hitch, like passenger handling, travel through an airport, delays, and then massive disruption that was caused by cancellations? the pace of the recovery did surprise some people. we may see places in asia, where places in china has reopened sooner than expected but the error we are concerned about is

a traffic control. there is clear evidence in the united states they do not have sufficient and traffic control and we have seen reductions and shortages stop in europe we have seen persistent strikes, in france, and because of the geographic location, it is interrupting traffic notjust interrupting traffic not just interrupting traffic notjust in france but around europe. when singapore became the first country to authorise the sale of lab grown meat, hungry investors wanted to see it be ethical and clean. nearly $3 billion was pumped into the industry but 2.5 years later, progress seems to have stalled. nick marsh has more. it is lunchtime in singapore and how about this? chicken, not from a farm, but grown in a lab. it has been approved for sale in singapore for nearly three years now but this is still

the only restaurant in the city and therefore in the world where customers can order it. it is made by good meats, part of a california based start—up. they approached this bistro and butchery earlier this year. i have gone to many abattoirs and farms and see the overtaxing of resources, i have seen the animals being killed so if there is a more humane way of doing it and to lessen the burden on our earth resources, i am happy to try it. and so are his customers. it is meat. it is perfect. here you go. naturally i had to try some as well, of course. the moment of truth. it smells like fried chicken. yes, it tastes like fried chicken. a bit processed, may be, but you would never know where this came from.

this in fact is where it comes from, the process involves extracting cells from the animal, feeding them with nutrients and then fermenting them in a bioreactor like this. it is a sleek but ultimately costly operation and it is also very energy intensive and there are plenty of scientists who question its viability. can you do that at scale and reasonable cost? the answer is no. can you talk about saving the world with this? the answer is no because investments are huge. do i have an honest story here? you look in the mirror and if you don't, do something else. at the moment it is just producing a couple of kilos a week in singapore and you compare that to the aoookg of conventional kitchen sold here at the restaurant alone, you get a sense of the scale of the task.

this is a lifetime project, may be a multiple lifetime project but to do something like that, you have to start somewhere and we are starting here. no animals were harmed in the making of this lunch. scientifically that in itself is a minor miracle and the industry is urging for patience but given the billions being ported by investors, soon they are going to want to see this is more than just a novelty. if you have more appetite for alternative meat, you can also read all about it on our website. just click on the business section. i will be back tomorrow. join us if you can. now, thank you for watching.

at newcastle's city stadium park, the lawns have been liberated, wild flowers left free. so beneficial to pollinating insects, bees and butterflies that we all love to see in our gardens. and look at those grasses and flowers down there, we reduce their food source, so leave them there, let them go. as no—mow may comes to an end, the team here hope the feast provided for pollinators will benefit the users of the park, too. it is part of an all—year plan to boost biodiversity. i personally love this walk, so much nicer, walking along here, than along the road. i saw a dragonfly actually, this big, actually, so yes, it's a really good idea. i think the places where children play should not be mowed, but anywhere else could be kept a bit rough,

until it is a reasonable time to mow it. , i think the places where children play should be ——i think the places where children play should be i mean, it's nice when the park is tidy, but if you have just - an area allowed to grow wild, then that's very nice. - the month done, the plea to gardeners, leave the mower in the shed a bit longer, if you can, and enjoy what springs up, without much work. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof with the catch up. tonight — day two in court for prince harry, glasto advice on disposable vapes and a furry passenger. doctors in england may start offering weight loss jabs to some patients to help reduce obesity—related illnesses. some are calling them skinnyjabs, they're widely used in the us and backed by many celebs — but it's important to understand they aren't a quick fix for a replacement for a healthy lifestyle. sarah spoke to us, as she thinks this is an exciting

development. making sure that people are getting the right support with the medication is still going to be really crucial, but if we can make it so that more people can get access, then that's a huge step in the right direction and something that's really exciting. some other stories for you now — day two in court for prince harry and his case against the daily mirror, who he has accused of hacking his phone to uncover stories. he said he once found a tracking device on his ex—girlfriend's car. the mirror said they got the stories from legitimate sources, though. and millions of people in north america are facing dangerous air quality levels as wildfires burn across canada. officials say it's shaping up for its worst wildfire season on record. export experts say it's a warmer and drier spring than normal. yesterday, we spoke about calls to ban disposable vaping. today, glastonbury has advised people not to bring disposable vapes to the festival this year due to what they call "environmental and safety concerns".

time now for ten seconds of an unexpected furry passenger. found in a car in colorado, wildfire officials helped the bear out of the car and back into the woods. and you're all caught up now. have a good night.