amazon in the spotlight. after a pro—labour senator in the us accuses the company of a disastrous safety record. and we sit down with the head of the german tech giant siemens to get a sense of the opportunities he is eyeing here in asia. hello and welcome to asia business report. i am monica miller. online retail giant amazon is facing a us congressional hearing into the working conditions at its warehouses. that is after senator bernie sanders wrote to amazon's chief executive on tuesday accusing him and the company's founderjeff asked of creating a corporate culture that treats as disposable. bernie sanders, a self—styled socialist from vermont, has long been a fierce advocate for workers�* rights. and the need for bigger welfare programmes

in america. his promise to create a national health system helped him come close to winning the democratic nomination for president in 2016. so his decision to investigate the working conditions at one of america�*s biggest employers sure to capture headlines and set up a robust argument about worker protections. now, for its part, amazon has been criticised for the conditions its warehouse workers face in facilities all over the world. it is already being examined for its safety record by multiple us government agencies. amazon is also notorious for resisting all efforts to unionise its workforce. now, in response to mr sanders�*s letter, amazon strongly disagrees. it says it has been able to reduce injuries across the us operation and has invested more than $1 billion into safety initiatives over the last four years. meanwhile, indian prime

minister narendra modi has arrived in the united states for a state visit. he had earlier chatted with tesla�*s boss elon musk in new york, he said they will try to be in india very soon. the visit is expected to see both countries expand their cooperation in defence and high—technology sectors. singapore —based tech trade grab is laying off 1,000 employees. that is about 11% of its workforce. its chief executive said the move was needed so the company could reorganise to work faster and smarter. now, this is the verse: one has cutjobs since 2020, the covert 90 pandemic hit demand for its services. german manufacturing giant siemens is expanding its footprint in asia —— covid—i9 pandemic. it announced it was setting up a new plant in singapore and it still has a healthy amount to spend for expansion in europe and the united states. but we caught up with the chief executive and asked about the executive ——

opportunities he is seen. singapore is or is a market for us because it is a high—tech manufacturing market and there is a lot of technology, it is a big ecosystem. and you see malaysia which is already quite mature, also in the gdp per capita, activities in malaysia. indonesia is coming up, indonesia�*s policy not to export raw material only, but to add a certain value at the first process steps, this requires investments. this is very interesting for us. but then we also have vietnam, which is ramping up in their digital expertise, a lot of off shoring software is already going to vietnam. 30% of the world market of the industrial space comes from china. and this is our home turf. we have a very strong market share there. our revenue which comes from china is 13, 1a%, so it is not over proportional. and the strategy is very simple, we are

in essence 150 years, we will stay also in the future. we want to increase our market share in china. siemens is serving a 500 billion market and the outlook is that this market has a growth, combined annual growth for the next five years of 7%. which is much higher than we used to have maybe 2% to 4% in the past. the reason is that output —— our portfolio is geared for climate change. so it is all about sustainable business and technologies. megatrend is urbanisation, which puts huge pressure on the infrastructure. it is a mobility infrastructure. it is the distribution grid. massive investment come. is it what we call ageing societies? that means it is a huge demand for health care, but also the labour shortage. health care, but also the labourshortage. labour labour shortage. labour shortage means labourshortage. labour shortage means you have to have

a high level of automation —— automation and digitalisation, which is our port of —— which is our portfolio. and we have a global world which is getting more local touch, so distributed manufacturing, what does it mean? more resilience, but it also means more greenfield investments in different regions. this is a business for siemens. and last but not least, one of the big megatrends which is accelerating all the others is digitalisation. in our portfolio here is unmatched. we can combine the digital world is unmatched for any company because we are strong in software and we are strong and automation. and this combination means we have a great outlook for our business short term, but also long—term. that is the chief executive of siemens. a recent court estimated that tech spending in asia pacific will grow almost 6% this year to hit over $730 billion. and most of that won�*t be coming from developed

economies like japan, but from like southeast asia. earlier, i spoke with principal analyst lesleyjoseph and he explained why. 50 lesley joseph and he explained wh _ �* , ., lesley joseph and he explained wh, ,, why. so asia is between the new and the old _ why. so asia is between the new and the old at _ why. so asia is between the new and the old at this _ why. so asia is between the new and the old at this point, - why. so asia is between the new and the old at this point, but - and the old at this point, but there are several nuances so i thought i would illustrate this with three stories. the first is if you think about developing asia like indonesia, it particularly offers a very at metaphor for this inherent tension between developing nation, growth and legacy and future and past. the capital jakarta for example, incredible place, it has young digitally native population, bursting at the seams with digital adoption. there is also a healthy venture capitalism ecosystem and significant tech talent. all of this is happening while the city itself is sinking into the java uncontrolled ground water use in global warming. the second storagejapan. japan offers

storage japan. japan offers another glimpse into storagejapan. japan offers another glimpse into another phase of the that has traditionally been more developed than the rest, but the population is ageing, the economy has turned to investments in robotics and automation. to offset that, the other major trend injapan is the fact that there is this gross undervaluation of tech talent. the wages for tech workers in most countries is somewhere between 8% to 10%, but in japan, somewhere between 8% to 10%, but injapan, it is slightly lower. now they need an influx of foreign workers to support the digital economy so what will that due the culture of the country because smack that is open. the country because smack that is 0 en. . , the country because smack that isoen. , ., , is open. the last few years haven't been _ is open. the last few years haven't been easy - is open. the last few years haven't been easy for - is open. the last few years haven't been easy for the i haven�*t been easy for the global aviation industry. the covid—19 pandemic forced airlines to ground planes and for manufacturers to cut production. but now, optimism is returning to the industry. airline orders are back on track. but as boeing�*s chief strategy officer explained, challenges still remain. yes, it has been _ challenges still remain. yes, it has been a _ challenges still remain. yes, it has been a great _ challenges still remain. yes, it has been a great year- challenges still remain. yes, it has been a great year andl challenges still remain. yes, i it has been a great year and we have done about 1,000 orders since the last year�*s show

which shows our momentum. now it is about delivering those aeroplanes one at a time. so execution is the big focus. we are doing it at a moment in time when the industry is having to really recreate itself on the back side of that covid moment. where demand for air travel plummeted, down buying 92% at the worst moment. factories came to a standstill. and a lot of employees and factory workers were rolled over, turned over into different roles and positions. so now it is all coming back online, it�*s starting to come together. online, it's starting to come together-— online, it's starting to come together. but it is one thing for airlines _ together. but it is one thing for airlines to _ together. but it is one thing for airlines to order - together. but it is one thing for airlines to order planes, | for airlines to order planes, it will take quite a long time to fulfil those orders because your production levels are not back to where they were in 2019. ., , . 2019. that is correct, it will take several _ 2019. that is correct, it will take several years. - 2019. that is correct, it will take several years. the - 2019. that is correct, it will i take several years. the levels are coming up. we are in the middle, of course, are moving up middle, of course, are moving up rates on the 737, we will chase right up on the same kind of pacing on the wide bodies for things like the 787 we sell. but these are products that take years to build and to

increase rate on so it will take away for the industry to come together on it. you mentioned _ come together on it. you mentioned the _ come together on it. you mentioned the 787 - come together on it. you mentioned the 787 and i come together on it. you mentioned the 787 and the 737 programmes. the 787 has been hamstrung for years now by quality control problems, some of those seem to have affected the 737 programme as well. with all of this coming together and lasting so does that suggest some kind of fundamental issue either with boeing or its suppliers because i don�*t think so, i think there are two things here.— so, i think there are two things here. the first is you have seen _ things here. the first is you have seen a _ things here. the first is you have seen a very _ things here. the first is you have seen a very strong - things here. the first is you - have seen a very strong embrace by the boeing company and by industry and transparency. and the way that we address things like nonconformance in the manufacturing process. so every nonconformist we are talking about, we are talking about the suppliers in the middle of them come up with customers affected by deliveries, with the regulator as we all are driving for that first principle of safety first. that embrace of transparency means we having this conversation more out in public as opposed inside the of

industry. looking ahead to thursday, that is when the top bosses of microsoft and gaming giant activision blizzard are among the witnesses planned for a five—day hearing that will kick—off. that is after the us federal trade commission filed a legal bid to block microsoft�*s $69 billion takeover of the company. the ftc said the move would give microsoft unfair access to a part of the gaming industry, but microsoft says the move would be good for gamers. let�*s take a quick look at the markets before you go hearing asia. stocks injapan have opened lower this morning. they are taking their cue from wall street, which also closed broadly down on tuesday. that�*s all we have view on this edition of asia business report. i am monica miller, thanks for watching.

this is the moment a light aircraft crashes into the sea at porthcawl. incredibly, moments later, the pilot seems to be on his feet and walking away. it was caught on camera by a volunteer with the rnli, who was out walking his dog. i see him stumbling out sol who was out walking his dog. i see him stumbling out so i did turn round and point back, just one casualty. that was it really. so i went down and sat him down and two other guys came alongside and were just looking at his injuries. he is very lucky, i think he is more distressed about being in this plain. distressed about being in this lain. ~ ., . . ~' distressed about being in this lain, ~ ., . . ~' , plain. modric kendrick lives close by and _ plain. modric kendrick lives close by and realised - plain. modric kendrick lives - close by and realised something was wrong she looked out of her window. 50 was wrong she looked out of her window. ., , was wrong she looked out of her window. ., i, window. so i got my binoculars because i'm — window. so i got my binoculars because i'm nosy! _ window. so i got my binoculars because i'm nosy! -- _ window. so i got my binoculars because i'm nosy! -- margaretj because i'm nosy! —— margaret kendrick. — because i'm nosy! —— margaret kendrick. i— because i'm nosy! —— margaret kendrick. i released from the shape — kendrick. i released from the shape it— kendrick. i released from the shape it was an upside down seaplane. shape it was an upside down seaplane-— shape it was an upside down sealane. ~ , ~ , seaplane. the welsh ambulance service said _ seaplane. the welsh ambulance service said one _ seaplane. the welsh ambulance service said one person - seaplane. the welsh ambulance service said one person was - service said one person was taken to hospitalfor taken to hospital for treatment. air accidents investigators are also looking into what happened. the plane has remained underwater for most of the day, quickly

covered once the tide came in. on a busy sunny day in porthcawl, this morning�*s plane crashes what people in the cafes and on the front are talking about. everyone is relieved the pilot appears to have had a very lucky escape. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. tonight, and andrew tate update. rising rents and dozing off. let�*s start with the missing submarine deep under water and the race to find it. there are five people on board and they were trying to get here, the wreck of the titanic. it is around 4,000 metres below sea level off the coast of canada and takes around eight hours to get them back. two hours to get them back. two hours into the dive, contact was lost. this is what it looks

like. there is no seats and an xbox comptroller is used to steer it. a massive search is under way because there is no escape pod and less than 40 hours of oxygen left. some of the stories now and we have an update on andrew tate and his brother triston. they have been charged in romania with rape, human trafficking and forming a char crime gang. they are accused of controlling women and forcing them to make pawn videos. they denied doing anything wrong. has your rent gone up recently? new stats show an average, it is heating up show an average, it is heating up 28% of renters pay before tax. that is a bigger chunk than at any time in the past ten years —— eating up. if you are a fan of a nap, we have good news, researchers say having a snooze for 30 minutes or less can keep us younger for longer by stopping our brain shrinking as we get older. and we will leave you with ten seconds of france�*s president

macron thinking a bit and 17 seconds. he was celebrating with the la rochelle rugby team for a win at the weekend. probably not a record—breaker, but the lads were still loving it anyway. you are all cut up, have a great night. sport centre.

hello, from the bbc coming up on this programme... pat cummins leads his australia side to a dramatic two—wicket win over england in the first ashes test at edgbaston. rain wreaks havoc — play is halted for nearly two