leaders of the 620 and a two—day summit in delhi. we look at whether economic balance is shifting among its members. the us marks a new phase in its relationship with vietnam by strengthening its ties with one of the world's fastest growing economies. hello and welcome to asia business report with me arunoday mukharji. we begin in india where world leaders havejust wrapped up that two—day annual summit of the 620 and as we've been hearing on newsday, it ended with a lot of debate around the watered—down language on russia in thejoint declaration but what were some of the economic outcomes from the summit? we have more details now.

india's glitzy 620 presidency ending with the gavel handed over to brazil. applause. the group's joint declaration applause. the group'sjoint declaration avoided condemning russia's war in ukraine but the inclusion of the african union into the grouping was seen as a major achievement. i think this is a really good move and again, india should be complemented for championing it. but they got support from the other countries. the 620 vowed to trickle renewable energy capacity and scale up financing for billions to trillions of dollars. this even as the hundred billion dollars promised by the western countries every year to help developing countries mitigate climate impact is still nowhere in sight. 620 now has its own mechanism on climate finance so does that mean that the hundred billion dollars promised from the west of the developed countries is pretty much dead now? i don't think it is a question

of are you writing off this hundred billion that was promised earlier and now that you've come up with a newer way of the funding climate, what trickle should have come earlier— what trickle should have come earlier of— what trickle should have come earlier of the 100 billion and come — earlier of the 100 billion and come earlier on that. climate issues — come earlier on that. climate issues retain a great sense of urgency _ issues retain a great sense of uruen . ., , , , ., urgency. the other big push at this g20 urgency. the other big push at this 620 summit _ urgency. the other big push at this 620 summit in _ urgency. the other big push at this 620 summit in countries l this 620 summit in countries like 6 —— india was a bigger multilateral institutions. and it is being said significant work is being done to help unlock at least $200 billion of additional lending capacity through these banks over the next decade. but more immediate action is lacking say experts. i would have expected it that there is a roadmap, a very clear roadmap given to ensure that the multilateral development banks are recapitalised and their ability to provide concessional finance to these countries in need actually goes up. we haven't seen very much

of a movement there. 0n the sidelines of the summit, a major announcement — to construct a large rail and shipping corridor linking india to the middle east and europe. some say this is a direct counter to china's belt and road initiative to build infrastructure across the world. an action plan is expected in the next two months. to understand more on the key takeaway is from the summit i spoke to trade and political experts james crabtree and he called the two—day summit success for india. i think what happened in the summit is that the west had a choice. either they could dig their heels in on the language over ukraine or they could allow india to have a successful declaration and therefore the successful 620 that india wanted, and given the importance of the rock rest�*s relationship with india, the west decided to give in a little bit on ukraine —— importance of the west's relationship with india. this was a successful

narendra modi. and the other thing that was a success story has been the entry of the african union. how important has india been as a voice of the global south? i think that's a symbolically interesting move. as you say, one of india's sub themes, beyond the fact that the 620 was part of narendra modi's re—election campaign, was that india was competing with china to be the representative of the global south and so bringing the african union into the 620 infrastructure albeit not into the group itself formally, i think is a clever step towards that goal. and i think another aspect that caught everyone's attention was this proposal to have a rival to china's belt and road initiative. what does that mean for china and the west? i think you need to be clear that that wasn't a 620

proposal — often now the 620 is so divided between the west and russia and china, many of the most significant announcements of the 620 happen as a subgroup within it and that is what has happened here with this infrastructure plan with the united states and some of the gulf countries. i think it remains to be seen how effective this will be although symbolically it is useful for the united states and its partners to be in this big infrastructure game. you've said in the past china's diplomacy is only gathering strength so despite, apart from the optics, will xi jinping's absence really make a major difference going ahead? i think xi jinping's absence was a missed opportunity for china and allowed india to have a more successful summit and also positioned president biden more centrally so i think it wasn't good for china that he didn't come but many other of china's somatic initiatives like the brinks enlargement show china pushing ahead

with its plan to engage with the global south and that has beenpositive for beijing. at the 620 summit us presidentjoe biden luh to vietnam for the final destination of his big asia tour. the visit focused on deepening relations especially as a trade row between the us and china shows no signs of abating. vietnam has also become an opportunity for investors as some businesses have moved their supply chains away from china into the countries like vietnam. venture capital firm five global says the outcome of the trip means america sees vietnam as a economic partner. not surprising given china's growing influence. has always been a thorn in the side of yet numb especially as a key to the south —— south china sea issue. for us, we welcome it because it means closer ties between countries and more investment in the area we care about which is technology. it is clear that has become a focus area for the vietnamese

government as it looks to upscale its own population and people and its status from the manufacturing to more high—tech sort of businesses to drive the digital economy further. and you have been investing in vietnam for a while. what are the opportunities in your opinion and what distinguishes vietnam from say other countries to potential investors like you? we've been investing in the tech scene in vietnam for more than a decade right now, and fortunate enough to be early backers of one of the four companies valued at over a billion dollars over there. vietnam is historically seen as being a little bit behind the rest of southeast asia especially singapore and malaysia in terms of vc but one of the best developments we've seen at least over the last six months is that for 2023, vietnam overtook indonesia in terms of the amount of venture capital that has been deployed so we see the country really catching up quite quickly. in terms of the opportunities there still remains a lot

of opportunities in more traditional tech sectors, the iron triangle of e—commerce, fintech and the logistics networks connected to that, but we also see a lot of potential in areas relating to the digitisation of agriculture. we saw something similar happening indonesia. one of the early investments we made over there, efisheries, has now become a $1.1; billion company through digitisation of agriculture. we see similar opportunity in vietnam as more and more capital starts to get deployed into that economy in technology. a quick round—up of more news making headlines. and in other news making headlines, china's alibaba has announced daniel zhang will step down from its cloud business less than nine months after taking over the unit. it comes the same day he was scheduled to handle the company —— hand over to a new chief executive.

mr zhang had previously been serving in three roles concurrently, heading the group as well as the cloud intelligence unit. the unit is china's largest cloud provider and is said to be spun off from alibaba as part of the group's restructuring. at least three major chinese cities have removed restrictions on homebuying as the asian giant gradually rolls back a crackdown the property sector in a bid to try and revive its economy. these announcements come on the heels of a series of nationwide support measures for the property sector including lower mortgage rates for first—time homebuyers. china's debt ridden property sector accounts for one quarter of the state's economic activity and had been on a downward spiral since 2021 when the government moved to stop developers from accumulating debt. and before we go, a quick rundown on some of the big economic events we're watching this week. on tuesday, the recent host of the 620 summit india will be releasing their latest latest inflation figures.

extreme weather has led to price shocks for food items. a day later on wednesday we will also be looking at inflation figures for the us economy which analysts hope will offer clues on the direction of the cost of borrowing. the federal reserve will have its next meeting later this month. and ending the week on friday the big focus will also be on china which was due to release sales data as well as unemployment figures. consumers there have been holding back on spending. and one other thing on our watchlist this week — tech giant apple has scheduled an event on tuesday evening at its headquarters in california. there has been a lot of buzz around what will be unveiled and the various speculations have included whether it could be the next smartphone. that is it from this edition of asia business report. to stay on the bbc news. thanks very much for watching.

bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. this is the village of carterton near leek in staffordshire. take the tradition of a scarecrow competition who take it to a whole new level. it competition who take it to a whole new level.— whole new level. it has been auoin whole new level. it has been going on _ whole new level. it has been going on for— whole new level. it has been going on for hundreds - whole new level. it has been going on for hundreds of - whole new level. it has been i going on for hundreds of years and that is to celebrate nominally the end of the holidays. it was the traditional copper mines within the festival. to be fair, we have had a really, really good number of scarecrows and it has probably got a bit more competitive every year. this scarecrow was the design of my five—year—old little girl so this is row row row your boat and if you see a crocodile don't forget to scream. the theme of— don't forget to scream. the theme of the _ don't forget to scream. the theme of the competition is voted on by residents of the village in a facebook poll. however, they have been a bit loose with the definition of a nursery rhyme. i loose with the definition of a nursery rhyme-— nursery rhyme. i think it is taken very _ nursery rhyme. i think it is taken very seriously - nursery rhyme. i think it is taken very seriously with l nursery rhyme. i think it is taken very seriously with a pinch of salt can to be fair. we have very a lot of fun with it. it gives the kids something to enjoy.

it. it gives the kids something to en'o ., , ., , it. it gives the kids something toen'o. .,_ to enjoy. just generally bring eve one to enjoy. just generally bring everyone together, - to enjoy. just generally bring everyone together, raise - to enjoy. just generally bring l everyone together, raise some money— everyone together, raise some money and make a bit of a community feel.— community feel. i've been particular— community feel. i've been particular taken _ community feel. i've been particular taken with - community feel. i've been i particular taken with humpty dumpty sitting on the wall because he actually has all the kings horses and all the kings men hidden in the wall. i drove past about five times before i noticed them. it was good to discover them hidden away. for more stories — discover them hidden away. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

a brand—new vending machine at school but you won't find any snacks here. instead, a different kind of nourishment. for the mind. got different kind of nourishment. for the mind.— for the mind. got it! i think it is pretty. _ for the mind. got it! i think it is pretty, cool _ for the mind. got it! i think it is pretty, cool it - for the mind. got it! i think it is pretty, cool it is - for the mind. got it! i think it is pretty, cool it is about| it is pretty, cool it is about adventures and saving the world i think. ~ ., ., i. ., adventures and saving the world ithink. ~ ., ., ., ., i think. what do you need to do to net i think. what do you need to do to get one _ i think. what do you need to do to get one of — i think. what do you need to do to get one of these _ i think. what do you need to do to get one of these books - to get one of these books in the vending machine? you have to work hard — the vending machine? you have to work hard to _ the vending machine? you have to work hard to get _ the vending machine? you have to work hard to get one - the vending machine? you have to work hard to get one of- the vending machine? you have to work hard to get one of the l to work hard to get one of the tokens. ' , . ., ,., ., ~' tokens. offers children a book tokens. offers children a book to keep which _ tokens. offers children a book to keep which the _ tokens. offers children a book to keep which the teachers - tokens. offers children a book| to keep which the teachers say makes a difference. bi�*s to keep which the teachers say makes a difference.— makes a difference. 31% of our children didn't _ makes a difference. 3196 of our children didn't have _ makes a difference. 3196 of our children didn't have access - makes a difference. 3196 of our children didn't have access to. children didn't have access to a book at home that was appropriate to their needs. having a book vending machine and providing books in this way, gives students a of ownership. i way, gives students a of ownership-— way, gives students a of ownershi. .,�* ., ,, ownership. i don't have access to books at — ownership. i don't have access to books at home. _ ownership. i don't have access to books at home. for - ownership. i don't have access to books at home. for some i ownership. i don't have access| to books at home. for some of our families _ to books at home. for some of our families it _ to books at home. for some of our families it is _ to books at home. for some of our families it is a _ ourfamilies it is a combination of things like deprivation in the area that we are in it also literacy skills.

with some of our parents and carers themselves. the with some of our parents and carers themselves.— with some of our parents and carers themselves. the idea is to help these _ carers themselves. the idea is to help these students - carers themselves. the idea is| to help these students prepare for further education and work. just a tiny fraction of adults with learning disabilities are in paid employment. aha, with learning disabilities are in paid employment. a theory as it will actually _ in paid employment. a theory as it will actually give _ in paid employment. a theory as it will actually give them - it will actually give them encouragement at home and really start them off on this journey of reading. for more stories from _ journey of reading. for more stories from across - journey of reading. for more stories from across the - journey of reading. for more stories from across the uk, | stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello, and welcome to sportsday, i'm lizzie 6reenwood—hughes. the headlines tonight: luis rubiales resigns as president of the spanish fa over that kiss. defending champions south africa open their world cup campaign with victory over scotland. and so long mo: britain's greatest long—distance runner signs—off after a glittering career.

welcome to the programme. luis rubiales has resigned as president of the spanish football federation following extensive criticism for kissing the spain forward jenni hermoso at the women's world cup final presentation ceremony. hermoso said the kiss after spain won the final was not consensual and she filed a legal complaint last tuesday. speaking on piers morgan uncensored the rubiales said he can't continue his work. joe lynskey reports. it was the image that overshadowed spain's world cup—winning moment — a kiss from the federation president that's brought three weeks of fallout.