haslinda: and then to the u.s. wolfgang: yeah. haslinda: when was the turning point?fgang: when i was 17, i left austria for france. i found out there were one, two, and three-star restaurants. naturally i looked and said, "this restaurant i worked in only had one star." i said, "i cannot go to austria before working in the three-star restaurant." so i started to write all these fancy, three-star restaurants, and then the first one who accepted me and said, "okay, you could start working in april, or something." so i went there. that was really an epiphany for me. it was something totally different. the owner was 72 years old, but he had such passion in the kitchen. raymond thuilier. he was amazing. he owned the three-star restaurant. he was the chef. everything has to be the best quality. and he had such intensity and passion. haslinda: you were at a restaurant called la maison. that was the time when you learned to be a businessman. your paycheck had bounced. in return, you asked for part of the business. wolfgang: exactly. i moved to los angeles. i was in a restaur

haslinda: why not? haslinda: steve, the first five years, building the company in singapore were tough, but the years afterward even tougher when you tried to expand in three other market in a period of three months. steve: it was a pretty extreme way of doing business. it was an interesting lesson. we went from that one country to four countries in three months. probably a stupid thing to do. haslinda: why were you in a hurry? steve: we spent the first for four or five years building the business in singapore and did a positive cash flow. market leadership in singapore. we were having conversations with the board and we thought maybe is the time to expand internationally. we looked at all the markets and spent time and found these companies and we thought malaysia looks interesting, indonesia looks interesting, thailand looks interesting. and we started talking with more companies in india and acquiring small businesses and small websites. i guess we were excited to -- entrepreneurs want to do everythi

haslinda: next on "highfliers." christopher: they thought it was something glamerous, and they were all jealous of me, you know. haslinda: christopher karam, when you were a young kid, maybe a teenager, what was it like telling your friends that you were dealing with lingerie when the season was out? christopher: well they really thought it was something glamorous and they were jealous of me. supposedly being surrounded by these models. but in reality, the business was like any other and i was in the warehouse putting on barcodes, implementing software. and that was something i really loved was making a system, creating a system about how hings should happen. it was not as glamorous as people thought it was. haslinda: i have never met a man so comfortable talking about lingerie. i did not even know k cups existed. how do you feel about being in a woman's world? we always talk about a woman in a man's world, but it is the opposite for you. christopher: the challenge, i would have to say, about being a man in a woman'

haslinda: some development here.had a statement from both countries over the weekend, china and vietnam. stability ando the south china sea and avoid any action that could escalate the tensions. vietnam's communist party chief weekend.china over the they agreed to seek long-term solutions and will discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's position on the issue of the south china sea. both trying to avoid tensions that piqued in 2014 when china placed an oil rag in a dutch oil rig in a zone that was claimed -- placed an oil rig in a zone that was claimed by vietnam. rishaad: thank you for that. we will be hearing more from that interview throughout the day. j.p. morgan chase on which indices will be affected by this evolving sino-american relationship. a hitng, the pound taking over reports that britain is seeking a hard eggxit. that is on the way. ♪ news, thiseaking influence scandal and corruption investigations and south korea. has beenea inc. navelgazing. we have the latest installment nt th

haslinda: thank you for your assistant -- assessment. haslinda amin.as samsung back in court.ge will decide whether he faces arrest on bribery charges. we'll head over to seoul. plus the market open here in hong kong and shanghai. ♪ "bloombergis is markets asia". by mr. theresa may is seeking a hard brexit. dollar weakness coming out of donald trump suggesting that it was hurting american industry. jinping accounted by xi , who was talking about free trade. we also got the reference rate. the highest since november here. this also against the backdrop that we could be getting price data out of china any minute here. that's what we've got going on at the moment. markets at a down day. we have not been able to challenge the 20,000 on the dow. 1%e prices in china dropping month onmonth --.1% month. what we have is a day where across the board we have weakness when it comes to the equity session against this backdrop of some dollar weakness. that is not helping things in tokyo. out what's going on with a bit more detail as we get these numbers coming through. in terms of house pri

i'm has haslinda amin. bought backsung nearly $8 billion worth of shares after doubling orderly profits. ros has been on top of this story, more downs than ups. this seems to be an up. beoverall, samsung seems to good with it share prices, has not done too badly despite the last year. it did say today it is going to buy back about $8 billion of shares in three to four phases and will cancel the shares it repurchase three in the first phase, expecting to buy back the chilean shares. it is part of a shareholder program unveiled at the end of november last year in response to pressure from activist shareholder elliott. let's take a look at the numbers released for the fourth quarter and the full year. net incomes for the fourth order , justhan doubled to 6.9 under 6 billion u.s. dollars, driven largely by the rising price of semiconductors. a recovery in its mobile business. you have to compare that against bloomberg analyst estimates which was 7 trillion, so slightly lower than expected. operating profit, --

let us go to have haslinda amin let us go to has haslinda amin.scount, rewards, for those who make electronic transactions instead of cash transactions. the government says it will spend millions on the various measures. data on transactions so far suggest plastic is taking the place of currency use at a much faster pace. .igital payments jumped that is helping to boost electronic companies. e-commerce, intense technologies. 50% inve gained 20% to the last month, providing a boost for the index you are seeing right now. the companies expecting double-digit revenue growth over the next three to four years. we see growth in digital payments, but that provided, we see cyber safety becoming are cut.and charges the jury is still out. it is too early to tell. ramy: this is interesting. the money ban has impacted india's rural areas the most. are not quite adopting. we are seeing little or no transactions. few economic activity according to one startup. rural india prefers cash transactions. cash is pretty much keying because they have limited access to

haslinda almond there.communication style is one of the hot topics of the world economic forum in .avos, we will hear what stephen schwarzman has to say about that. ♪ d blackstone ceo says he had a good meeting with president xi jinping and davos, including beijing's positive view of about relations with united states. david shorts men is an advisor to president-elect donald trump. >> well, i have come away with the fact that they are standing up a government, a really busy time, that he wants to do at the end of the day the right thing for america, wants to improve the economy, and that he is pretty flexible person when he is presented with information. right place. the sometimes it is colorful getting there, but it is an interesting quick study. >> some of the things he has sent along the way have concerned people, trade for example. have you been reassured in your conversations with him privately that may be some of the things he has said, either he is more flexible than people might think or has a diffe

haslinda, joining us from singapore.kets: middle east coming up at the top of the hour. yousef gamal el-din is standing by in dubai. lots coming up. we have a call on saudi arabia from the imf, downgrading 2017 growth to .4%. implications the of that and look at the 50 billion dollar renewable energy plan being floated by saudi a ceo, more insight from in dubai. tim foxalso talk with to get additional insight on theresa may speech and what to expect there. more at the top of the hour. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ measures, thef pound the trades near three decade lows with theresa may set to advocate for a hard brexit. vietnam's prime minister promises greater access to lenders and securities. switch, saudi the arabia 650 billion dollars for a massive renewable energy program. >> china's president set to take center stage at davos as donald trump stays away. yousef

speaking exclusively to haslinda is hopefulid he the new u.s.ration will see the benefits of the treaty. i have had a meeting with u.s. business leaders and also met with secretary kerry of the united states, and the message that i see is that i believe the new administration of the united states will reconsider its perspective on the tpp, and it will also try to achieve a new generation agreement that will benefit all parties concerned. and even without tpp and place, cooperation among countries will still continue to grow. it does not mean that with the tpp being derailed that other countries will withdraw themselves and reduce cooperation. japan, australia, new zealand, and the remaining members of the tpp will work together to find a solution and come up with a way to benefit everyone, even if the tpp is not ratified by the united states. president elected donald trump has made it clear he wants to kill the tpp. happen, even though you are optimistic it could come up and another form, should that happen do you see nations in ,sia gravitating

that was the announced prime minister talking to haslinda amin.tuned this is what is coming up on "bloomberg markets: middle east". saudi arabia's master plan to and more on oil renewable energy. we will take a look at the blueprint, coming up. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is a look at the first word headlines. theresa may set to announce the u.k. will pull out of the eu single market tuesday. the british prime minister will say she has no interest in a half in, half out approach. start shifting jobs from london to europe. urging nations to join the tpp as soon as possible. donald trump campaigned on opposition to the tpp. speaking in hanoi, shinzo obvious that it should pave the way for partnerships. achieving tpp as the foundation going forward, i should like to strive towards high-quality and ambitious agreements such as rcep. japan would like to be the standard bearer for the free trade regime at all times. donald trump has met martin luther king jr. the third to discuss what king described as america's broken voting system. the son of the murder

haslinda: the balinese are saying no to trump's tower. 6 years ago, and they now want to ask and it, even adding a golf course. the locals are crying foul, saying it will anger the hindu gods. it is a unesco heritage site. largest resort in bali. even though trump has said he will stay away from his visit and projects after becoming president, he may still end up being at the center of this anger from the balinese people. the people bali tend to keep their emotions inside. they tend to not speak up, but sensitive and have the potential to blow up. rishaad: absolutely. an amazing place. the construction may also involve the purchase of farmland nearby. that is never easy there. haslinda: that's right. land issues in indonesia, india, very tricky. they will have to buy nearby farmland. this is a company of trump's indonesian partner. no details on how much extra the it needs to buy to meet target size. the thing is, there's already issues with the locals on the existing property. some early signs of potential backlash even before constructi

i am has haslinda amin and this is bloomberg.o japan'st us get consumer prices dropping in december for a 10th straight month. the base declined. supporting expectations that perhaps the return to inflation later this year. a weaker yen, a pickup in oil prices likely to drive up inflation. there are questions over slow wage growth and the lack of consumer spending. is with us. great to see you. what was your first reaction when you got these numbers? >> i think it is pretty much in line with expectations if not better than the consensus expected. our own forecast was as you pointed out the rebound in oil prices combined with actually already seeing some evidence of material employment income growth. overall monthly wage statistics are not growing fantastically but if you multiply that with the fact that japan is the only major developed economy where you are seeing participation and rates on the rise, we are seeing employee income go up by 3%. these things,n of wages and energy prices, we expect core inflation to reach 0.7% on th

to our southeast asia correspondent, hassan haslinda amin -- has haslinda amin. is hopeful because of the comments of the trump team. they seem to suggest tpp is not dead. a case in point is wrecked tillerson, secretary of state, he says he is not opposed to tpp, even though he share some of donald trump's concerns, and that view goes beyond rex tillerson. over the weekend, we had renewed commitment from malcolm turnbull, shinzo abe, also a strong advocate. even if tpp doesn't go through, vietnamese prime minister says it is not a concern. even without the tpp, vietnam will continue to move forward, because in addition to the tpp, others are in place and under negotiation, so th wl help our economy continue to be propelled forward. know, tpp is important as a way for vietnam and other countries to push through reforms which can't be done internally given domestic structural constraints. vietnam has entangled with china over claims in the south china sea, so what are the developments ahead of donald trump's inauguration on this? haslinda: we had a statement from b

haslinda amin in singapore. we are counting down to several more market opens in asia.ng up with rish next. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> this is bloomberg markets asia. ♪ >> president trump urges autoakers to boost production. ore jumping.iron

amine: haslinda joining us from singapore. traders are cornering the market in bitcoin. this is bloomberg. ♪ yvonne: after hitting a record high, then tumbling just as fast, bitcoin back in the headlines. traders that have grabbed 80% of trade in the crypto currency. dominant is automated trading when it comes to the world of bitcoin? fit, asin is a natural much as 80% of trading transaction volumes are done by automated trading. to spirit trying money a cross the borders. you have an army of professional traders using strategies that are deployed by some of wall street's biggest players, and these people see bitcoin as their new playground. yvonne: what makes the automated trading so popular? >> bitcoins market structure boxes,ll the right arbitrage trading across all platforms, 24/7 trading, so when it comes to man versus machine, machines are an actual fit for this trading. yvonne: there are risks to the bitcoin market, hacking, the chinese government may want to crack down on this, so how will the pboc set up regulations?

haslinda: the pressure to deliver.so planning a theme like a disneyland and keen for more partnerships with trump, though he says it is too early for that. yousef: so is it true that he has been inspired by trump? haslinda: well, that seems to be the case. he says he has been inspired by trump to run for the presidency in 2019, but only if he sees no strong leaders nominated. to note, he has had a taste of politics. he tried to get nominated for vice president in 2014 and failed. then, he has started his own political party called united indonesia, so he has political ambitions. happens, there will be discussions of potential conflicts of interest obviously. thanks. our southeast asia correspondent there. let's give you a preview of what else is coming up on the program. countering the cut, why traders are concerned that opec's landmark deal may not curb supplies as brent holds above $55 a barrel. stay tuned for that. this is bloomberg. ♪ shery: welcome back. you are watching "bloomberg markets: middle east". i'm shery

. ♪ haslinda: hello and welcome to "high flyers," the show that gives you a 360 degree view of asia'sn starting out, he knew practically nothing about real estate in southeast asia. today he dominates it. let us meet property guru steve melhuish. starting from scratch, steve had

haslinda: it has a tight labor market.ht year high, but it is just 2%, very low. it has to do with the government putting a lid on government and immigration. singaporeans were saying foreigners were taking jobs, pushing up property prices, causing congestion and public trains. they put restrictions on foreign workers, so here we are with a tight labor market, companies struggling to fill positions, especially the services sector. i want to show you this bart chart. singaporeans can find a job and just eight weeks. those in other developed markets need 16 weeks. atost all those who retired age 62 were also rehired, so older workers are also finding jobs. here is another chart, singapore and hong kong have the lowest long-term unemployment rate. there is still a problem. singaporean workers have been left behind by technology. if they don't upgrade their skills, they will be left behind. this is an economy, the philippines, one of the fastest-growing in the world, and yet still having trouble creating jobs. why is that? sin

joining us haslinda amin. u.k. prime minister theresa may says she will publish -- brexit giving in to demands from lawmakers. her government will publish a white paper in the commons to allow debate on this tragedy she outlined last week. the pound extended as run after may's announcement, through 1.26 for the first time since december 14. apple is set to join the partnership on a.i. the rish or group includes amazon, facebook, microscopioft and google. apple declined to comment. it anticipates gaining extra member. baidu is a noticeable absentee. profit at the world's biggest casino operator missed estimates. fourth-quarter profit of 62 cents a share as revenue raised more than 7%> . casinos missed because lucky gamblers cost them $20 million. qualcomm slipped after hours after warning sales and profits for the current period may miss estimates. the chipmakers second quarter revenues could be as low as 5.5 billion, missing the estimate of $5.9 billion. it prepares toas defend its most profitable unit from legal c

haslinda: there is optimism vietnam's exports will continue to grow. look at this chart quickly. the pie chart shows mobile fores, shoes, accounting the bulk of exports. vietnam has 16 agreements, nine in effect. in short, yes. in, thank you.a am how china is leading the way in mobile payments how mainland firms are poised to take a little cash global. -- digital cash global. ♪ this is "daybreak asia." yeare: the lunar new tradition of handing out red envelopes of cash has moved to the 21st century. it has migrated to the smartphone. it highlights the sophistication mobile payment firms. here is tom mackenzie. tom: the chinese new year is a boon for the mobile payment company. thanks in large part to the digitization of this tradition. than one billion transactions expected as people fire off virtual red envelope cash gifts. valued at $32 million in 2012, the market was worth $1.8 trillion last year. their apps allow you to do everything from buying a latte to taking out a personal loan. it is about getting an edge. we have seenyears, many players emer

to explain the disconnect, let's bring in haslinda amin.ing of a relief for you. a lot of people in singapore have it easier than everywhere else. haslinda: we have a tight labor market, especially since the government clamped down on foreign workers and immigration. even before europe, before the u.s. started talking about immigration issues, singaporeans were complaining about how foreign workers were taking away their jobs. measures were implemented. as a result, companies are struggling to fill positions, especially in the services sector. despite a slowing economy, singaporeans can find a job in eight weeks. those in other developed markets take twice as much time. even older workers can find jobs here. almost all of those who retired at the age of 62 were rehired. i want to show you this chart. it shows how singapore and hong kong have the lowest long-term jobless rates, but no reason for complacency. that is a rising mismatch between skills and jobs in singapore. companies embracing technology more and more. many factory workers will

haslinda: several issues here.ter than expected, it may mean bigger outflows from malaysia, which will weigh on the ringgit. one of the main factors. rishaad: thank you. let's have a look at what we have coming up. the economic indicators out of may show how factory inflation has risen for a fourth month. we have the numbers when we return. the market open in hong kong and shanghai, the markets showing a flat picture for the hang seng. ♪ rishaad: this is bloomberg markets: asia. we will get you close of the breaking news coming through. we will have those figures. we want to tell you about a couple of things dominating the day. weday. we have marissa mayer resigning from the board at yahoo!. it was taken over byday. we have marissa mayer resigning from the board at yahoo!. it was taken over by verizon. looking at that one, and the markets have been dominated also by this failure for the dow to get above the 20,000 level. it is at not a technical level. we finished up the new year shy of that figure. we also see tha