>>this week on world business... >>as china's workforce ages and shrinks could robots be the solution? >>ten years later, we will have a serious shortage of labour. so we have to, we must develop more robots - especially intelligent robots - to provide labour to the society and to provide services to people in their everyday lives and work. >>on a road to prosperity...we speak to ceo of autostrade giovanni castellucci >>we are building or managing toll roads in india and brazil, we are participating to new tenders and we are talking to potential partners to consolidate this business in those countries.

>>plus equality for a stronger economy, we visit a project in bangladesh designed to help integrate women into the workforce >>the name is very perfect, the asian university for women...the name is giving the whole vision andmission of women ...what they want..it's saying it's time for women to get up and they go ahead andsee the whole world that they want to see... >>hello and welcome. i'm raya abirached and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. as china ages it loses its competitive advantage as the factory of the world. the workforce is growing old and is decreasing in size. to fill the gap the countryis

increasingly turning to robots. dishes for the diners' fondue-like chinese hotpot; he drinks. r lose their patience - and they never take tips. even table-side entertainment - well, of sorts. e company, it's a way of marketing it's more sophisticated offerings. >>huashuang: in order to meet the market needs, we're planning to develop robots for industry, medical, agricultural and high-risk tasks. that's our business

model. here, people can see robots in action, they can get used to them, then buy. the service sector, the country mainly relies on a huge supply of cheap human labour - though robotic systems are increasingly used in the more advanced, precision industries. ges rising rapidly, more companies are looking to mechanise. nsidering the labour cost, we need to introduce robots. china is a big manufacturing country but we're still a long way off from being a developed manufacturer. illion industrial robotic systems. nually, a 12 billion dollar market. ter

and the military - is also a 12 billion dollar sector, with 80,000 sold annually, globally. in terms of unit numbers, robotics for entertainment and domestic chores like carpet cleaning or mowing the lawn are huge - with global output in the four years up to 2013 expected to top 11 million.rsonal" robots within a decade. in china, people are growing older - because living standards have greatly improved since the 1970's. ars time. ting with: who's going to do all the work ?

>>xiaoping: ten years later, we will have a serious shortage of labour. so we have to, we must develop more robots - especially intelligent robots - to provide labour to the society and to provide services to people in their everyday lives and work. eloping domestic robots that can help the elderly. ving mechanics, electronics, control systems, software, hardware. reparing a microwave meal, much can go wrong. >>reporter: s carrying loads. mans - a big saving in wages and other social costs. ce

of pouring a drink, the japanese have already developed sophisticated, though expensive robots that can prepare sushi or even plant rice. predicts its robot market will be worth 70 billion dollars by 2025 as humanoids become as commonplace as today's desktop computer. although, right now, the robot industry is small, it's a very small one. but i believe that maybe 10or 20 years later, this industry will be bigger, or as bias t industry of cars right now. so that will be a very large, a very

powerful industry in the future. l flock to the cities every year looking for work. mographic timebomb is ticking. of these primitive mechanical mannequins to be a serious player in the robot revolution. >>autostrade is europe's largest company for toll motorway construction and management, looking after three and a half thousand kilometres of roads used by 5 million drivers every day. the group's main area of interest is italy, but it has just secured a major contract in france and is now looking even further afield. our executive editor alan friedman caught up with the group's ceo giovanni castellucci to find out more. >>friedman: mr castellucci, good to have you with us. >>castellucci:

nice to be here, thank you alan. >>friedman: autostrade, your company, recently won one a 2 billion euro contract in a state tender in france. you are an italian company, maybe one of europe's biggest, but how does an italian company beat the french state company, in france? >>castellucci: it is the result of our strong competence in technology related to tolling. we believe we have a strong competitive advantage in this kind of activities and operations. >>we have been the first to introduce electronic tolling in italy in the nineties, the first to introduce tolling in austria nationwide in 2002 and this time we will introduce a more developed way to toll trucks in france via a new technology based on satellite. >>i mean, it is a way to toll trucks without building stations, it is a very environmentally friendly way to toll trucks and this is why the project is called eco tax. >>friedman: let me get this straight: you do not go through toll booths anymore, you buy

a subscription or a card and the satellite checks if the trucks are paid up? >>castellucci: exactly. this is based on a onboard unit, which is a satellite navigator and that satellite navigator provides all the information necessary to toll the truck and this will apply to more than 12.000 kilometres of national roads in france. >>friedman: that really makes you a europe wide company. i know you have been expanding outside italy, what are your activities in emerging market countries, in asia, or elsewhere? >>castellucci: of course our main target for next year is to continue to invest into the italian network to developto the bottleneck the network, but we are also proceeding very fast on the internationalization >>we are building or managing toll roads in india and brazil, we are participating to new tenders and we are talking to potential partners

to consolidate the business in those countries. >>friedman: and are there other markets that you are interested in: china, south east asia, the middle east thatyou are interested in? any of those places? >>castellucci: yes, but for the short and medium term our main priority is to go deeper in those countries where we are present, india and brazil are continents and we believe that we can play a significant role inthose markets without dispersing the resources elsewhere. >>friedman: so are those markets rather that old europe that really holds the future for you like other companies? >>castellucci: old europe provides competencies, financial flexibility, but the growth will be in those markets andwe want to be there. >>friedman: ok, you have got these ambitions in india, brazil, latin america. but you are an infrastructure company and you have these new road corridor opening up that really will take trucks and vehicles all the way from europe to china overland. don't you want to be part of that action and what is

that aboutstrategically? >>castellucci: our strategy is totally in line with the ambitions of governments to develop mobility and road mobility. and our financial flexibility is very substantial and enables us to play a role in this game. we have more than 6 billion in available resources, cash and committed credit line. >>friedman: 6 billion of euros in cash? >>castellucci: yes, in credit line, this is why we can play a role as partners of governments. >>friedman: let's take india. there is a market where it is clear they are growing fast, but there is not an infrastructure to match their growth. what can you offer that others do not offer that others do not offer, do you have a unique selling point? >>castellucci: we have financial flexibility but we are not alone to have cash, we have competencies and we believethat not so many companies can have the competencies in developing a toll road system from financing, to tolling to maintenance to construction. our group is the most integrated group

in the world and we believe we can provide a turn key solution to governments. >>friedman: you are operating in two of the biggest bric markets, india and brazil. what is that every company whether is infrastructure or big projects should understand about those markets to help them succeed? >>castellucci: it is integration of activities and integration or risks. to succeed in those markets you need to understand well all the elements of the business, from building to contracting to developing toll systems to maintenance and we believe that integration of competencies is the key success factor. >>friedman: what is the biggest cultural or psychological difference for european companies from doing business in asia from doing in europe? >>castellucci: the real risk and mistake is to believe that those countries are less developed and less sophisticated. it is not the case. they know

as well as we do in old europe how to do business and governments are very sophisticated and competent. the real risk is not to believe and not to understand this andtreat them differently. >>friedman: with respect? >>castellucci: yes, respect is the key word. >>still to come on world business... >>the importance of integrating women into the workforce in emerging markets >>our function , our comparative advantage is finding a group of women who are extraordinary, providing them with an extraordinary education, so they can, in fact, make an extraordinary contribution in turn... >>and we check out snow golf, a small but surprisingly sponsor friendly sport. >>think whites, not greens... and the rest in just a moment on world business...

>>asia's continuing rush for expansion manages to under-use one of its most important resources - women. gender inequalities mean that fewer girls are educated than boys and all that untapped potential is going to waste. an initiative in bangladesh, backed by some powerful allies, hopes to change all that. >>reporter: 2008, but the difference it could make to its students lives should not be underestimated. so far just over 400 young women from 12 countries have come here to study. many of them from poor, rural

communities. >>scott: the world bank says higher education and higher education of women in particular is critical to promoting sustainable, social, economic and environmental development in the region. >>reporter: marketable skills. it has powerful supporters which include the world bank, the bill and melinda gates foundation and the wife of the former prime minister of great britain, cherie blair. she's justbeen elected chancellor: >>blair: it sometimes sounds incredibly idealistic to say, if we bring a group of young women together and mix them up regardless of where they come from, their religious background their ethnicity their wealth that they will have more in common than they will find to disagree about...it sounds like a fairy tale but i think the asian university for women is a concrete example of how that

is really true. >>it's providing diversity, special care for the students...it is providing a lot of opportunities >>if i were at home i would be a married woman >>the name is very perfect, the asian university for women...the name is giving the whole vision andmission of women ...what they want to be...it's saying it's time for women to get up and they go ahead and see the whole world that they want to see... >>reporter: le empowerment. she gave a key speech at a symposium held by the university and attended by leadingeducators, business leaders and politicians from around the world. >>hasina: education is both evidence of success in fighting discrimination as well as an instrument for fight it. by educating girls and women, we overcome any discrimination that they may have experience and at the same time lay the groundwork for making

further progress. >>reporter: omen: 6" >>mansor: bright young women have been brought to this university for an education to prepare them to be leaders in their respective countries. what awaits them when they go home, however is far from certain. if we truly want education to make a real change and create an impact we have to address issues that are directly relevant to their advancement. >>reporter: sely populated countries. half its 160 million people, are held back by inequality in inheritance, property, marriage and child custody laws. >>traditionally women worked unpaid in agriculture, but that is starting to change with greater numbers of girls getting at least some education.

>>goldstein: a revolution has occurred partially driven by advances in education which have really brought women are out of the homes and into the workforce. >>reporter: n dollar garment industry may help boost bangladesh's 6 percent gdp growth rate and employs 1.4 million women, 80 percent of its workforce..but it is still badly paid work: >>goldstein: the challenge that bangladesh is facing, is in fact facing, is moving up the value chain in terms of sending increasingly skilled labour which is in demand overseas and that's where again continuing investment in education, getting more girls into secondary school and into tertiary education and ofcourse an issue that we have not touched on up until now which is the quality of the education system. it is one thing to get girls

into schools it is another to ensure that when they come out they have the skills that are actually in demand in the labour market. >>reporter: en given a 120 acre site by the bangladeshi government to build the country's first, purpose-built campus which it hopes will be ready in two years time...which will not only boost the numbers but also the quality of the education it offers. >>ahmad: our function, our comparative advantage is really in finding a group of women who are extraordinary,providing them with an extraordinary education, so they can, in fact, make an extraordinary contribution in turn...so the focus is on quality, the focus is on cultivating skills of leadership and strategic thinking that will enable them to be really impactful in the societies they go back to. >>reporter: try's growth by between 1 and 2 percent.

bangladesh is expected to grow this year by 6.7 percent. a rate of around 9 percent could make the difference in overcoming the country's grinding poverty - and you don't need a maths degree to work that out. >>over the last decade the megeve snow golf championships has developed into a truly world-class event, with sponsors like vacheron constantin and rolls royce supporting the event and attracting top sportsmen from around the world. >>reporter: underneath the mighty mont blanc in the french alps, megeve ordinarily welcomes skiers and snowboarders, but once a year the town hosts one of the more unusual fixtures on the european golf

calendar, the snow golf cup. now over 10 years old and still growing.... >>guilhem: we start by the vacheron constantin snow golf cup this is a private competition with the three sponsors, rothschild group and rolls-royce cars... and after... that is open to everybody, all the tourists who is in megeve can play directly in golf and after we have a competition for old sports champions and then the megeve winter golf club starts on friday and saturday and we close this long two weeks by the world championship snow golf cup.

>>reporter: lead sponsor vacheron constantin has been involved with the competition practically since it first teed off. even if the event is more than a little unconventional. >>guten: we need to find events which are very exclusive which are in line to be able to treat our clients and not giving something they've seen everywhere and this event is part of this philosophy. >>reporter: like many of these events it's mainly a marketing exercise, but one that does provide a good fit forluxury brands, keen to meet clients that come from across europe, china and beyond. >>neubauer: our resources are very small and very special company so we are not able to do some advertising likethat so being at such a special event it's a good opportunity to be very well interested of course by the press but afterwards

to get an image and some memories for the companies and for the guests to have an extraordinary event in extraordinary place. >>reporter: the resort too feels the benefit of playing host to the 19th hole, especially in what has traditionally been a quiet time of the season. >>laude: this event is very original, everything that is original interest the media and helps megeve to be renown and second it's good timing because normally the hotels are not full at this period and well because of the snow golf course attracts many people from around the world so it's a very good investment for megeve. >>reporter: and a relatively cheap one, the budget for the entire event this year was only 300,000. the snow golf course is set up on the site of the summer golf course, on the mont d'arbois plateau, still largely owned and managed by the rothschild family. and don't be fooled by the frivolity, the bottom

line is still important. >>otto: the rothschild group are known for the banking activity but in the real world you have to make real business and the rothschilds have been very much emphasised on real business. megeve is a real business we have two hotels five restaurants and we have wineries and so on and you have to diversify your group. >>reporter: but what is it actually like to play golf on snow? >>milns: snow golf, where the greens are white and the balls are yellow. the most important thing is to keep your balance. not easy when you're standing on snow but let's see how it goes. >>byset: when you play on snow is like when you play on a sand trap on a bunker shot for everybody when they play that they never play long irons so when they play on the snow it is so much different. >>reporter: and as you might expect in these surroundings - it's

not exactly a level playing field. >>guten: everything can change a good player can be a bad player on snow because there is balance you cannot stand really and how you play is completely different so that's when you have a chance when you are a bad golfer like me you have a chance to win. >>reporter: the fairways are in reality more like gentle ski pistes and the greens, or whites, are little more than sculpted ice, prepared in a similar way to a ski downhill course. not the easiest surface to control spin on.... >>guten: if you're a bit lucky and you don't be too slow it's quite ok but i'm definitely very lucky on this one. >>reporter: but perhaps most importantly of all it's an opportunity for summer golfers to dust off their clubs and indulge in the oldest game of all, good old-fashioned networking: >>guilhem: during the summer all they time many golfers make business and networking

but if you want really do good business and good networking you need to play golf on snow in megeve. that is very good networking. 17" >>reporter: which could be why so many are getting into the swing of snow golf. >>that's it for this week's world business. thanks for watching. we'll see you again at the same time next week.