of on in thailand. hurting vitaly is holiday trade. we have a special report on bangkok tourism. china's bank lending last month rose to levels not seen since 2010. a shift in emphasis or a new year glitch? we will ask our correspondent. largest rail freight operator is out with results. ceo, all thathe and more in this monday edition of "asia edge." keeping an eckert eye on the markets today. we are seeing gains across the asia-pacific as we begin a new trading week. we are seeing the cost the index up 0.3%. slowingnese economy with the latest gdp numbers showing the government's big task as it tries to raise the consumption tax. we are watching that closely. the hang seng advancing along with the shanghai composite. shares in china erasing their declines for 2014.

this is not necessarily raising the alarm. we will be watching that closely throughout the course of this day. in southeast asia, gains for the major markets. that market up zero .6% despite all the antigovernment protests. we are continuing to watch that. in malaysia and singapore, solid gains for business. we are seeing property shares in some of the energy stocks moving. gold, by the way, rallying. >> the numbers out just a short while ago, thailand's economy growing more than anticipated in the fourth quarter. let's get the details from sfp's asia correspondent -- from our southeast asia correspondent. >> better than expected but still very weak numbers. 0.6% expansion in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace in almost two years.

economists were looking for 0.3%. thailand under great pressure even the prolonged political unrest. tourism has been hurt along with the mystic demand. don't forget about new investment, a lack of new investment. investors are choosing to hold off pumping in more money and a caretaker government. that means economic programs and policies can't be put in place. the outlook looking pretty bleak. that is the sense in the market. that is enough reason to expect the central bank to cut rates at the next meeting. it surprised everyone when it cap rates unchanged at the last meeting. i want to show you the abht -- baht, how it is performing. down more than 3% in the past six months. the worst performer after the indonesian rupiah and the japanese yen. consumer confidence is low. the economy not looking good, better-than-expected numbers but not looking good overall.

>> thank you very much indeed, haslinda amin with the latest on thailand. >> earlier this morning, japan released its latest gdp where we got promilitary growth figures for the fourth quarter. david ingles joins us now. he has been taking a look at all of this. >> this doesn't paint the best picture of japan at this point. these are just initial numbers, so there is a chance these could be revised. it did show a little bit of growth but it didn't show the pickup in activity that a lot of people were hoping. given the fact that it has already got some support because of the currency, for example. growth in the previous quarter, we are looking at quarter to quarter here, 0.3%, missing estimates of 0.7%. you have the big miss their.

were lowerse metrics than any forecast from any economist. also had a downward revision in nominal gdp for the third quarter. a key take away here, you have private demand. the domestic economy did well but not well enough to offset the drop in exports for the fourth quarter. now people are talking about the need for the doj to step in earlier -- the boj to step in earlier than expected. >> a lot of people are saying there is going to be an economic impact to growth for japan. boj starting its policy meeting today, there are also comments coming out through the government of japan and moody's. talk about that and the reaction to this latest figure. >> we are getting all sorts of statements looking at different parts of the economy.

you have private demand still holding up well in the economy. that is expected to pick up because people will be frontloading their purchases before the sales tax kicks in. movies, they put up -- mood y's, they are perhaps alluding to the credit pop for japan. it is still in a surplus. i think 1985. you have a big drop in exports. they are that his credit-negative. that is chipping away at one of japan's main strengths. the economic minister releasing a statement about an hour back, they are saying the economy is firmly on the rise mainly because of private demand. that is the same comment that came from a chief cabinet secretary a few minutes back. they say expect recovery to continue. also a rebound in capital spending. as far as the export outlook is concerned, they say it is troubling. why are they so confident?

where will growth come from? they are saying exports won't do so well and it is something they can't control altogether. is it going to come from private consumption? that is still up in the air because of the sales tax kicking in. >> all right, david, thanks so much for that. certainly keeping an eye on japanese economic growth. headlines, so much for fears of a credit crunch in china. aggregate financing soaring to a record last month. new bank lending also rising to the highest in four years. we must take these new credit figures with a bit of a grain of salt as new lending is typically higher in january ahead of the lunar new year holiday. icbc betting on the middle east and looking for acquisitions. it wants to boost earnings in the region by 50% this year. it is going to be the first chinese lender in saudi arabia.

they are also targeting kuwait and the united arab emirates. george soros has a new freight it -- favorite, replacing microsoft with an israeli drugmaker. teva is now soros's biggest holding, representing 4% of his $9 billion fund. shares have rallied 10% this year on bets the new chief executive will reduce costs. >> that's get back to the market. >> hello, everyone. good monday to you. stocks across the region are advancing. the msci asia-pacific continues the upward march. even japan with disappointing gdp numbers, that market has reversed course. it is up 0.4% in the lunch break. across the region, hong kong and shanghai extending their advance. it has been a rough several weeks for asia-pacific stocks. the recent chinese data over the ,eekend including new loans

that gives support to the sentiment that economic growth will continue at an acceptable pace. we are seeing some of the licensors continuing their advance. encent, the biggest internet stock in china up 3%. the casinos seem to be on a downward trend. we will watch that very closely. no clear word on why though stocks are moving that way. this is what we have in terms of shares in australia, taking a boost from gold prices advancing. gold is driving precious metal gains across the world, silver advancing as well. those producers of things like gold, up 6% to 7%. that is the story we are seeing across the region. >> what is happening in the currency market? given all the economic data we are getting throughout the region. >> we are seeing the dollar

index dropping for a third successive day. that is supportive to currencies in places like south korea as well as indonesia. we are seeing the won and the rupiah advancing today. that is something we have seen -- the yen is swinging between strengthening and weakening positions. weakening.ht now is it started the day with a bit of strength. that probe pressure early on stocks. right now, yen weakening versus the dollar. dollar looks like that. we have the thai baht situation as rich was reporting earlier in the show. the thai baht holding up remarkably well given the challenges in thailand these days. malaysian ringgit, and upward performer today. onwill keep a close watch the southeast asia currencies. we are also closely tracking

sovereign bonds today. they are falling in australia. later, peninsula wants to open more hotels but it could take years to find the right locations. we will meet the group that operates those hotels later on in the program. up next, australia's largest rail freight operator. the chief executive lance hockridge joins us to discuss earnings. ♪

we spokef the guests to this morning include the head of sri lanka's central-bank would joins us after keeping interest rates on hold. that it is appropriate in the current conditions. we have seen inflation in modest terms. we are seeing growth having the momentum that we wanted it to have. overall, the effects of qe notring, we believe, is

going to have a major impact on the sri lankan economy. of a spoke with the head gaming company who says the industry is making traditional entertainment slowly extinct. did $360ear, we million of revenue which was over 100% growth from 2012. this year we are projected to do more than $550 million in revenue. a big part of that is because growth in gaming is starting to really take more and more consumer dollars away from other forms of entertainment. we think about movies, music, television. generally speaking, we are competing against more traditional console gaming. >> talking commercial property, cbre's president of capital management. >> it is typically looking for hedging against exposure in the asian markets. we see the united states and other emerging european

economies in the right part of the growth curve. there is both a preservation of capital and a search for yield. >> that is the word from asia. straight dailyt declines for australia's biggest rail freight operator. izon holdings boasting its results today, forecasting a steady rise in the amount of coal being moved this year. lance hockridge is the ceo and he joins us from sydney. thank you for joining us. a little bit of a fallback when it comes to the profit side of things. you are thinking things are going to get better this year. even the fallback that you refer to is evident from the change we are making, the transformation in the company. it is an impairment charge that we have taken because through all the transformation we are making our kid do more. we have improved the productivity of our local fleet.

20% just in the last six months. the whole theme of transformation, of making this a world-class company, is really starting to get traction. >> it is quite astonishing, some of the cuts you have made. 598 engines come you have cut your locomotive fleet down almost one third. you cut your wagon fleet by 12% as well. are these cuts done now? are you now right sized as some would say? >> yes, we believe so. particularly in an environment where we continue to be optimistic about the future of the resorts sector. we continue to see on the back of the solid volumes that you refer to at the start, three percent to five percent compound growth in our volumes over the next five years or so. that being the case, we have reconfigured the fleet. we reduced our headcount by 22%

over the last few years. we have got more to do but we have got the plans in place. anhave a target of reaching enlargement of 25% by next year. we will continue to improve that year by year as we drive ourselves to being a world-class company. your ratio there, the flipside of that is the operating ratio of 75%. that is what you want to achieve next year. how important is that in the whole scheme of things? >> i think it is important in its own right. clearly improving that margin speaks to the quality of earnings for the company. when we go back to privatization , it is fair to say that the sentiment was that it was too hard. there were too many headwinds for us to be able to do that.

it is important from a psychological point of view as well. at the end of the day, let there be no doubt. what we are about is driving value for the owners of our business. mostis also and importantly reflected in returns in the business. you can see in the results that we announced this morning, yet another significant step up in those returns. productivity and operating efficiencies, we will continue to drive the returns. >> lance, you have got this new enterprise agreement. you have a range of these new enterprise agreement. industrial risk in achieving some of your targets. tell me something else. the thing about it is, what will it ultimately do for aurizon?

>> first, let me make the point that we have achieved all of the transformation that i have referred to under the existing arrangement. as we go forward, we want to modernize these agreements. we want to get more flexibility into the way that we do things. we need to be able to optimize the way that we run the fleet. in queens land in particular, a lot of the arrangement, legacy arrangements that haven't been put in place by government ownership, these are the style of agreement that a lots of the things that are inherent in them 10, 15, 20 moved on years ago in more commercial agreements. we will continue to make change and make improvements irrespective of the outcome of these enterprise agreements. to the extent that we can modernize and get rid of those legacy conditions, that gives us

crater flexibility. on the back of that, greater ability to compete and grow the business in the future. >> lance, a pleasure talking to you. lance hockridge from aurizon. moment, the long-running protest in thailand and the effect on the economy. we are going to take a look at the latest gdp data which may show growth almost stalled. this is "asia edge." stay with us. ♪

>> let's have a look at the latest developments in thailand where riot police met little opposition dismantling antigovernment protests in bangkok. -- the protestht leader suthep says his campaign will go on. he tells supporters they still controlled the government house and called on the prime minister to resign. this time of year is peak tourist season in thailand. christmas, the lunar new year sparking things holiday interest abroad. thailand's long-running political unrest has seen tourism numbers collapse. >> a month on, this is how the so-called shut down bangkok protest to oust prime minister

yingluck shinawatra is looking. aimed at blocking the february 2 elections, protesters are still effectively shutting down parts of the thai capital. ongoing protests which started at the kindness of last year and political uncertainty are sharply affecting the tourism industry. that makes up about 10% of thailand's gdp. it is the high season in bangkok but visitors fell 5% in january. lower demand has led some carriers to singapore airlines to cut flights and hotels haven't escaped the slowdown. >> the problem that we face right now is that the demonstration has created an image that this area of bangkok is not safe and is not good to come by. the hotel business in this area has been affected. >> the tourism sector is also unlikely to have had its usual boost from the lunar new year holiday. that usually draws one third of

visitors from china, hong kong and taiwan. >> the market of chinese tourists is down 40% to 50%. after the protests started in november, the overall market shrank drastically. some countries such as hong kong and other asian countries, tourists have canceled their trips. >> in 2013, bangkok alone attracted more than 4.2 million visitors from hong kong and taiwan. with the results of the recent election incomplete, thailand's prime minister remains a caretaker leader. political uncertainty continues. tourism has in the past managed to bounce back from similar troubles. with the high seas deteriorating, it could prove difficult to get back. >> checking some other stories making headlines around the world, china has ordered a nationwide crackdown on

prostitution, gambling and drugs after seeing media exposed the extent of the sex trade. more than 160 people were arrested in citywide raids last week. that is now extended the operation country-wide. it is estimated that prostitution produces more than $16 billion worth of illegal activity each year in china. south korea has warned citizens to avoid the sinai after a tourist bus was blown up in egypt. the blast happened near a border crossing with israel. at least three south koreans and the driver died. police say it was either a car bomb or roadside device detonated remotely. it raises fears of a new campaign against tourist. at least a dozen people are reported to have died in japan's second major stew storm -- major snowstorm in two weekends. areas reported around 20 centimeters of snow. tokyo has seen the most in 45

years. the storm has moved north towards hokkaido. we are looking forward to the afternoon business in tokyo. we are going to get the latest on japan's reopening after this short bit. quarter grewurth at less than half the forecast pace. importance of the recovery as the sales tax increase blooms in april. japanese equity markets not partaking in what is seen as a broader rally in asia. we are going to get the latest for you after the break. this is "asia edge." stay right there. ♪ .

>> hong kong is a leading gains. the nikkei has gone higher on the year. asecord amount of new credit 2014 got underway. at the peninsula. behind the scenes. first, the latest from the markets. >> from the top of the peninsula to the top of the markets, what is happening. hong kong is one the best performance across the

asia-pacific. just under 1% as the hang seng continues. the latest along the data from china showing the record lending. we are seeing life insurers investing in tech stocks. , the the best performers energy stocks. galaxy. these have been the biggest decliners were out of the course of the trading day. in southeast asia, we are tracking thailand. the latest gdp numbers are better than expected. the stock market is advancing 0.6%. capital up to the three percent. adventure in thailand. and 11% gain. what else a look at is move. south korea, the kospi is higher. it is advancing. we are watching the won as the u.s. dollar index holes back the south korean -- pulls back the

south korean currency. engineering. gs korean agreement is also seeing increaa green is seeing ses. >> where is japan going especially after the lunch break? >> we started with stocks lower on they nikkei 225. slowing in growth in the most recent quarter and had of the sales tax increase that is due for april. they are trying to push through the agenda. ando has reversed course this is bring it in line with other markets in the region. one of the big movers on the upside, utilities and tech makers advancing. a snapshot of the japanese yen. wilson a reversal of sorts for

the yen. what is happening with the currency right now. we see it and 104 levels. it continues its advance. it is higher. that should have downward pressure to exporters. that is not true in the benchmark action. the nikkei is higher at tokyo returned from lunch. and a snowy weekend. >> rising fears of a credit crunch in china, bank lending to the highest levels in 2010. is it a shift for the central-bank or merely a lunar new year operation but mark -- operation? what are people telling deal? >> we heard from the chief worry thatat said " policy is to tight right now or that this is hurting or choking off growth because the credit crunch we had in december, those fears are exaggerated."

we had a credit crunch in june and july. >> the market rate skyrocketed. it's absolutely and the same thing in november and december. we are talking about the concerns of the credit growth and quality and who is lending is going to. whether shadow lending. let's look at the numbers for january. they are interesting. new loans from banks, 1.3 trillion. that is almost triple what we got in december. these of bank lending is often frontloaded in japan and squeezed in as much as possible and head of the lunar new year holiday. the quotas are different. that is what we have seen. the last time we saw trillions in a lending was also in a january and march of last year sandwiched around the lunar holiday. of credit inources

the economy including shadow banking. at least the levels we know of. and corporate bond issuance is added new bank lending. that is a record high. pboc has gotten itself into a bind. they probably need to loosen. then you have this terrible debt. was a new have seen credit growth on average about 10%. the previous year was 22%. they are ratcheting down. they are concerned. the other concern we got through the credit crunch is what is topening to the small medium-sized enterprises. what did happening to those who need few lines of credit? that is what we are going to be looking at. >> you mentioned a lot of frontloading going on ahead of the lunar new year. how much will be

contributed to that? >> last year it started february 9 and this year january 31. you had 10 days, fewer of the holiday. you probably saw more credit to pushed out of the door by banks ahead of the holiday. things really to shut down. >> steve, thank you. hotel is coming to fewer cities in near you. just in nine properties. the company behind it will not enter just any new market. >> we do not to do many hotels. we try to focus and create robert use that will make an impact in the location that today are situated. sometimes before refined in the right location and opportunity to come along which was a site in shanghai.

it was a special moment for us to go back into shanghai. in 2010. >> when you look at the location, you operate nine hotels globally. you are not in europe. why have you waited so long? >> the reason it has taken so long is simply because of waiting for the right opportunity. we have looked at many opportunities especially in london over the past 20 years. it was not until the middle of last year that we finally found a deal to develop a hotel and a london. not be open for another five or six years. the building the we will be redeveloping is an existing building. wu-mart the chinese approval. and it will have to rebuild. -- we will have to get chinese approval. thatund the deal and

building has been an construction for three years now. -- planet is it would open and the plan is it would open in the summer. we are very excited about that. the nextou look at five years, what other locations are on your radar? >> the other two projects -- one is london and the other is in myanmar. we all know it is opening up. it is very exciting, developing country. we are very exciting to have the project in the heart of the capital of myanmar. we will be focused on that as well. what beyond that? we would like to look at something in india, maybe in turkey or the middle east. andwhere in between europe asia. we would like to look at south america. also in terms of because we are traveln hong kong,

distance is rather far for us to go and the cost is far greater and represents a more opportunities. these are some the areas we are looking at strategically in terms of longer-term growth aspirations. >> the ceo. a tour of the peninsula. stuffred some information -- some information. this the largest suite we have in the original building in hong kong. it is made up of both the original colonial building and a new tower that we blended in with the original building. it has a colonial look. it is very high level. the system we have now is based on the touchscreen panel. >> what is this for smart -- this? >> this controls everything in

the room from light to curtains to temperature and air conditioning. there are 11 languages that can be programmed. is theeresting thing languages change. the panelson all of we have on the walls. we believe in a moving people around in style. 14 move to hong kong has modern rolls-royce's. rolls-roycevintage from the 1933-1934 era. this is very special and lovingly restored. it is for weddings and special locations. this lounge here is the china clipper. it's on the top floor. it supports a helipad on the roof. the memorabilia and the design is based on the china clipper.

you can have private dinners here. people love it this environment. would you like to go to the helipad? >> coming up next, we will talk about the challenges for women in the work place. us for ourwill join discussion. ♪

>> a look at the day's news. including our china correspondent. asian womenr of how

leader. that is in question. let's talk about japan. and the women being poor. is it down to culture reasons or something much deeper? >> that is a tough one. i would put it on cultural reasons and traditions and mindset from the workforce. women werehow raised. there's a big push from abenomics to get women into the workforce. i think there's a shift coming and how do we manage it? >> you wrote this book and how long did it take you to write and why did you write this book? >> i wrote it because it is based on my work in asia working brands andinside big single women were passed over for promotion. i went back to see how women get ahead in the workforce. for writing engine

the book. it is a six-year doctoral study. it was shorter than that you to write. guess, for of -- i women to get into companies, there has to be a pipeline into place. it has to start somewhere. where does talented and try up -- dry up? >> that is a great question. a lot of times we focus on the boards. a lot of times and there is not a pipe line. people drop off usually at a management level or anywhere from 5-7 years in the workforce. that can be one reason. there are a lot of organizations that are doing second careers, asking women to come back. >> what trends are you seeing in china but mark -- china? last week i did a story about a leftover women in china. phenomena we have seen. they talk about christmas cake.

unmarried age, 30. >> why christmas cake? >> i guess because and nobody likes it. i am going to get in trouble with my own asian why who is head of my family. of myan wife who is head family. what are you seeing as women are passed over and getting more education and therefore not getting married? with the corresponded author of "left over women." china compared to other countries, they have lots of women in the work force. 79%. lots of education and women graduating from universities. what i found, chinese women are more apt to talk about their and mission compared -- about their ambitions compared to other countries. over women, though more

women entered the workforce his historically, the less you will see marriage and children which is what countries are looking at. we have to adjust to that. >> there are more men than women in china. yet in the women cannot go that way. typically, you have to marry up. a man have to be higher up in salary and height, education. >> what about the love? you did not mention a love. so sad. something very interesting that you said. a women would not be considered for leadership roles of the womenout exhibited leadership qualities. of the four women that you do have leadership qualities, only two of them would be considered. why? from my book. i interviewed women from china

to australia and i did not interview at the top but women on their way to the top. what i found were these incredible women, their , if you are inside an organization, the framework on the leadership, they may have been passed over. and and not -- sometimes, organizations will say he or she does not have a leadership presence. >> what to does that mean? >> if i ask you, what does it mean? >> is it a question of not having the skills or putting up the gas as you approach a certain age? >> we all have those challenges stop men and women. why would be upon of the woman to be seen as taking her foot off the gas pedal? a career is a career. the perception is women have to pedalff, step off the gas

to pursue family or what ever. >> a couple of things you mentioned. persons is interpreted -- presence is interpreted differently among cultures. that is not something you want to measure on leadership but results and things like that. you are right. careers are different. they are very different than 20 years ago. there is a perception in the workforce and mindsets if you take a step back, are you really committed? that gets around to embedded mindsets. --what country did you have did you find that have the best part inspiration -- participation rate? to china.nted most of my study say china. and hong kong. you have the numbers and china. it's not the government leadership. governmenthe

leadership. that's a whole different story. maybe entrepreneurial and boards. not the government. >> not that much inclusion and women. >> i do not look at politics. most of the quantitative data points to china. and hong kong and singapore, and lots of women in senior roles. behind itat falls india, the participation of women. >> if there was one take away for us and corporations watching , what would the takeaway be on how did it change the mindset to do what? what did we want to achieve here? why are women important in a comedy -- in a company? >> drives innovation. there is incredible research at that. and carnegie mellon

women drive innovation on the teams and high performance. that gives economic drivers in japan it is why abenomics and malaysia is a no other. there are economic drivers. one attack way is looking at the leadership process and how we select lead -- one takeaway as looking at leadership russes and how we select. that drives innovation. >> quiet leadership of versus aggressive and vocal? >> absolutely. quiet leader is the number one best seller. way fornatural introverts. >> thank you for joining us. twice today. but introverts can be leaders. >> you are not introverted. >> i am speaking up for the introverts. interest in droves is taking off -- drones is taking off. >> that is next on "asia edge."

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>> time for even to watch for this week. haslargest mining company its results on tuesday. analysts expect profits rose 58% to over $7 billion after rival rio headed -- handed more back to their investors. say afterill combating criticism. macau that is not a stock image em from under -- from earning -- and that has not from earning hundreds of millions of dollars. hordes of gamblers poured into

the chinese territory. thursday, the day that a lots of families are watching for torn about from the korean war. for the first time in three years, they get to be reunited. five days of meetings had been agreed upon. a similar event last september was canceled by the north or explanation. on friday, g 20 finance ministers meet for the first --e since emerging math emerging markets. tax evasion is likely to be topics. one minister said he thinks the agenda is a realistic one. >> interest in drawing technology-- drones hasn't taken off. there has been arguing over the usage. worrieses boom and the it causes.

but we are airborne. >> drones has gone mainstream. >> and are making a movie without me. >> he borrowed it from his real estate company to spy on his son. real estate is where usage is real life. surfers onpturing the why and the north shore is. a documentary maker boasted about the technology. shoot from a few feet off of the ground to 400 feet in the air. shots they are beautiful that may be legal. the faa does not allow drones for commercial purposes. >> you cannot acquire it and launch it into the airspace. it is not how it works. i am saying that the regulation needs to say that. but we went shopping at a drones

dealership to see how easy it is to get one. >> for the one with the camera, closer to $2000. >> can we try it out? we have liftoff. that camera equipped one is flying off the shelves and the sales are legal. how they are used as somebody else's problem. is there anything in here that will show me what did the faa says i cannot do? >> at the moment, it was not. >> the faa is struggling to write new codes. you can see a chopper in the airspace in this video. --t what is the worst-case >> what is the worst-case? the drone can bring down the helicopter. >> they only issued to 17 tickets or notices and only issued one fine. they asked one company to stand

it down. megan hughes, bloomberg. roning on and on. >> we will see you tomorrow. ♪

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