>> welcome to the journal here on dw-tv. i am brian thomas in berlin. protestors in cairo say they are staying put until president mubarak leaves. thai and cambodian troops clashed 44 today in a territorial som-- for a fourth y in a territorial dispute over a temple. egypt's opposition and protesters across the country say they are now redoubling their efforts to force president mubarak to resign after camping

in cairo square. they are preparing for more protests on tuesday and friday. it is a sign of just how much has already changed in an uprising that has rocked the arab world and alarmed western powers. today, germany suspended arms exports to egypt, citing human rights concerns in the government's handling of the ongoing protests. >>, president mubarak, the man at the center of each of the unrest, is trying to present a picture of normality. here with his new cabinet, the embattled president announced an increase in pensions and salaries for workers. he also pledged to stamp of vote fraud and corruption. but these latest measures have done little to diminish the protesters resolved. they remain in tarir square for yet another night.

the anti-mubarak revolt has entered its third week and is with one aim, to remove the president from office. >> those that vinca and we will get tired of sitting in the square -- those that think we will get tired of sitting in the square, we have told them we will not be leaving. >> sunday saw banks reopening and service stations pumping gas. they're having to cope with a backlog. >> the past seven or eight days affected the entire country. the banks and post offices were closed. they are open again now, but there are still some linequeues. the correct these demonstrators are mourning the death of a journalist, carrying in through the streets of cairo. -- carrying a symbolic coffin to

the streets of cairo. >> protestors have expressed their fears that mubarak will simply be replaced with another autographed falling cosmetic political changes. i asked our correspondent in cairo just how long mubarak can hold on to power. >> how long he can keep his grip on power, i think what we see now is kind of a war of attrition. it is about who has the longer breasts, basically. -- the longer breathe, basically. and in the square into an institution where people are going and coming. they are focusing on specific days. the main gate they are focusing on right now is probably next friday. undoubtedly, the government is trying to play time -- to play for time. they decided that as long as the stakes, maybe more of the public will turn in.

-- turn against the demonstrators because they want some kind of normal life. the regime will try to convince their the ones to offer stability and a return to normal life. they will try to convince the public that if they want change, they have to bear this time with them until the regime is changing. >> in the standoff, the army is, of course, a pivotal force. is there a possibility that the military could switch sides and wind up joining the protesters? >> of course, that is always a possibility. but right now, things between the military and demonstrators got a little bit more tense. the military tried to move closer to the square and make the space more narrow. the people from the square basically just sat in front of the tanks today. and another thing, they tried to disturb people bringing food and medicine and things to the demonstrators. they started to take bags away

from people trying to enter the square. there were a lot of struggles going on at the side of the square. >> thank you for that update. over to mariana now with a look at the economic price egyptians have already paid for the freedom they have been protesting for. >> european travel companies are still warning tourists about traveling to egypt. it is already suffering from the lack of visitors. the largest tour operator is reducing flights to the region and pushing 50,000 flights toward spain and turkey instead. resorts have become too quiet for most. >> despite repeated travel warnings, the tourists still hope to see some of egypt's treasures. but fears of looting have many sites closed down for now.

>> this has been a dream of mine since i was a child, to come in here and see the pyramid. to be this close and to be shot, and nothing is going on. >> many souvenir shops have remained close during the turmoil. >> the protests led to the closure of the entire area. guests are not coming here, either to the hotels or the pyramids. the entire area is closed. this has destroyed the entire country. >> one in five is employed in each tourism industry. last year, they attracted 14 million visitors. the current slump is weighing heavily upon the economy. although some analysts say that things will bounce back when political test the ability returns. >> in other news today, -- political stability returns. >> in other news today, a suicide bomber killed and after

an interpreter and five u.s. soldiers were wounded. the blast happened at a customs office. that is the latest in a series to hit the region of kandahar. official results from southern sudan's referendum have been released and a paved the way for a for his newest nation. some 90% of the sudanese back the move to secede from the islamic north. it was the centerpiece of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of armed conflict between christians and muslims. analysts say disputes are likely to remain over the drawing of final borders, the sharing of water resources and oil revenues as well. thai and cambodian troops have clashed for a fourth straight day over a disputed border area

surrounding a 900-year-old mountain top temple. it has prompted cambodia to urge a u.n. intervention. cambodia's government says the fighting left five people dead and some 45 wounded. >> an uneasy quiet settled over the temple grounds after what the cambodian authorities described as a skirmish with thai troops. the 900-year-old temple bears witness to the heritage. experts say it is unclear why tensions over the 4.6 square kilometer stretch of land have spilled over now. they both have troops at the border. >> this is where we put the rocket launchers. if they want to fight, we are ready for them. >> the violence has threatened to disable -- destabilize the border region. hundreds have been forced to

flee their homes and take shelter. and many fear that the situation could spiral out of control. >> we heard a lot of shots fired last night. i told my children to leave the village. >> the conflict over the temple grounds has fuelled a tie nationalists, weapon protesting in bangkok for days now. the yellow shirt, as they are known, are calling on the prime minister to take a tougher line against cambodia or to step down. >> wikileaks founder julian assange has asked a british judge to block his extradition to sweden. he was in court for the first of a two-day extradition hearing. swedish prosecutors questioned him in regard to sexual allegations made against him by two women. his lawyers point out and no actual charges have been brought in sweden. assange says he is concerned that sweden my hand him over to u.s. authorities and he argues that he could face the death penalty in the u.s. over his release of secret american

diplomatic cables on his wiki- leaks website. the leaders of germany, france, and poland have been having trilateral talks today in warsaw. paris support:'s bid to join the eurozone. -- paris supports poland's bid to join the eurozone. this is the first time they've had talks after 2005 when talks broke down under the previous president. >> warsaw is prepared to take on the union's presidency in july and the other two members of the triangle are on hand to help. >> we will give our heartfelt support to: with its eu presidency, and to -- to poland with its eu presidency, in particular, other groups of the nation. >> warsaw will focus on european defense and security

during its presidency, a move that france welcomes. >> the world today is one is full -- that is full of dangers and crises. i welcome the fact zeppelin will collaborate on a single european security policy. >> in 1991, hans dietrich genscher was among those hoping to ease poland's's padgett -- passage into the you. 20 years later they're working on cooperation. >> the rescue fund has released 3.6 your -- 3.6 billion euros for dublin, slightly less than the 5 billion that they raised on the market last month. dublin is not getting the whole amount. they're holding funds to ensure the best credit rating to offer favorable borrowing rates.

this is part of the massive $85 billion -- massive 85 billion euro bailout that was negotiated. stocks are at a high as investors bet on a global -- stronger global economy. >> it has been a very good start into the new week. the dax has been driven by strong markets, but also investors are very optimistic concerning the upswing in germany. they are saying that german companies are still able to take profit off of this upswing that we have seen worldwide. investors have been focusing on solo shares after it has been found to be doing better than

expected. solo shares rocketed up to 9%. >> let's take a closer look at some closing market numbers. the dax closed almost 1% up at a three-year high of 7283. euro stock closing also almost 1% higher. in new york, the dow industrials are up, one to 162. -- 12162. the german car maker vw says it plans to create 40,000 new jobs by the year 2018 -- most of the positions will be in manufacturing of the volkswagen brand cars. most of the jobs will be in china, according to one magazine. marketing staff will also be hired. it wants to surpassed toyota as the world's biggest automotive

group within seven years. germany's leading solar energy business, solar world, has announced record sales of 1.3 billion euros for 2010. that is a 3% rise on the previous year. the increase comes in -- from a boom in solar power in germany and rising demand from abroad. the company makes solar panels and silicon wafers. it is optimistic for 2011 as well. and more international news from brian. >> a real blow to the world coming carnival season. preparations for rio de janeiro's carnival season are in chaos after a fire swept through a complex. it broke out in the early morning and it took a number of hours for emergency crews to get it under control. three of the biggest samba groups have lost thousands of concert -- costumes they have been working on for a year.

carnival celebrations start march 4 and draw thousands of tourists to the city. the 41st alpine world championships have opened in southern germany. the opening ceremony featured a cultural program that followed the grid is participating athletes from 69 nations. germany has 15 skiers in the tournament tuesday. we will see a two-time olympic gold medalist from germany as to act as one of the favorites. a memorial service where it german producer, a man who has shaped the film industry perhaps like no other in the postwar era, and his international successes included "the name of the rose," and "the never-ending

story." >> he is described as a man of vision and having the talent and will to turn it into reality. his death at 61 was a shock to many of them. >> to witness a scene like this, and he is no longer here, it is very painful. this is one of those awful days that life can sometimes have. >> i owe him a lot. he released my first film, "fire and ice." we will miss him very much. >> his widow and his daughter lay flowers in front of a photo of him. he was an important figure in both german and international cinema. the films he produced included "perfume," "downfall," and "nowhere in africa," which won an award in 2003.

but stay with us. the world ski championships are coming up next.

but the -- >> the german chancellor was among those on hand for the opening ceremonies at the small bavarian town, which has ruled out the red carpet for a winter for sports fans -- for winter sports fans around the world. >> garmisch partenkirchen is in the grips of world jim being shipped fever. the excitement is probable at this festival.

>> the people here are totally committed. it is certainly going to be a great to have been shipped. around 1300 local volunteers help with the preparations. everything has to be perfect for the participants, their coaches, and the estimated 120,000 spectators. >> it will draw attention to garmisch. it will be good for its image and remind people what a great venue it is for winter sports. >> skiing has a long history here. winter sports to emerge in the early 1900's. 1902 saw the first snowshoe race. everyone associated german sports and the nearby martin -- mountain with garmisch. the first skiing champions of was held here in 1978. but tradition can be a hindrance. >> we rested on our laurels for too long, unfortunately. but in the last few years we

have invested more than 60 million euros and the skiing areas. what's more was invested in the run-up to the championships. -- >> more was invested in the run-up to the championships. the focus is on sustainable development. the of local businesses are set to benefit. hotels and restaurants are also being spruced up. >> over the past few years, the number of overnight stays has risen between 3% -- 3.5% and 5% per year. garmisch partenkirchen is becoming a popular destination both in summer and winter. >> germinate hosted the olympics in 1936. the nazis -- germans hosted at the a leviton 1936. the nazis used the event for propaganda. >> the sporting events themselves were wonderful, but the nazis influenced and exploited the games. that is something many people

have been reluctant to acknowledge. >> if minnick wins its bid to host the 2018 winter olympics -- if munich wins its bid to host the 2018 winter olympics, they will get a taste of an even bigger sporting spectacle in seven years' time. >> along -- among the top stars in garmisch will be local resident, maria riesch. after the two gold medals in the last olympics, she hopes to improve for standings. >> maria riesch, hurtling down the slopes at nearly 120 miles per hour an almost flawless technique. she stands out from the crowd. she was recently voted 2010 sportswoman of the year.

now she faces her next title battle in her home town of garmisch partenkirchen. >> only a few athletes have the chance to contest a world championship in their home town. i am in good form. i was successful in the last two big events. naturally, it would be a highlight to be successful at home. >> maria riesch was world championship in -- champion in 2009 and one two gold medals at the vancouver olympics. she has been a world cup winner for almost a decade. but her career has also been plagued by injuries, including two knee ligament tears. but she has fought her way back to the town. putting on a gritty performance at vancouver. -- but she has fought her way back to the top, putting on a gritty performance at vancouver. >> every time she competed in the slalom, she gave 100%.

she lives up to her potential and very few athletes have done that to the extent that maria has. >> even with the intense competition of world cup skiing, she still maintains a close friendship with her longtime rival, american lyndsey vonn. now maria riesch is facing a new challenger a lot closer to home from her own family. her younger sister is proving herself on the international circuit. >> last autumn she skied extremely well. of course, i spoke to her about it. new look relieved relaxed. how you do that? stuff like that -- you look really relaxed. how you do that? stuff like that. >> and now for a bit of local bavarian skiing history. this received an unusual angle in recent years. one of garmisch's most challenging ski runs is called the kandahar a slope and it did

not receive its name from that region in afghan -- in the afghan province. it got that name because of a war between the afghans and the british. a british general came home and became active in the world of skiing and it was through him that a number of slopes around the world received the dubious baptism. our dearing crew gave garmisch's qantara iran for its money -- our daring crew gave garmisch's qantarkandahar iran for its mon. -- as roa run for its money. >> how perilous is this piece? the garmisch skiing club will find out. accompanied by two up-and-coming stars, monica and astin.

>> i think is a difficult slow because it is difficult from the start. >> sometimes your ski catches a bump and it makes you tumble. >> sebastien and monica know every inch of the mountain here. our first stop is the true home. -- control hum. >> this is one of the difficult parts of kandahar. you get a lot of speed and it is hard to get to the entry the right way. >> even top skiers can struggle on the uneven slopes. everyone else is simply content to stay upright.

>> we are not far from the eyes hang -- ice hang, probably the most difficult part. the name says it all, is i see. and it is -- the name says it all, is icy. and it is deep. >> -- is a steep. >> you did not fall and that is what counts. news game -- you can down well. >> you were skiing into the camera and that was good. >> high praise, indeed, enough to attend another run down the kandahar. >> thanks for joining us here at

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>>this week on world business... >>how trade between china and russia is warming up in the frozen north. >>we speak to the new indian urban development minister kamal nath about his ambitious plans for a huge underground system for new delhi >>we want to move people, not move vehicles. now you have to really conceptualize and create a new vision for urban india >>and from the bayou to the boutique, the surprisingly big business in alligator skins. >>we might have to sort through 1000 skins before we can find ten really good ones in the size and grade that they want.

>>hello and welcome. i'm raya abirached and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. after a hundred years of mistrust - and, at times, conflict -china-russia relations appear to have entered a new era of co-operation. they've settled bitter border disputes, struck huge energy deals and ditched the dollar in favour of their own currencies in bilateral trade. >>reporter: even in the deep mid winter - at minus 20 degrees celsius - h-east. >>relations with russia - on the other side of the frozen heilongjiang have warmed in recent years. >>and for these winter swimmers in heihe (pronounced hay-huh), military tensions, even conflict, nowappear history.

>>two hundred metres from the river, ding chuanfang sells russian furs, chocolate and other signature items. twenty years ago when she opened her shop, heihe was an isolated backwater. now, it 's a key trading hub and gateway to the arctic - fuelled by good business links with neighbouring blagoveshchensk. >>chuanfang: this is very important and makes the city more prosperous. here, it's a border city with few people.this has helped increase the population and helps business - and the development of every sector ofthe economy. while russia is strong on timber, oil, gas and heavy goods that china's industry needs, it's weak onmanufacturing everyday items for consumers. for those within easy reach of the border >>mackie: a quarter of a million russians stream into heihe every year - mainly to buy consumer goods that arefar cheaper here than on the other side of the heilongjiang river. their spending accounts for almost 20 percent of the city's total retail

sales - and they also support a vibrant restaurant and entertainment sector. >>reporter: in the early 1990's much of the trade here was barter: chinese watermelons in exchange for russian fertilizers. business channels developed slowly until 2004 when russians were allowed access to all of heihe, not just a small island trading zone. then in 2008, as the national governments of china and russia were negotiating a 25 billion dollar oil deal, business and travel procedures at this border region were simplified further. >>changxing: between people from both countries and living standards in this border region. >>reporter: there are areas, however, of political discomfort. >>china, which controlled much of russia's far east

in the 19th century, allows russians visa-free travel to heihe city - but this isn't offered to chinese crossing to blagoveshchensk. uspicious of its neighbour's intentions. the far east is vast, resource-rich, underpopulated - and moscow has largely neglected the region for decades. now, an estimated 80,000 chinese do business there and repatriate their profits - which is akin to an economic invasion by stealth. many cross the border at heihe - where traders haul clothes and electrical goods for sale on the other side; or there's the likes of zhao lijing who awaits her husband's return from a two month working stint. >>eight months of the year, she's also a migrant worker in russia's far east. >>lijing: to get on in life, every country is the same. life in china is good and development is good. becausewe're close to the border, i want to go out and look for opportunities.

>>reporter: and that's what shi liwen (pronounced shih lee-weun) did for 14 years - selling fruit and vegetablesfrom heilongjiang, before establishing this wholesale operation back home in 2008. >>it's now heihe's biggest private company - bringing in produce from all over china for russian markets as far as the arctic. these are necessary supplies for normal daily life; and they're also halfthe cost of european produce. >>following a november 2010 inter-governmental agreement to ditch the us dollar in bilateral trade, mr. shi can now do business in or roubles directly - instead of having to first change his money into dollars. >>liwen: now that we can exchange rmb and roubles directly, our company will start doing business in these currencies. it's a stable development for our enterprise. it saves us from all the complicated formalities and the extra currency exchange losses. >>reporter: heihe has actually operated such a simplified currency exchange system for over five

years - allowing local shops to accept roubles from russian customers. uge hanger-like buildings which sell almost everything imaginable: electrical gadgets are favourites; as are clothes and sports goods - though it can be difficult to verify authenticity. each trip, the russians can return home with up to 400 us dollars in goods duty free. >>xu guangqian, a former farmer from 900 km away, took a gamble and started selling sportswear here eight years ago. he's profited well from heihe's russia-friendly policies. >>xu guanqian: business here, bought an apartment here and decided to move all the family here. that's my decision.at the highly visible consumer level - whether here in heihe or in the markets of russia's

far east - much of the money flows into china's purse. >>but this is not a zero sum game. >>at the macro level, russia's 21 billion dollars in exports to china - including oil, metals and ores - nearly match its imports. and these are strategic supplies - that also represent a form of insurance to preserve the region's political status quo. >>the world economic forum meeting this year welcomed a huge delegation from india, among them the new urban development minister kamal nath. one of the major stumbling blocks to india's future expansion is poor infrastructure and as the country ramps up growth, efficient urban planning has never been more important. our executive editor alan friedman caught up with the minister at davos to find out what he plans to achieve in his new post.

>>friedman: you have been part of the indian delegation here for many years. this year, big delegations from india, big delegations from china, what's it all about? >>nath: well, it's natural for india & china to have big delegations. where india is concerned, india is not just today merely an exporter, india is also a big importer. india is a huge market for the western economies. india is not only looking for foreign investment, india is a big investor overseas. we have huge investments in all parts of the world today. so when we have this huge delegation our business community here is not just looking to sell, they are looking to invest. they are looking for investments, they are looking to buy. >>friedman: but if we go back to india's first splash here which was really about 2006.. about 5 yrs ago the first incredible india moment at davos. what's different about 5 years later from back then?

>>nath: i think there's a huge difference because 6 years ago in davos they were talking about the sustainability of emerging markets. yesterday i did a programme which was talking about emerging economies from emerging markets, it had become emerging economies and emerging economies driving the global economy. so the engines, you know you have the new engines of the global economy, india and china are one of the engines driving the global economy. so that's the big difference. it's not only that theworld's perception about india has changed. india's own perception about itself has changed and that's the big difference. >>friedman: you wrote a book a year or two ago called the 'the indian century' but is this actually really and truly the the 'asian century' is that what's happening to the world economy? >>nath: well of course it is. we are seeing that the epicentre of economic activity is moving from the atlantic ocean to the red china seas

and the indian ocean. that is the big change that is taking place,the global economic architecture is seeing a huge change, with not only new doors and windows but really new entrances. >>friedman: you've been ... minister...at various ministries over the years. i want to just go back. you were the trade minister who put india on the map years ago on the trade talks. not everyone liked you butyou got india's way often. on textiles and agriculture you were controversial but effective. thatwas the judgement. then you were minister of transport and road development most recently. beforewe get to your new portfolio i want to challenge you. you said you wanted to build 20km of roads aday, you made lots of promises when you took office. rate yourself, give us your own scorecard. >>nath: well, last week when i quit my previous job to take up this new challenging assignment, we were doing 12.5km per day. we had put in close to 20,000km of work

in progress and that was a huge quantum jump. huge quantum jump which happened and i think the momentum that has been created heads us to 20km a day because the deficit is so large and when i set that target, i set that target because of the huge deficit we have because in india growth has preceded infrastructure. and infrastructure not only in roads but urbanisation, in urban infrastructure, in power, in ports, in airports. that's our huge challenge. >>friedman: why has china got it right and india still has a long road to travel? >>nath: well china started 16 years before us and china has done a great job on its urban infrastructure. we concentrated on our rural infrastructure. if we take our road programme connecting villages in india, in the last ten years, it's one of the largest programmes ever undertaken. so the model

of china is different to india's. so china's started with urban centres and built a huge, great, urban infrastructure. so we want to have the same kind of infrastructure china has. >>friedman: got it. let's move to your new portfolio, you are now minister of urban development. what are your goals there? >>nath: well, this is one of our biggest challenges because 60% of our gdp is from urban habitats. by the end of the decade we'll have 550million people living in urban centres. 550 million people >>friedman: in just 10 or 15 cities? >>nath: we will have about 70 cities with more than 1 million. we will have about 6 mega-cities, 10 millionplus and the real face of india will be urban india, the urban centres. so it is hugely important that all our cities today have exceeded their carrying capacity, their carrying capacity

in terms ofeverything: sewage, water, transport, parking and we've got to be looking very holistically at this. urban transportation, our metro and having underground transportation. it's not just a question of moving people, we want to move people, not move vehicles. now we have to really conceptualize andcreate a vision for urban india. >>friedman: now you have been on record saying you're going to make sure that delhi has the biggest underground system in the world, bigger than london. let's go from the rhetoric, to the meaning. what does that mean? >>nath: well, it means that we will have about 417km of underground in delhi by 2017. that is what we need,that is what we are setting ourselves to do and the london underground has about 414km. >>friedman: what you'll be 3km bigger than

london? >>nath: well, 3km in 2017 and god knows how many more kms in 2020 >>friedman: we almost have goals to succeed in life. kamal nath, thanks for joining us. >>still to come on world business... >>the high tech process of 3d printing could soon go mainstream. >>a business millions of years in the making, alligator farming and hunting in the deep south. >>great gators... and the rest in just a moment on world business... >>3d printing is a technique that can create 3 dimensional objects by laying down multiple layers ofmaterial. the technology in itself is not that new, but costs have now dropped to a level where domestic 3d printing is a real possibility.

>>reporter: 3d printing is impressive technology; machines that can literally print almost any object you could imagine, from a wide range of materials, practically instantly on demand. and its potential is vast.... >>bowyer: 3d printing, conceptually fairly straight forward. you have a machine which plugs into your computerand it allows you instead of printing on flat sheets of paper to print out three-dimensional objects, usually made out of plastic. >>marks: when 3d printers first arrived they were dubbed the santa claus machine by people who first came across it because it just seemed utterly magical that you could design something in 3d on a computer and then have it come out of a machine as if by magic. >>reporter: the technology has been around for some time, but has maintained a low profile until recently - not least because of the colossal price tag attached to early devices. typically around $70,000 >>but prices are dropping rapidly. over the past decade, companies like hewlett packard have developed the technology

behind what they call their 'officeable' printer, the designjet 3d. >>erickson: ...at a commercial level, 3d printing alone represents about two to three hundred million dollars inrevenues each year. and it's something that's growing, so we would expect the market to go all the way up to a billion within the next five to ten years. >>reporter: although it's still not cheap, if you coughed up about 18,000 dollars, you could walk home with a something approaching a desktop factory. >>in time it's hoped that this technology could trigger the start of a manufacturing revolution - one led by a mouse click rather than a monkey wrench. >>erickson: ...this wrench was printed just as it is. so this wasn't printed in three pieces and then assembled,you see these three pieces - this is a fully functioning wrench, made out of plastic, so you probably wouldn't be able to do very much with it - but as a prototype it's fantastic. >>reporter: in the london office of foster and partners, they've been using 3d printing and rapid prototyping for some six years in their architectural models.

>>despite lacking some of the finer detail and durability of their traditionally hand-made cousins, sketch models produced using 3d printing techniques are much quicker and cheaper to manufacture. >>kestelier: although we thought it was going to be kind of quite a niche thing within the office, i think nowadays almost every project in the office uses rapid prototyping or 3d printing >>vandersteen: we've become obviously more experienced. we're really pushing it to its limits and we can produce some really complex parts - quite fragile parts that actually, even some of the manufactures are blownaway with in terms of the level of detail we're able to create with these. >>reporter: these sorts of machine are far beyond the price range of most homes and offices. but at the university of bath, researchers are working on the 3rd generation of a desktop printer that can even reproduce many of its own parts. it's called the replicating rapid prototyper or reprap >>bowyer: one of the reasons why they were so expensive is because all the technologies were patented. and as a consequence everybody has a monopoly on their particular technology. >>...the manufacturers use

the same strategy as the manufacturers of inkjet printers, namely the inkjet printer manufacturers more or less give you a printer and then sell you ink. the 3d printing manufacturers don't give you a printer, they sell you a printer, but then they sell you the plastic. >>reporter: the reprap on the other hand is entirely open source - meaning the plans for the machine are distributed freely. add to that, the fact that it can run off a solar-powered car battery and you have a remarkably flexible piece of technology. >>bowyer: there we go. one coat hook made in the machine, made out of polylactic acid, which is the plastic that we use from preference >>polylactic aid is a plastic made from starch and starch of course comes from plants. so anyone cangrow a small plant crop on a few tens of square metres of land and can make their own supply of plastic to put in the machine. so you can be almost completely independent. >>reporter: with cheap3d printers becoming more accessible, patent holders are on edge. the ability to copy a design and reproduce it at home is

a real possibility, one that has clear implications for industry. >>garrett: commercial 3d printers will give you a lot better quality and a lot better reliability as well - butthe makerbot will give you something which looks 90% as good as a commercial 3d printer for 10% of the price. >>marks: ...it's fascinating and also slightly worrying that it might replace lego isn't it? the idea that children design things in the computer and out they come rather than, you know, the tangible effect ofpicking up pieces and building things and realising how strong they are, how weak they are. >>reporter: although we're a long way off printing out something as advanced a mobile phone just yet, researchers aren't short of ideas of where to look next. >>erickson: what i can see is that you can go down the street to your copy shop and have a part made there that you'd sent, maybe you'd sent the part the night before and you go down and it's ready the next day and you go and pick it up. >>xavier: we're doing some research together with loughborough university and we're looking at the concept of 3d printing,

mainly layered manufacturing. building something up - layer-by-layer - taking that to abuilding scale. so we're looking if we can actually print concrete, so we're developing there a 3d printer that actually prints concrete and pretty large pieces, about two metres high. >>reporter: and if that works, this technology could not only revolutionise manufacturing, but the entire construction industry as well. >>there's no doubt alligators are impressive beasts, they can grow to over 16 feet and weigh half a ton. and in the southern us state of louisiana, alligators support a surprisingly large business supplying by far the majority of the world's skins. but like any luxury market, the industry has felt the bite of recession. >>reporter: tonight...in the marshlands of georgia's coast, a killing will take place... ...the victim an alligator

ready to be dispatched with a handgun >>reporter: what these men are doing was banned in georgia from the late 60's, after alligators had almost been hunted to extinction. but following the ban their number steadily grew and since 2003 around 800 hunting licenses have been released each year for a brief month long season. >>hunter: it has gone to the right, it is coming up, he should be surfacing... >>waters: we brought in the hunting because the alligator is a renewable economic resource that with proper management can be harvested in a limited quantity without affecting the overall population of the alligator. >>reporter: alligator numbers have now risen to around 200.000 in georgia and when these chaps do bag their gator, there is a reasonable chance its hide will end up here: located just south of atlanta, it is one of only 5 commercial alligator skin tanneries in the world and the products created from these hidescan command 10's of thousands of dollars. expensive stuff, but this is truly a labour

intensive business and from marsh to market a skin will go through more than 30 pairs of hands. >>reporter: you can't sort of...there is no machine where you can throw it in and it comes out looking nice and glazed like that... >>plott-redd: that would be convenient, but no, unfortunately not it is done the old way. >>reporter: that is a big alligator. >>plott-redd: yes. >>reporter: wild alligator hides are larger, rarer and more valuable than farmed but either way the skins top luxury brands demand are hard to find: >>plott-redd: we may have to sort through 10000 skins before we can find 10 really good ones in the size and grade that they want. >>reporter: around 80% of the world's alligator hides come from louisiana...most of it from farms like dane ledet's. like most farmers, he deals mainly in alligators less than 4ft long, driven largely by the demand for watchstraps. but the recession is taking

a big bite out of business. >>ledet: at a high we will get like $8.50 per cm. that can drop down to like $3.50 a cm. >>reporter: things are tough all over...at the house of fleming in atlanta, demand is down by about 30% against a couple of years ago...although the company, whose products are all custom made, has been lucky to hit one niche market that's proved very lucrative...pro golfers...who are happy to pay hundreds of dollars for a belt... >>fleming: there is a lot of competition on who can out dress the other. it's just their nature. >>reporter: ...and the free advertising has proved priceless... >>gibson: i saw graeme mcdowall wearing one at the open and i looked in the back of the digest it said house of flemings. i wanted an alligator belt, came in and bought one. now i'm here again today. i do fancythe alligator belts. >>reporter: now the near-prehistoric source material of this industry can live for around

50 years in the wild and grow to about 16ft...but even for experts like greg and jim, grabbing a good sized gator takes real skill... >>reporter: but finally, after hours of searching.... >>waters: depending on what they're making is depending on how big a scale pattern they want. watch bands or belts you generally want the smaller scale pattern. purses...handbags they generally want the belly part because they've got the bigger scale patterns. >>reporter: in louisiana...there are around 1.5 million alligatyear e ledet would gather about 60000 alligator eggs. last year, however, demand was so poor he didn't even bother to collect any...but he's hoping that strategy will eventually start playing in his favour... >>ledet: if the economy starts picking up a little bit the inventory won't be high so it should help the price per cm come up.

>>reporter: the alligator industry isn't everyone's cup of tea...but those involved can see nothing wrong with making money out of what is a renewable resource....and critics can at least take solace from the fact that no-one's making easy money... >>plott-redd: it's very cash intensive. it's very stressful. there's a lot of risk involved. >>ledet: hopefully it'll come back to where we can get $5.50 a cm and maybe get back to 8. >>reporter: meanwhile, adding just one good sized gator to the supply chain can take hours. and hours. because despite bagging the odd timewaster, by the time we jumped out of the boat these chaps had got close...but not close enough... >>messenger: caught a couple. didn't get the big one. >>reporter: you did see it though didn't you. quite close. >>messenger: o yeah. >>reporter: a little bit closer and it would have been...pop. >>messenger: o yeah. >>reporter: enjoy it though? >>messenger: o yeah... >>reporter:

later that night they settled for an 8 footer. and who knows...one day its hide may pass thru 30 pairs of hands, as one small part of a rollercoaster industry that's been 180 million years in the making... 15" >>that's it for this week's world business. thanks for watching. we'll see you again at the same time next week.