tv The Pulse Bloomberg January 23, 2015 4:00am-6:01am EST
4:00 am
>> the deflation debate. after draghi's news yesterday we are speaking to japan's central bank governor. >> the man that everyone wants to meet in davos. we will hear from jack ma. >> and, saudi arabia's king abdullah has died. his brother will succeed him. good morning. welcome. you are watching "the pulse."
4:01 am
we are live from davos. i'm guy johnson. this is francine lacqua. we are having a small technical issue with her might. we are going to fix that soon. i will just hold this one here and make sure that we are both heard. it is hard to chat with just one microphone. we've got a big two hours. >> it was interesting. i really enjoyed our interview with the governor of banco italian. the ecb delivered yesterday. the euro is going down. he was pretty confident. he says there's more to come. >> we have a mandate and we are going to do it. what you've seen is a continuation this morning of what has been going on with the euro-dollar downtrend. we are down at 1.12 now. >> i'm waiting for -- i think he's pretty pleased. >> and the man everybody wants
4:02 am
to meet. this is an incredible couple of hours. >> it will be great to get mr. kuroda's idea on the ecb. that changed the game for him a little bit. cracks this is the man we want to me, the head of the boj, a man with considerable experience dealing with qe, a man who is looking to turn around the japanese economy. he is coming up later. and then jack ma. >> we've been asking everyone here in the studio who they would most want to have a drink with. a nightcap. that is what people do in davos. 95% of the people we asked said jack ma. he just seems a very charismatic , one of the top five businessman in the world right now. >> i think he probably is the number one businessman in the world. from very senior guys all you
4:03 am
hear is, jack ma. and francine lacqua. partying with francine lacqua is fun. >> there have been some pretty good parties. >> yeah. so we got a twitter question for you. i think it is pretty relevant. >> what is the best way to recover from davos? this could be interpreted in a number of ways. some will say qe. >> some sort of vitamin pill yeah? >> very personal. >> we will fix some technical issues. if you want to join the conversation, we would be delighted. please join us. we will take a break and see you in a couple minutes. ♪
4:06 am
>> already a busy morning from the world economic forum. it is going to get busier. we are going to continue with our market moving interviews. we are going to sit down with the bank of japan governor haruhiko kuroda. we will talk about inflation, disinflation, and qe. but first -- >> we will look at europe. this is the story yesterday
4:07 am
moving the market. we will look at the upcoming greek elections and the importance of qe. joining us now is the european union economic and tax commissioner. thanks for joining us here on bloomberg. give us a sense of how worried you are about the greek elections. we have qe. that's nice. the markets are appreciating it. >> you can never be worried by an election. we are democracies. greece is the oldest democracy in the world. the people have to choose whoever they want freely. we've got a group on monday which will be important. i'm quite confident that the eurozone is capable of addressing any difficult situation. i feel no risk.
4:08 am
it depends also on what kind of margin, what kind of coalition. it is too early to say. first, we must be very cool or quiet about an election. that's what democracy is about. you've got to respect the will of the people. it is strange to see an election as catastrophe. it could mean change, but the eurozone is solid. it has the tools to address any situation. also, all the leaders are quite conscious that the place of greece is in the eurozone. cracks have you heard that from mr. tsipras? >> never spoken to him, but i watched the campaign. of course, it will be different -- let me be clear. when i say we are not worried that the commission will stick to the commitments taken by greece, the commission
4:09 am
wants the commitments to be upheld. of course, we will have to discuss also with the winner of the election. >> i think actually we should worry. if we don't worry, we should think about a plan b. if we are unprepared there may be renegotiations. everybody has to choose a battleground. or at least preempt how much they give in to an economy that may want to do renegotiation. am i wrong? >> right and wrong. i never like plan b. when you talk about plan b, it means you don't trust plan a. remember the vote on the referendum on europe.
4:10 am
let's first weight for voters to decide. after that, we can address any situation. i don't fear any kind of contagion. the eurozone is much stronger than it used to be. our program countries are getting out of the program. there are decisions taken by the ecb. i feel, i wouldn't say comfortable but it can be a game changer in a way, but we can address any kind of situation and we must. >> is a cheaper, weaker euro desirable? >> it is cheaper and weaker than it used to be a few weeks ago. the question is to know how much. we will see.
4:11 am
it is up to the markets to decide. a brief comment on what draghi and his team decided yesterday it is not up to the commission to decide whether it is right or wrong. as always, take into account the situation. we need to do something against the threat of deflation. i don't mean that deflation is here but it is better to prevent. also, low growth, sluggish recovery. [indiscernible] i think it was important. we will see what the effects will be. >> the euro has been dropping quite a lot on the back of that. if we are going to grow, we need
4:12 am
strategy. strategy means selling more things that we make. this is a great boost to the exporters of europe. what level would be ideal for that? >> it is impossible to say that. i discussed that yesterday with several people here in davos. we are not so far away -- we are quite near to the beginning, the creation of the euro. we are not so far away. but the markets will decide. we don't have to give a reference. i think the decision was taken in order to help the decisions of those who have to take them. obviously, it is good for exports. it is good for industry. but it might not also be too low.
4:13 am
it cannot be the end of structural reforms. structural reforms are needed for the countries themselves. it is not a question of constrained. it is a question of interest. if we don't have a competitive economy then we will be second division players 10 years from now. we are the biggest economy in the world. we are performing. we are competitive. >> there are a few ways of looking at the qe move. one is great, we are competitive now. we've had a devaluation of the currency and we are more competitive on the global markets. the other one is that this is a window of opportunity. do you fear that some politicians in europe will think the former rather than the latter?
4:14 am
>> i think we need to build something which is global. monetary policy is a very strong part of economic policy. it cannot be alone. it cannot stand alone. what is our collective problem? growth and jobs. if we don't create growth and jobs, five years from now, -- [indiscernible] how can we do that? fiscal consolidation has to be improved. second, structural reforms. third, investment plan. and then monetary policy. it must be a four pillar strategy. it is very important that we not leave everything to the central bank. the central bank doesn't want it. we need to act. >> i'm intrigued at what you just said. we've got a five-year window. is that what we've got?
4:15 am
>> yes, but we need to act fast. we plan not for five years but for the next few years. there is a feeling of urgency. >> what happens after five years? >> first, the investment plan. if it works, i think it will work, it has to be pursued, the investment gap is higher. we've got a feeling of urgency. what creates the situation? the fact that people feel dissatisfied with europe. why do they feel this satisfied with europe? >> austerity. >> the result, jobs. imagine that you were a young greek, never had a job. 50% of them are in this situation. would you say it is great? i don't say i share that view? i think the reforms must be continued.
4:16 am
there is no alternative to europe with greece in the eurozone. we will stick to our position. we need also to discuss the new government. if we don't create growth and jobs, then it will be all over. we've got -- this is why we need to act strongly and change the game. >> is that exactly what you were fighting of when you were the french finance minister? when you tell me greece is not a problem, that is one thing, but we have a europe that is more and more divisive and more unequal. people are going to move to extreme parties. how do you deal with that? in five years, the european union could have three to four countries that don't want to be
4:17 am
in it. >> i didn't say that greek is not a problem. i said that election must not be considered a problem. >> it is important. >> highly important. it can be a change and we have to stick to our own policies. we've got to ask for the respective commitments and take into account the result of the election, but an election can't be considered a problem. when you consider election a problem, you are a technocrat, a bureaucrat. we need to deliver. this is why those five years -- in 2019, when people elect a new european parliament -- >> 2017, there's french elections. >> that's an election. i'm confident the french will elect somebody capable to change
4:18 am
the country to pursue reforms. i don't know who it will be. [indiscernible] it is a long run. if we want it never to happen we need to have results on jobs and growth. i was in a very industrial countryside. in my constituency, blue-collar voters fear that globalization is a threat, that europe is a threat. we need to convince them that europe is not the problem, that europe can be hope, that europe can create results. this is what we need to concentrate all our strength and energy on, growth and jobs. if we deliver, there will be hope again. why not the european dream, that
4:19 am
is my dream. the only people that we can accuse is ourselves. never the people. we must never accuse the people. >> we are running out of time. >> the commission is a political body and i feel that i'm a politician. not in the sense of partisan attitude. we need to address the people. >> we certainly do. thank you so much, commissioner. pierre moscovici. >> that was just the first of a series of fantastic interviews we are going to have throughout "the pulse." we are going to be in conversation with bank of japan governor kuroda. he is coming up in the next hour. ♪
4:22 am
4:23 am
finally convince can investors that this is a country worth investing in. >> we are seeing a huge amount of interest from investors. they started believing in the long-term fundamentals of india. they are watching with a lot of keenness the reforms that mr. modi is bringing about. it seems they have confidence that the government is here to act. >> what is the most exciting thing to come from india in 2015? >> the opening of the economy so many sectors which were closed in the past, and all the other growth policies that have been announced around mining operations, land acquisition ease of doing business. this is going to give confidence to investors. >> and infrastructure. one of the main points that will attract investors. does your bank have any role in
4:24 am
that? >> yes, we've been a bank that is in the country for the past 60 years financing infrastructure projects. we have a large financing of infrastructure. there is a huge potential to do infrastructure in india. >> have you done any deals in davos? >> a lot of people are really excited about the existing infrastructure projects in india. new infrastructure investments and also investments in the insurance sector the sector that has just been opened up. >> what do you think -- when i speak to a lot of investors, they say india is one of the spots they are most interested in because of what you just mentioned. when will be a turning point? >> i think the turning point is soon. everybody is watching all the decisions that have been taken in the last few months.
4:25 am
i think they just need a little more confidence to start seeing the results the actions translating into results. even on this trip, our finance minister clearly clarified that the government is here to act. there will not be too many retrospective changes. i think all that confidence is building up. i think in this year, we will see the turning point. >> emerging markets have gone through a rough ride because of qe from the fed. yesterday, we had the first european qe. are you concerned that this may affect the stability of emerging markets? >> i think india is the best place among the emerging markets today. if you look at what has happened to india in the last few years, both on the macroeconomic sectors and others india has progressed substantially. today, it is a very serious
4:26 am
position. i would say something like what has been done yesterday only means that there is more liquidity in india. >> the problem is that sometimes markets aren't sophisticated. you would have so much volatility because they sell the emerging markets as a whole. >> i think these steps always bring volatility, but on the whole, i would say that this all goes well for india. clearly people have to look more at good investment destinations. >> what is your biggest priority for the bank? >> to remain a truly universal bank. there is a whole lot of democrats in india that buy cars. to fund the small and medium enterprises, because they are the growth engine, to fund
4:27 am
4:30 am
4:31 am
mention those two countries. obviously europe has gone much too far in fragmentation of the industry. now there is a need for consolidation. that's what we are going to see in the coming month. >> that was the orange ceo, stephane richard speaking to us earlier. that is the big theme for 2015. hutchison whampoa revealed talks that it is in talks to buy 02. we have some great interviews coming up. what i'm really excited about is haruhiko kuroda, the governor of the bank of japan. there's so much to talk to him about. when would the boj need to put more firepower behind what he's been talking about? and in terms of the weaker yen
4:32 am
what does he see and what is he looking at for ecb central bank policy? we spoke to the italian central bank governor. he gave us a real sense of the commandment of the ecb to what he considers -- [indiscernible] mario draghi for the first time ever announcing qe in europe. there's more to, if we don't reach our target in september of next year. here's what house is on our radar in davos. the world's largest export of oil has a new king. saudi arabia's king abdullah died in riyadh. he is succeeded by his half-brother salman. the death of the king brings up can speculate over oil policy. the power fight in greece anders its final hours. samaras makes a last-ditch
4:33 am
4:36 am
>> we are live at the world economic forum. charlie rose speaks to jack ma. let's listen in. >> it is a long break. i think my last year was 2008. my last trip here was 2008. i can remember, i never heard about davos when i came. when i came to switzerland, so many young people demonstrate. i asked them, why do they do it? they say, anti-globalization. i say, why, globalization is a great thing. then, we come for two hours here. there's people checking us out. is there a problem?
4:37 am
[laughter] but when i joined as a young global leader, i was thrilled. i had so many ideas. the first three or four years, i learned what does globalization mean what does cooperative citizenship mean. all these new ideas. i see so many great leaders. i benefit a lot. the year 2008 and 2009 when the financial crisis came i think, better go back to work. we can never win the world by talking. so go back, spent seven years. now i come back i think it is time to do something. i learned so much. why i should start talking to the young global leaders of today, showing them how we've
4:38 am
gone through. >> let's start with where you are today. just how big is ali baba? how many people come every day, in a week, how fast are you growing? >> we have over 100 million buyers visiting our site shopping our site every day. >> 100 million every day. >> we created 14 million jobs for china directly and indirectly. and we grow from 18 people to 30,000 people. 18 people in my apartment, 10 now we have four big campus. compared to 15 years ago, we are big. but compared to 15 years later we are still a baby. >> how big will you be 15 years from now?
4:39 am
>> 15 years ago, i told my team -- in the past 15 years, we grow from nothing to this size. 15 years later, i want people to know about alibaba. it is already everywhere. i want -- 15 years ago, when we talk about, what is e-commerce why small business can use this e-commerce to do business, and i hope 15 years later people forget about e-commerce. nobody thinks it is high-tech today. this is something that i don't want 15 years later, still walking on the street talking about why and how e-commerce can help people. >> talk about the ipo. did it exceed your expectations? >> it is a pretty small ipo. >> yes, the largest ipo in
4:40 am
history. and number two was the chinese bank. >> thank you. i remember year 2001. we got rejected. i say, we come back raising a little bit more. [laughter] i think what we think more about is for $25 billion, how we can spend the money efficiently. this is not money, this is trust from the world. they want better jobs to help more people. they want to have a good return. i think definitely, more pressure. when our market cap is bigger than ibm or suddenly we are bigger than walmart, we are one
4:41 am
of the top 10, 15 largest market cap companies in the world. i told my team, is that true? we are not that good. years ago, people say, alibaba is terrible. doesn't make money, this and that, all the big bad things. amazon is better ebay is better, google is better. there is no such model as alibaba in the u.s. i told people today, when we are that excited -- no we are not as good as people thought. we are just a company 15 years old. average age is 27, 28 years of young people. we are doing something that human beings have never tried. >> i want to talk about the future. let me take you back to when
4:42 am
you were born, where the headquarters still are. >> [indiscernible] >> you grew up in the 1960's. >> 1964. >> [laughter] that was the time of the cultural revolution. >> it was the end of the cultural revolution. my grandfather was a landlord. after the liberation, was considered a bad guy. i know how tough it was when i was a kid. >> you tried to get into three colleges. each time, they rejected you. >> i tried this examination that young people, if you want to go to university, have to take the examinations. i failed three times. i failed for funny things. i failed a primary school test
4:43 am
two times and i failed three times for the middle schools. you would never believe, in my city, there's only one middle school. only one year. it was changed from primary school to middle school because our graduates of our school -- no middle school accepted us because we were too bad. [laughter] it had to become a middle school. >> what effect did it have being rejected? >> i think we have to get used to it. we are not that good. even today, we still have a lot of people reject us. when i graduated from university , for three years, i failed in the universities. i applied jobs and got rejected.
4:44 am
i went for police, they said you are not good. i went to kfc. when kfc came to china -- [laughter] 24 people went for the job. 23 people were accepted. i was the one guy. [laughter] when we went for police, five people, four of them accepted. i was the guy. rejected. i applied for harvard 10 times rejected. [laughter] >> they are sorry now. 10 times, you wrote them and said, i'd like to come to harvard. >> yes. then i said, i should go teach there. [laughter] >> i think that can be arranged. richard nixon came through, and after that tourists flooded the place. that is how you learn english.
4:45 am
>> yeah. i really like -- i don't know why, s 12, 13 years old, i fell in love with the language of english. there is no place you can learn english at that time. there's no english books. i went to the hotel, now called the shangri-la hotel. that was the hotel that received foreign visitors. i showed them around as a free guide. they talked in english. i think that changed me. i am 100% made in china. i never had training outside china. when people say jack, how can you speak english like that? why'd you talk like an american? i think, that was the nine years. these western tourists opened my mind, because everytjhing they told me was so different from
4:46 am
the things i learned from the schools and my parents. now i have a habit. whatever i see, whenever i read i use my mind. >> is that how you became jack ma? >> the name was given by a lady in tennis. she came here and said -- we became penn friends. she said it is so difficult to pronounce. do you have an english name? ok, she said, my father is called jack, my husband is called jack. i said, good. [laughter] >> first visit to america, 1995. >> i came here for a project helping the local government building a highway. >> and you tried the internet.
4:47 am
>> i tried internet in seattle. in a building called usa bank. i don't know whether it is still there or not but it is a building, and my friend opened a small office 10% bigger than this room. he said jack -- i asked, what is internet? he said search whatever you want. at that time, it was very slow. i said, i don't want to type. computers are so expensive in china. if i destroy it, i cannot pay. he said, just search it. i searched the word, beer. [laughter] i don't know why. easy to spell. i see beers from germany, beers from usa, beers from japan. no beers from china. i said ok, type the word
4:48 am
china. no data. nothing. >> 1995. >> no data about china. i talked to my friend. why not make something about china? so we made a small, very ugly looking page of china. something like i did a translation on their. it was so shocking. we launched it at 9:40 in the morning. 12:30 i got a phone call from my friend. we got five e-mails. i said, what is e-mail? [laughter] he said, these are the things -- so excited, where are you? this is the first time i see a chinese website. can we do something together? this is something interesting. >> so do it. why did you call it alibaba? >> when i started, i think,
4:49 am
internet is global. we should have a global name. the best name is yahoo!. i've been thinking, alibaba is a good name. i haven't to be in san francisco. i had lunch and a waitress comes. i said, do you know about alibaba? what is alibaba? she said open sesame. good. i went down the street and asked 10, 20 people. they all know about alibaba, 40 thieves. i think, this is a good name. whatever you talk about, alibaba is on top. [laughter] >> you've said before that in creating ali baba, you had to create trust. people in china were used to face-to-face. how did you create trust?
4:50 am
>> i think, because we started doing business on the internet, i don't know you, you don't know me. so how can you do things online? for e-commerce, the most important thing was trust. when i first went to usa for raising money, talked to venture capitalists, a lot of people say, jack no, china doing business -- how can you do business on internet? without -- it is impossible. in the past 14 years, everything we do is trying to build up the trust the record system. charlie i'm so proud today when i talk today in china and in the world people don't trust each other.
4:51 am
the government, people, media this guy is cheating. because of e-commerce, we finish 60 million transactions every day. people don't know each other. i don't know you. i centro next to you. you don't know me. you wire money to me. i give a person a package. i don't know him. he took something across the ocean and said, this is the trust. we have at least 60 million trusts happening every day. >> you created an escrow account in the beginning. you would keep the money until they got the product. >> that's true. the escrow service is allie pay. i had this idea. i love davos. for the first three years alibaba is just a marketplace for information. what do you have, what do i
4:52 am
have, we talk but don't do any business. there's no payment. i talked to the banks, no banks want to do it. they say this never works. so i don't know what to do. if i launch a payment system, it is against financial law. you have to have a license. if i don't, e-commerce will go nowhere. so then, i went to davos. i listened to a leadership discussion. leadership is about responsibility. after i listened to that panel, i gave a call to my friends, my colleagues in my apartment. do it now. if something's wrong, the government's not happy about that if somebody has to go to prison, jack ma goes to prison. it is so important for china, for the world, to build a trust system. if you do not do it, i say stealing money, money watch, no
4:53 am
trust record, i send you to prison. and people don't like it. so many people i talked to at that time said, this is the stupidest idea you have ever got. i say as long as people use it. now we have 800 million people using this alipay. >> alipay is not part of ali baba. you have never gotten money from the chinese government. >> no. i wanted at the beginning. later, i don't want it. i think if the company always things about taking money out of the government's pocket, that company is rubbish. how can you make money from the customers and markets, and help customers succeed, that is our policy.
4:54 am
>> no money from chinese banks. >> no. they want to give me and i don't want it. >> your relationship with the government, what is your relationship? here's what some say. that you have existed in an environment -- they have restricted competition for you. and that is a good thing to do for a private company. >> i think the relationship with the government for us is very interesting. for the first five years -- i've been working as a part-time jobber for a government ministry of foreign trade. i learned that you should never rely on government organizations to do e-commerce. i start a business, i told my people and team, be in love with the government but don't marry them. [laughter] respect them.
4:55 am
a lot of people say they are talking about innerternet censorship. it is a responsibility, talking to them. tell them how internet can help. >> you tell them, we create jobs. >> i think a lot of people debate and fight against them. in the first 12 years, anybody who comes to my office, i sit down, talking to them, how we can help the economy. why china will improve by the internet. because internet at that time is new to any government. if you convince somebody, then you have the chance. so today, i'm very talkative. probably this is why i talked to so many people. [laughter] >> so the government comes to you and asks you to do something
4:56 am
for them. >> normally when government says, jack, can you do this project, i say no. can you introduce some friends who are interested in doing that ? if they continue to want me to do that, i say, i do it, but i don't charge. i hope next time, they come to me again. recently, we have some government organizations. every spring festival, the train tickets are so difficult. hundreds of thousands of farmers work in the cities. in the spring festival, they go to the hometown. when they order tickets, the whole system crashed. i told them, go support them. don't charge anything. i don't want to see millions of farmers go back to the city and
4:57 am
they cannot buy their tickets. it is not for money. it is not for the government. it is for the millions of people that can buy tickets in the snow we night. they use mobile phone, all right, they get ticket. >> one stop along the route to where you are was yahoo!. they invested $1 billion. it turned out to be a pretty good investment for yahoo!. one time after another, you raised this money on your own outside of china with investors. >> i'm very thankful for all the investors. 1999 2000, a lot of people say, this jack is crazy. he's doing something we don't understand. a lot of venture capitalists give you money because there is
4:58 am
such american model already there. they say, ali baba, we don't see this model. this is crazy guy. i remember my first time in time magazine. they called me crazy jack. i think crazy is good. we are crazy but we are not stupid. [laughter] we know what we are doing. if everybody agrees with me, if everybody believes our ideas are good, we have no chance. the money we raised, we are very thankful. when our investors make a lot of money, i feel proud and honored. >> in the united states, issues have risen about privacy. google and apple, and questions of whether the government should have access to files. how the you handle that if the chinese government says, you know a lot about people you have transactional relationships with lots of people, and they
4:59 am
say we want to see your files? >> so far, i don't have this kind of problems with chinese government. i told them, any government, for national security -- antiterrorist, we work together. a criminal, we work. the rest of that, no. we are a business. data is precious. we don't know how -- if we give to anybody, it is going to be a disaster. i think, just like hundreds of years ago people say, i would rather put money under my pillow rather than put it in the banks. today, banks are special. they know how to protect money much better than you do. privacy issues, all this today we may not have the solutions. we don't have the answer. but i believe our young people
5:00 am
have the solutions. the next 10, 15 years, there will be a breakthrough on that. i'm confident on that. >> your life is a testament to the idea that nothing is impossible. that if somebody says no, you say, it is just the beginning. where does that come from? >> well, at the beginning, i never thought -- i thought when i was young i said, everything is possible. now i know, not everything is possible. you have to consider the others. you have to consider the customer society, employees, shareholders. things that if you continue to work hard, there's possibility.
5:01 am
i just feel enthusiastic about what we are doing. the beginning of the first five years, i just want to survive. >> that's 2000. >> yeah. later, i think wow, so many people's lives changed. i was so excited -- for the first three years, we made zero revenue. zero revenue. but we are so excited to continue to work, you know what happened? i remember many times when by to restaurant have dinner, somebody came, when i try pay the bill, the owner of the restaurant came to say sir, your bill is paid by someone and the small note say hey, mr. ma i'm your customer of alibaba group, alibaba platform. i make a lot of money, i know you don't make a lot of money, i pay the bill for you. [laughter]
5:02 am
i remember one day i was sitting somewhere in a coffee, somebody sending me a cigar. i don't smoke cigar, but there's a note, thank you very much, i'm your customer. and i remember i was in the shangri-la hotel in beijing, when i got on the taxi, a man opened the door for me, the boy at the gate, he said, jack, thank you very much. my girlfriend makes more money than i do on your site. and this is something that you know that if you don't do it nothing's possible. if you try to do it, at least you have the hope. >> the revenue comes from advertising and a smaller amount from transactional fees most of it from advertising. >> tiny. >> tiny from advertising? >> tiny from advertising. tiny from transactions because we need big mass. now we have more than 10 million small business power sellers selling our site to
5:03 am
everywhere. so the transactions we have is second after warm-up. -- second after wal-mart. >> after wal-mart. >> so tiny, tiny of the money really make us big. second after wal-mart i remember one of the wal-mart guys came here five years ago, and he said, jack, you did a great job, so i sat maybe in 10 years we'll be bigger in wal-mart, and he said, yeah you have a good hook. i think in 10 years we'll be bigger than wal-mart on the sales. because if you want have 10,000 new customers, you have to build a new warehouse and this, that. for me, two servers. >> what's your market cap versus wal-mart today? >> i don't know. >> it's close. >> i think so. maybe we should check later.
5:04 am
>> so where are you going? what does jack want? >> i think the name alibaba, we are internet company, happen to be in china. we have the same entrepreneur like every great entrepreneurs in the world, and i remember the day when i said, alibaba, we want as a nation helping small business doing easier. so next up today, so many small business using our platform to sell things, and over 300 million consumers buy things from our site. so what i'm thinking about how we can make alibaba a platform, my vision is that, if we can help small business can sell things to argentina and argentina consumers can buy things alive from switzerland.
5:05 am
and we can build up, which i called i don't know, ewto. the w.t.o. is great. the w.t.o. has big companies to sell things across the nation. today internet can help. small business sell things across the oceans, crossing the nations, and i hope that we can serve two billion consumers. >> two billion consumers. >> two billion consumers. we can help 10 billion small business. >> outside china >> outside china. we help american farmers in washington state. we had cherries to china last year. the investor came to me and said, jack can you help us serving cherries?
5:06 am
cherries, the fruit. why not? why not, let's check. so when we got to sell cherries, the cherries grew on the trees. so we order cherries online. we pick up the cherries. and within 48 hours, we sell the cherries. why we should get more, so we sell you know, two months ago, we help costco. we sell 300 tons of nuts to china. so i'm thinking about, if we can sell -- oh we're also selling alaska seafood to china. if we can sell seafood, if we can sell the cherries, why we cannot help american and european small business selling things to china consumers. china needs that.
5:07 am
two billion consumers, china asia developing nations how we can let them buy things globally. >> alibaba rode with the millions of people that went from poverty to the middle class in china. i mean you were right there growing as they grew and increased. when you look at the international markets, you're doing well in russia. >> yeah. >> how well? >> we do pretty good on russia. we do pretty good in brazil. russia, and now -- i don't know if we're the number one but now the two or three largest. >> e-commerce. >> e-commerce. i remember last year we had a campaign. the campaign is that a lot of russian girls and boys want to buy things from china. how many days a russian girl
5:08 am
place an order and receives the product from china. two years ago, four. even that, people so happy. and last year the campaign within one week we crashed the whole system of russia. >> also you also see hollywood. >> yeah. >> what are you doing in hollywood? >> well, i like the hollywood innovation. the digital -- i learned so much about the hollywood movies, especially forrest gump. >> you love forrest gump. >> i love forrest gump. >> why do you like him? >> simple. never give up. people thinking he's dumb, but he knows what he's doing. and i was very depressed the day the year 2002 or 2003 in
5:09 am
the states when i -- oh, no, no no, earlier than that. i was very depressed when i cannot find out a way for the internet, and then i watched the movie forrest gump. when i see him, i say this is the guy we should learn from. believe what you're doing, love it. whether people like it don't like it, be simple. and like the word, life is like a box of chocolate. you never know what you're going to get. i never know i would be here talking to you talking to charles ease rose. i never know. but today i made it. i told my people in my apartment 18, 15 years ago, guys, we have to work hard, not for ourselves, if we can be successful 80% of the young people think china can be successful. we don't have a rich uncle. we don't have one dollar from bank or government. just work as a team. >> so what are you worried
5:10 am
about? >> i worry about today young people a lot of young people lose hope, lose vision. we also have the same period. it's not a good feeling being rejected by so many people. we are depressed but later we find that the world has a lot of opportunity, how you see the world, how you catch the opportunity. in hollywood a lot of inspiration. >> but you were out there for business. you were out there because you want to make movies and sell them. >> i want to make the movie for business-wise. we are e-commerce company. we have a lot of products that need logistic. but movie, tv, these are things you don't need logistics system. and movie probably is the best product that can help chinese young people to understand.
5:11 am
one of the things i say in american movie, all the heroes at the beginning, they look like a bad guy. terrible thing is coming and finally they all survived. china, if you got hero all the hero dies. only dead people become the hero. nobody want to be the hero. >> you're going to change the chinese definition of hero. >> yeah, i want to say hero -- today we have so many heroes living in this world. >> are you still writing kung fu novels or just reading them? >> i read them. and i start to write something. kung fu is something you start to think about something that you cannot do, but if you have some luck, if you continue to practice, if you got a good master, a good team so at least it make me when i'm busy, when i'm tired or frustrated, i read kung fu books. >> you also travel with a
5:12 am
trainer. >> trainer. >> what is it that too for you? >> i love tai chi. it's a philosophy. tai chi is about how you balance, how you work, like a competition. people say when i compete you hate. no no, i don't hate ebay. it's a great company. they come and go, you know, tai chi is you go over there, you put on the top, i go down. you cannot drop. tai chi is about a fill sofmente i use tai chi philosophy in the business calm down and keep yourself balanced.
5:13 am
now you got battle feud. even if you die i win. so it's about fun. >> you want your life and you want this company, alibaba to change the world and you are changing the world. in fact, you provide a forum for buying and you enable people to earn a living. but also you believe that alibaba ought to change the lives of women. so what are you doing? >> the first i think many years ago i want to change the world, and now i think if you want to change the world, we change ourselves. change ourselves is more important. it's easier. and second is that i want to improve the world, because change the world may be obama's job. my job is to making sure that
5:14 am
my team happy because my team happy, they can make my customer happy. when they're happy, we're happy. about women, one of the secret source for alibaba success is that we have a lot of women. >> what percentage of women? >> well, i think two or three months before we i.p.o., there's american journalist come to our company. she ask me a question. jack, i see so many women in your company. i say what's wrong? later we find that, you know, we have 47% of the employees of our company are women. >> how many? >> 47% of our company are women. and we actually had a 51, because they have more men, so balance that. >> but these are women in top-level positions. >> 33% of the management are women with, and 24% of the
5:15 am
senior management, very top level, are women. we have a women c.e.o. c.p.o. and we have everywhere. and i think so comfortable working with them, because women in this world, if you want 21st century, you have to making sure that making other people powerful, empower others making sure other people better than you are then you will be successful. so i find that women that think about the others more than they think about themselves. women think about the kids husband, parents, much more than men. and they use a friendliness. >> a couple of things i want to talk about before we go, because we have less than a couple of minutes. china today, are you worried the economy has slowed down? >> no. i don't worry about that. i think china is -- its slowing down is much better. china today --
5:16 am
>> you've been listening to charlie rose interviewing jack ma founder of alibaba. that was of course, here in davos at the world economic forum. the market moving interviews continue right here in davos. i'm so excited about this next interview coming up. he's the bank of japan governor. governor thank you so much for speaking with us. it's a true honor to have you here. inflation hasn't gone up as much as we were expecting worldwide. >> that's right. >> are there limits to what monetary policy can do? >> yes and no. yes, in the short run tend to reduce inflation all over the world. including u.s. europe, but in the medium, the crisis could raise real growth rate, and that would eventually raisin
5:17 am
nation rate. short answer is yes and no. monetary policy can support the economic growth and inflation, which is now a global standard. >> but governor, what do you tell the critics that say that actually monetary policy, because central banks have been doing so much, are running out of tools. >> no, i don't think so, because basically the monetary policy is down through market patches and selling off financial assets. and in any country, also globally there are so many financial assets i mean, there are short-term government bonds, corporate bonds.
5:18 am
i really don't think they're kind of anemic for monetary policy to be eased if necessary. >> so it's creativity. it's imagination. is that fair? >> yeah, i think so. and mandates? >> yeah, that is true. >> that's crucial. if your crucial bank has to operate, then you have to be creative. >> that's right. >> basically all central banks indoors have clear mandate to maintain price stability. there's another mandate must comply.
5:19 am
u been able to achieve that target and that has been pushed back. what will it take you to put more stimulus? >> actually, as you may know, last october we expanded. because declining price, inflation and how risk of declining expectations. it was preemptive millions and fortunately in the last three months or so, expectations are upheld.
5:20 am
so it has been a success, although i admit that for the time being inflation rate in japan would continue to decelerate. it would farther decline. but as i said at the outset eventually the higher growth the tighter labor market and smaller economy would raise wages and prices. what is the eventually? certain investors are saying maybe this week you could have put extra in but you didn't. what will be the trigger? >> i think the latest forecast made by the bank of japan policy board members indicate
5:21 am
that inflation rate in this fiscal year, the fiscal year 2015 starting this april, ending march next year inflation rate would be 1%. this operate in one year, and we expect that in the early part of the fiscal year 2015, inflation rate could further decline from .7% to much lower. in the latter half of the fiscal year inflation rate would start to accelerate, but not so much. we expect the inflation rate would be achieved toward the
5:22 am
end of fiscal year 2015 or early part of fiscal year 2016. so, yes, from the outset, we argue that the inflation rate should be achieved at the earliest possible time, basically around two years. i think basically our intention, our policy, and we expect 2% inflation rate would be achieved, as i said, in that time frame, despite substantially decline oil prices. >> what i'm trying to understand in your thinking so, you know in two or three
5:23 am
months, if you see that the situation is getting worse, is that when you start thinking of extra stimulus, and how creative would you have to be with that? >> well, of course. our possible path is significantly affected particularly with expectations and then of course, we can make adjustment to our monetary policy. there are many ways to do so. >> so you think you will have to get more create sniff >> yeah, i think so. >> give me an example. >> oh, there are many options and i don't think it's constructive to say this or that could be done. after any time we if
5:24 am
necessary, we can make additional support rate. >> and you will reassess in the next couple of months? >> actually, the bank of japan policy board meet 14 times a year. >> yeah, i know that. i know that. >> there are plenty of occasions to assess, reassess economic forecast, including inflation forecast and if necessary, we can adjust monetary policy. >> wage growth is very important, because it hasn't really risen as much as people were expecting. does the government have to get tougher in imposing measures that forces company that are currently sitting on cash to increase wages? >> i think actually the government business, and trade
5:25 am
unions this kind of committee has been held many times, and recently they agreed to the principle that there should be significant wage increase in coming months. as you know, in japan, so-called spring offensive of wage and negotiation around start soon, and every indication shows that this time even higher than last year's wage increase would be between the business and trade unions. and, of course, government cannot impose, but government hasn't been encouraging.
5:26 am
corporationing, as a trade union, and also governments provided various tax incentives to do so. >> but they could put off extra measures, right? >> oh, yeah. >> think they should? >> oh, yeah, they have already instituted some kind of tax measures. we would provide tax credit to companies which provided higher wage increase yeah. >> production hasn't actually gone up by as much as expected. does that mean that the end needs to weaken further? >> not really. not necessarily. i mean, yes, yen in the last two years depreesht against dollar, not against the euro. that is not true. and this yen depreciation made two things. one, of course it made export
5:27 am
more profitable, so that export increased, but as i said not as much as we expected partly because of slower than expected growth in asia. as you may know, more than half of japan exports go to asia and the economy grows and has been somewhat slower than expected. that is the reason why export show big increase. but now export is picking up. the second impact is through increased corporate profit. actually corporate sector enjoy historic high level of profit last year and profit situation is still improving, and that mean that they would invest more and every
5:28 am
forward-looking indication shows that this year japanese companies would substantially increase investment investment in physical assets, human assets human capital, as well as r&d. >> but governor, let me ask you this how much of an impact would a weaker yen have on exports? >> i think the export, as i said has increased somewhat, but not much. but it's now increasing and i think exports would accelerate its pace of recovery in coming months. but anyway, the japanese economy not so much dependent on export. export is on g.d.p.. most of european countries'
5:29 am
exports try to be 40% of g.d.p. but u.s. and japan export are only 14 or 15% of g.d.p. export increase helps the economy to grow. but it's not so decisive. >> in europe, i'm sure certain countries are very happy after we had positive easing by mario draghi. does it make your job more difficult? >> not necessarily and i don't think it makes our job so difficult. we have for many months and years, and after the announcement of the q.e. by the european central bank euro declined somewhat, particularly against the dollar. also against the yen and other currencies.
5:30 am
but euro declined not so much against the yen. you may remember that the euro -yen exchange rate before in 2008. one euro was 160 yen, but euro declined against the yen. i don't think it make our job i don't think so. because by this action by the european central bank this would be eradicated. both of them would be beneficial to the world
5:31 am
economy, including the japanese economy. so we very much welcome this action by the central bank. >> when you look at europe, were you concerned that actually it makes you think of what japan has? is there a concern that if e.c.b. is gone, if you don't have growth quick enough then you'll go through what japan has? >> i think europe, like japan, has various structure challenges. monetary policies are very important, particularly to eradicate concerns. but medium long-term economic growth can only be raised through various growth enhancing measures particularly structure reform and so on and so forth. and the japanese government is trying to implement those
5:32 am
reform measures including the structure reform and so on, and the european government also. so the most important policy aspect, how and to what extent, and in what time line the government can implement those necessary structure reforms in coming months and years. >> governor, if you welcome european q.e., if you look at central bank divergence, how much of that is a concern? how much of a concern is it that the fed raise rates this year? >> i am not so much concerned about it because the u.s. is likely to start mobilization sometime this year as market expects, so short-term interest rates start to rise. and so that deflect very strong
5:33 am
economic growth in the united states. so if economic growth is not strong and yet inflation and interest rates go up, that would be not so good. but the current normalization process, which will start soon, reflect very strong economic recovery, economic growth. that would be good again, including europe. >> governor, one very long question, because i know you have to go. what else the question you get the most by other central bankers? you're a bit of a superstar. what do they want to know when they talk to you? >> as i said the monetary policy has huge impact on the economy particularly on inflation.
5:34 am
but the growth in the medium to long run is basically determined by the potential economy, and that could only be enhanced through structure reforms and integration investment in r&d and human capital and so on and so forth. so we central bankers are trying our best. at the same time they sincerely hope that government would also make this to raise medium and long-term growth potential, particularly in japan and europe, even in the united states maybe. >> governor, it was a real pleasure. thank you so much for joining us.
5:35 am
i'm going send it off to you in london for your market check. >> thank you very much. what a great interview. it's lovely when central bankers actually speak to you in plain english and tell you that they think that their currency perhaps is at the right level. let's check in on markets. central bankers speak and act, equity markets react. here you go, stocks are rise fog the seventh straight day in a row. this is the biggest weekly rally we've seen in european equity markets sense december 2011. and i love moments of irony, the greek index, the ftse up .4%. the dax, the cac and london all are, but the core of europe in germany rising. greek equity markets up over 4%. of course, the greek markets lost nearly 20% from their high point just before christmastime. so you are looking at some pretty strong moves. this is the ftse the athex
5:36 am
index, as the greeks go to the polls. what will happen next in terms of some of the greek banks depositors? we've heard depositors have been withdrawing cash in december from the greek banks. how will they survive? will it mean debt writedown? have a look at the euro. the euro what a stormy couple of days. we're trading up, and this is building on the momentum that we saw break yesterday as the european central bank, the bond buying. that's how the analysts are getting busy. what you see is bank of america slashing their target down to 110 from 120 by the end of this year. morgan stanley say that euro dollar will trade down 105. that's down from 112 by the end
5:37 am
of the year. and then credit suisse, i like them, in three months' time 1.09. in 12 months' time, that will be 1.02. i'm going hand it back out to you. what a great davos you've had. fantastic interviews. can't wait to hear all about it when you're back. >> yeah, as you know, we have had great interviews because we've had so much news between q.e. and looking ahead to greek elections. we tried to pin down some policy makers, not always with success, but we tried our best to get their feeling of what greece will hold. as manus was mentioning, we have fwreek elections on sunday and this really hinges europe on whether -- well, i guess we'll see more extremist parties or not. the market's managing editor is in athens. what are the real risks for greece? >> obviously the expectation is that the sort of radical
5:38 am
left-wing party is going to win on sunday. there's almost nobody who doesn't think that's going to happen. but i think still the idea that would lead to a greece exit is still not what people expect. people think that, you know there will somebody way that they save face, that they come to an agreement with the rest of europe to get some sort of improvement on the debt situation. but obviously nobody knows exactly how it's going to go. nobody, until that happens, nobody wants to give an inch. >> yeah, we tried to pen down the commissioner and he says look i don't want to predict because it's a democracy first of all, and we'll see. we'll see if they actually go to more rapid model or whether it will be europe and basically the germans that will give in. talk to us about the rally that you attended last night. >> yeah, this rally was incredible just massive --
5:39 am
>> oh i think we have -- we'll go back to joe a little bit later on from athens. we have great coverage coming from athens throughout the weekend, and then, of course, monday and tuesday. guy johnson will be there. stay tuned for another bloomberg first. we speak to a mining magnate. he talks to us about the future of india. that's coming up next. ♪
5:42 am
>> china does business. i came to business by internet and i know that we have to trust the system. the credit system is impossible to do business. in the past 14 years, everything we do is trying to build up the traffic system. >> jack ma. >> interesting. >> that was an incredible interview. >> it was amazing. i like the party that he said more women need to be in businesses, because they think of others. they're a little bit more inclusive. >> you know what? i believe it, so i'm going to do it. he had an incredible number of women that worked for him, i think he said it was 47%. he said it was 47% an
5:43 am
incredible number. not many businesses that deliver that number. >> when you tell them and ask them who they admire, they say there are only four to five real businessmen out there. we just heard from him. >> and he talks as well about -- everybody says i hate ebay. they do this, i do that. and he was talking about how that represents his philosophy and how it influences his business. but he's so -- you know, i also say, just the energy level, absolutely off the charts. >> he's on the ball. >> yeah, absolutely off the chart. the guy is thinking about ideas. he's executing them, moving forward. he's trying to do good as well as the same time he's doing that. incredible interview. >> we've had a nice three days, because we had so much news out of europe. we're looking to the greek elections. i know you're heading to athens. we had the incredible q.e. pretty much as expected, but still historic q.e. from the
5:44 am
e.c.b. a lot of people are talking about the impact that it's had on their business, what it affects and how they deal with it. >> yeah, and it was interesting, he was here a little bit earlier on this morning, and he said we're getting close to a level that the euro launched, and maybe that's the level we should be thinking about the currency finding a flaw. >> yeah, i also spoke to the bank of japan governor. i don't know if we have some sound, but he was actually quite -- well he was actually quite plain speaking when we asked about the level we talked about where's the trigger point for more stimulus, and he was quite funny. >> he was very engaging. >> he said look, central banks will have to be much more creative. let's listen in. >> they have a clear mandate to maintain price stability, and price stability nowadays means about 2% consumer price
5:45 am
inflation. >> television really feeds into that conversation as well as the story, everybody is talking about that, and that's certainly been something that i think has caught a lot of people and they've come here not with answers, but looking for inflation, a lot of questions. >> let's try to get some answers shall we? >> that sounds like a great idea. a.o.l. is the founder and largest shareholder and that's a metal processing mining business based in mumbai india, a great subject that wove been talking about over the last few days. good morning. welcome. >> good morning. >> thank you for coming up and seeing us. we're seeing prices moving very, very aggressively at the moment. how did that feed back into your business? >> you know, this is -- it's not for every every mountain,
5:46 am
you see it. it's quite telling. it's a matter of time before they start to move, or do you think they will continue to maintain because the fundamentals are right for them. >> it's taking place, and it's all on china. huge one point people look at it big country. they seem to have impact. more than your peers. are you looking at how that works, the functioning and looking at your revenue stream? . if you look at the oil we are a producer of oil. if you look at the zing, we
5:47 am
have the lowest producer of zinc. we have the only company, and that gives us advantage. we make up our product -- made by india. and do you think that that is going to be the story that carries on that the indian economy is preparing for a period of stronger growth. what are you expecting to come out of that? what will that mean for your business? >> the major the largest democracy of the world has come. there's huge hope, not to india, but to the whole world.
5:48 am
china, india. you just can't imagine how much in price structure, how much production, anything everything. india has done very well in i.t. has done well. they have done the industry. if you talk about the inside structure oil, 70% of our oil. it makes things easier to come in and invest, a huge possibility within india. anything you do is a premium. >> what are you here in davos to do? business or are you trying to understand commodity prices? i know you are in india, so you're somewhat hedged i
5:49 am
guess, but at the same time, it's very difficult to understand where the prices of a lot of these commodities are going. are people worried? >> i live in london. we are a ftse company in london. i really enjoy it. i've been here. i find a lot of interest in india. people are thinking about the bureaucracy, economic model.
5:51 am
as you've indicated, a massive market, and you already talked about the found in india, consumed in india model, and that's what the governor is talking about as well. would it be a mistake for india to think about trying to replicate what china is doing? >> yes, china is a different model. china is a model where you don't see what's going around. india, you have to take conscious of anything. we are going to make economic. today we get the investment of about $25 billion and we are looking. it's not easy.
5:52 am
given the democracy of india and then seeing the first time the strong community, i think there is a hope. we all live on hope. >> yeah markets want more concrete stuff, but thank you so much for joining us. good luck with -- are you coming back next year? >> have you enjoyed it? >> let's see everything is good. i'll come back. >> you got to come with us. we'll make that work for you. >> thank you. we'll have to do an interview in london. thank you so much. we have a great cracking day coming up. it's day three, but we have plenty of exclusives, plenty of firsts. we're going to speak to c.e.o.'s in the states to really get an idea and more of a glimpse, our finger on the pulse on whether the u.s. economy can continue growing to what economists are expecting so far. that's coming up. >> we're going to take a break,
5:55 am
5:56 am
both of them would be beneficial to the lower economy, including the japanese economy. so we very much welcome this action by the central bank. >> that was kuroda adding his voice to those supporting the e.c.b.'s decision on q.e. it was interesting to see his point of view because we saw the euro weaken. you could have said it's no good for him because he wants the yen to weaken. however, he said they support what he's trying to do. i guess he's more worried about central bank divergence. >> a global growth story that was really roaring, great news for japan, and i guess that's probably -- that's how it's going to have to work. i have to say, i hate to say it, but my star status of the day was the italian. >> he was good. the bank of italia president. >> absolutely incredible. such a smart guy. really great to lesson to him. >> that's it for "the pulse." keep it right here on bloomberg tv. "surveillance" is up next. it's live from davos with tom
6:00 am
the ecb we saw yesterday. they attacked the flechette. we look at the ramifications for america. daniel yergin and a little bit. first, to new york city. >> the world is reacting to the news that saudi arabia's king has died. he was believed to be 90 years old. he had been on the throne. his successor is his half-brother, salman. there is a question on whether he will change
73 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
Bloomberg TV Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on