. >>> members of the asia pacific economic cooperation forum will discuss measures that companies can take against disasters. the two-day conference starts on tuesday in sendai miyagi prefecture which was hit hard by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. participants met at a reception on monday evening. about 100 experts and government officials from 18 countries and regions are attending the conference. >> translator: people in the prefecture will do all they can for early reconstruction. we would like to ask for further support for their rebuilding efforts. >> state secretary for foreign affairs takahashi said earthquakes hit many parts of the asia pacific region every ye. he said he wants to exchange information on initial responses to quakes, as well as reconstruction after disasters. he added that the government wants to develop a plan in which people in a wider area can work together to minimize damage. during the meeting, participants will talk out the importance of a corporate plan which would enable firms to quickly resume their operations in the face of natural disasters a

i've i think it is the we've seen that the economy is here in asia pacific have done very well over the last two to three years they survived the previous financial crisis but i think we're faced with an entirely different type of problem at the moment of all that what kind of what kind is that if you're saying it's entirely different. well i think previously we had a banking crisis where the banks would lend too much money to the banks have undergone concert dribble change and reform that strengthened their balance sheets they've had stress tests what we're seeing to me now is a fiscal crisis it's where governments haven't balance their books the bank in the us i think it's ironic in that previously the that the government had to come to the aid of the banks and now that the some of the economies are not in good condition themselves because the government spent more than they're bringing in now they're sort of going cap in hand to the banks and saying you've got to support us an obviously the banks don't like that they alerts talk about their economies of india and china they're alread

tokyo is the largest stock exchange in asia pacific. we look at this as a marker of how the rest of asia pacific will do, down 4%. it is falling below the 9,000 levels. psychologically, that's an important level here. and something we should put -- point out for some context is we haven't seen quake. shortly after the earthquake the stock exchange dropped to that level. this is the equivalent of a seismic shock for this country. the economic equivalent. we're seeing big losses among exporters. the companies that sell to america. panasonic, sony and toyota among some of the biggest losers. and it going to be in the words of one trade here spoke to me this morning, piers, in he can he said brace yourself. it will be a tough day. >> and obviously intriguing that japan went through a credit rating downgrade. it didn't seem to be too badly perturbed by it. describe what happened. >> reporter: what happened here with the downgrade is that people were irritated. you did see the government certainly react. but there wasn't that much concern. in

/japan alliance has served as the lynch pin of peace and security in the asia pacific region for the last half century. he said the u.s. and japan can ensure the next half century enjoys the same stability and prosperity. the u.s. has been seeking concrete progress on the long delayed relocation of a u.s. marine air base in okinawa within the prefecture. it is hoped that japan will also join negotiations for the trans pacific partnership at an early stage. the u.s. government wants to hold a bilateral summit late september at the earliest when noda will attend the u.n. general assembly in new york. time now for the latest in business news. we've had some fresh manufacturing come out and industrial production is a closely watched indicator in japan. what kind of numbers are we seeing? >> indeed. since april, right after the earthquake, we have managed monthly gains and industrial production for the month of july also rose 0.6% and that does mark an increase for a fourth consecutive month. the ministry of economy, trade, and industry announced that the output index at factories and min

we've seen that the economies here in asia pacific have done very well over the last two to three years they survived the previous financial crisis china is looking at about nine percent growth this year india eight percent and don't forget indonesia at about six point five percent that's about forty five percent of the world's population these are populations that have been been growing economic wealth has been growing so there are now significant spenders on retail themselves we've seen tremendous growth in the property market particularly in china we've seen china's car market now become the world's largest car market and i think major companies are looking for growth in asia pacific and they're diverting their attention to these markets and our business of course is keeping us up to date on developments dimitri has his eye on the markets are particularly after the release of the latest u.s. unemployment report and how are the markets responding now well initially there was a very positive response serve the dow jones and the nasdaq went up more than one percent one point two percent

become the world's largest car market and i think major companies are looking to for growth in asia pacific and they did birthing their attention to these markets and i think if you look at just the announcements that were made yesterday like by h.s.b.c. they're cutting back in europe but they're adding they're adding about five thousand people in asia pacific. carcase economists daniel tarbush says the asian economy will easily withstand america and europe storm our concern that we have now is that we have to see growth rates in asia come down a bit further from where we had been expecting them and if you remember in the global financial crisis previously a lot of banks in asia got very cautious so they themselves decided to limit their lending and that's likely what we will face again and compared to the global financial crisis you may remember actually asian economies and banks didn't get that hard hit so again the situation today is is not that worrisome compared to the last two crises in asia for china remember in the past that they were able to continue to grow their infrastructure pr

asia pacific markets thank you. both capitol hill as cash may be scarce but they'll be no dipping into what is the world's biggest military budget defense secretary leon panetta gave lawmakers a firm has softened said cuts should come from medicare and social services instead former pentagon official lawrence korb says america's defense bad mouth is in a drastic need of better management. well a secretary to france panetta is trying to basically keep the spirits up of the organization he took over but as former director of o.m.b. he knows that the defense budget now even if you control for inflation is higher than at any time since the end of world war two but i think the key thing to keep in mind is that when they talk about cuts up until now they've talked about reducing the projected level of increases not cutting when you and i talk about cutting means we're going to get less power that we got last week no in the defense department it means we won't get as much as we thought well we're still going to get more yo

they're cutting back in europe but they're adding they're adding about five thousand people in asia pacific meantime asian markets have joined friday's free fall but bangkok based economist daniel bush says that the region's economy will easily withstand america and europe's top while. concern that we have now is that we have to see growth rates in asia come down a bit further from where we had been expecting them and if you remember in the global financial crisis previously a lot of banks in asia got very cautious so they themselves decided to limit their lending and that's likely what we will face again and compared to the global financial crisis you may remember actually asian economies and banks didn't get that hard hit so again the situation today is is not that worrisome compared to the last two crises in asia for china remember in the past they were able to continue to grow their infrastructure program and banks were providing credit for that so china probably is still one of those countries where you'll still see acceptable growth remember they've been trying to manage down their gr

we've seen it the colonies here in asia pacific have done very well over the last two to three years they survived the previous financial crisis china is looking at about nine percent growth this year india eight percent and don't forget indonesia is about six point five percent that's about forty five percent of the world's population these are populations that have been have been growing economic wealth has been growing so they're now significant spenders on retail themselves we've seen tremendous growth in the property markets particularly in china we see china as a car market now become the world's largest car market and i think the major companies are looking for growth in asia pacific and they're diverting their attention to these markets and of course our business desk is keeping us up to date on the elements i don't need to see you know or having his eye on the market or any particular team or the latest u.s. unemployment report or what else you know well actually was expected the u.s. would add seventy five to eighty five new jobs reports came in half an hour ago saying one

now become the world's largest car market and i think major companies are looking for growth in asia pacific and they're diverting their attention to these markets. and our business of course is keeping us up to date on developments dimitri has his eye on the markets are particularly after the release of the latest u.s. unemployment report and how are the markets responding well initially there was a very positive response or the dow jones and the nasdaq went up more than one percent one point two percent we've seen them actually go up but right now it's all come back into negative territory so the dow is the lows of minus zero point six percent so it's really like a roller coaster ride barely very volatile investors being quite cautious as to opening long positions of course ahead of the weekend so they're mainly prefer in cash at the moment russian market also did see a rebound almost paring all of its losses in friday's trade but right now they've come back down more than two percent losses in negative territory i have more on that in around fifteen minutes. so you are. president of your

calls to slash the country's defense budget saying it would weaken its military presence in the asia-pacificregion. clinton appeared at a meeting of the national defense university in washington on tuesday with defense secretary leon panetta. clinton voiced concerns over the growing demand for big cuts in military spending. she said the united states is a pacific power and needs to maintain its presence in the region. >> we can't be abruptly pulling back or pulling out when we know we face some long-term challenges about how we're going to cope with what the rise of china means. >> panetta also warned against defense spending cuts saying they would result in a hollowing out of u.s. forces and weaken the country's ability to respond to threats in the world. earlier this month the u.s. congress enacted a law that allows the government to raise the debt limit in order to avoid default. in line with the law the u.s. defense department may have to cut its budget by up to $1 trillion over the next decade. >>> at the same meeting panetta talked about libya saying the government under moammar al gad

happy asia-pacific american week. thank you. [applause] >> and i heard the supervisor kim has joined us. thank you for being here. >> i look at david and jan and i would not be here if it were not for them. you have heard the professional side of it. 20 years ago, i was a very young reporter in montgomery, alabama, and our -- they decided, they had come out to san francisco and decided that they needed someone that looked just like her, and i was the only one in the newsroom in montgomery, alabama that look like her. do you know they forced me to do this show, and that started me on my road to coming out to san francisco and the bay area to live and work here and become part of the community. i thank jan for that. i had no idea who she was, but that is how i got my start in the coming out to california. on a quick personal note, 10 years ago, she says she works out, but she really just kind of talk to people on the machine at certification, asked a fellow should in london, and she said she had a single friend she got really need

hilton is growing at record rates across asia pacific and china in particular.qually important, we see dynamic growth both in a number of chinese travellers from mainland china, and guests with chinese origins who live in other parts of the world. our new program is based on our global expertise and more than two decades of working in china. we put our expertise from working in key parts of the world ar. our key goal is to provide welcome for our chinese guests as they explore the world. at the heart of program is our promise to insure every guest feels cared for, valued, and respected. >> our program includes team members fluent in chinese. in the guest room, we provide chinese tea available on request and dedicated television channels broadcasting chinese programming. >> our expert at hilton menu is expand its -- expanded to include chinese items. breakfast is 80 meal for our guests. >> there's a great deal of affinity and trust in china and around the world, and we have a tremendous responsibility to deliver on our promise and provide hospitality for the mill

>> the global stocks have continued to rally, with the asia-pacific rockets -- markets continuing to rally. new zealand was the first to follow the rebound. this was for at least two years. this was up by 2%. now this is up by 1.5%. singapore is in positive territory. the financials and technologies -- they continued to digest the federal reserve move to maintain the low interest-rate policy until 2013. analysts say that the reason economic fundamentals remain stable with strong consumer demands and an influx of investment. the question is whether the market's rally today, can these gains be sustained? the markets do not know because there is a lot of uncertainty. these have brought the market's down. the fears of a double-dip recession, this could lead to a further recession and the highest inflation, to heighten the interest rates. the dollar is falling broadly, more than 5% against the swiss franc. the oil prices continued to recover from the losses from yesterday. for more on the u.s. economy, we are joined in our studios by the chief investment officer from singapore groupl. . n

the south asia pacific markets. new zealand, australia. long and short of it, we knew, and we've known for hours that the u.s. markets would be volatile and probably down. now we're starting to get a number on that but please, let's have a bit of calm on this. we are, at least, 13, 14 hours from the u.s. markets. >> richard, this is a good point for me to jump in. maybe my question, what i wanted to ask, at this point, we're about 14 hours away from the open of the markets, has dow futures been down 300 points before? or is it usually down somewhere maybe 50, maybe 100, but 300, is that a troubling point sign at this point? >> i -- not really, that's a when did you stop beating your wife question. because, you know, yes. we have been -- normally the dow futures will be down five minutes, ten points, 20 points, 50 points. to see it down 300 points tells me that when the morning market opens, if it was to happen now, they would be clobbered out of bed and hit over the head with a big, heavy stick. that's what that's telling you. it's not sur

. >> biden also stressed the importance of bilateral ties for the peace and stability of the asia pacific region. >> in our alliance with japan will even become more important than in the past. it continues to be absolutely critical. >> during his three-day visit, he met with prime minister naoto kan but no substantial discussions were held. a planned meeting in early september between kan and u.s. president barack obama was cancelled because kan is due to step down. >>> the international atomic energy agency wants to carry out safety checks in all countries with nuclear power plants over the next three years. the nuclear watch dog has been working on an action plan to improve global nuclear safety since the crisis erupted at japan's fukushima daiichi plant in march. the latest draft of the plan compiled earlier this week urged safety checks in every country with nuclear power within the next three years. the draft also says that new plants should be checked to determine if they have appropriate reactor designs and safety measures. the draft will be discussed at a meeting of the iea board

this prompted members of the asia-pacific economic forum to hold an anti-disaster meeting in sendai focusing on the bcp. suzuki shared his experiences with delegates and experts from 18 economies, including japan and the united states. >> it very excellent. i think it's practical and effective for the disaster reduction and disaster relief efforts. >> translator: we want to learn more from the disaster experiences of other countries to improve our bcp. >>> susumu kojima is covering the story in sendai. susumu, how far has the economy and the disaster in the recovery zone recovered? >> here in sendai the traditional summer festival begins saturday and many people are expected to attend in the city center you do not get the impression that the tsunami and the quake actually hit this regio however, if you go to e coastal area in some parts there are still debris scattered around and local industries such as the fisheries and agriculture are struggling to recover from impact of the catastrophe. >> how can bcps contribute to reconstructing the region's economy? >> suzuki says the company's quick

main concern on the part of the asian pacific countries we're talking about the impact on the asia pacific countries what about for the u.s. so what's the worst case scenario for the us up the moment. well i think for the moment the obama administration's certainly has been weakened and the major concern of course is that the whole international financial community is that disappointed with the fact that the lowering of the long term debt has not been resolved rating agencies earlier. at least the reduction of long term debt of ten years by the amount of these four trillion us dollars and now we see only a reduction of two point four trillion dollars or so and is also expected that the deficit for you are among to about one trillion dollars next year about seven hundred five percent of the g.d.p. of the united states so there is a certain loss of confidence on the part of the united states that you cannot. you cannot have the political will and the political consensus to seriously deal with the long term issue and of course next year you have the president really lecturing you also of the

in the pacific is a different story asia pacific going to the seeing an uptick in defense expenditures you know spending more than defense some of the regional countries are doing the same thing ok well thank you very much for your insight there and camilla on a lighter note i actually have been going around been trying out some of the toys over here managed to get into the cockpit of one small plane but my colleague or a good i've never had to take a lot more fun he went behind the scenes with the a russian aerobatics teams and found out exactly what they do and the performance let's have a look. the atmosphere here at the cuban air field the stands for two of the most famous aerobatic teams in the world even a dress rehearsal. should they show interest for the russians and the swish trashes a new program ahead of the mikes show performance. to show stuff on the trademark nine plane diamond of two very different aircraft delight to mix in formation with the heaviest sea course. down from below the false jets listen for sink but as the pilots touch down tempo's run high among. its norm

arena let's not talk more about that with the air plus expected by price president for europe and asia pacific christopher buckley thank you very much for joining us this morning so is it is it realistic to be optimistic about the market given the situation the two thousand and nine months happened on the back of the financial crisis of two thousand and eight this is happening on the back of some crisis is it is it fair to be optimistic. but i think we can be. pretty optimistic right now you know i think we've been through the whole market has some big ups and downs over the last few years particular last couple of years but i think as demand for aircraft has shown this year the market is bouncing back i mean we're delighted to be here the opening day here in the gulf of max and seeing the interest from russian airlines in iraq seeing how the market is today you know i think we're optimistic about the way things are going i understand that air flight has put in orders for a three thirty s. but he also the russian russian manufacturer is planning to come up with an m s eighty five if i'm not mi

but still the currencies in the asia-pacific region gained against the greenback. reversing a two-day decline. south korea also stronger. that's now a three-year high. this is all pretty tentative stuff still, charles. >> indeed. one country that's been keeping an eye on the messy goings-on is china. beijing is the largest foreign holder of the u.s. debt and sometimes they've been pretty blunt in the way america has handled its finances. with more on that is cnn grant. i can understand why china might follow this with a little bit more interest than usual. actually they've been laughing up their sleeves the way the americans with their volted democratic system can't come up with the goods in terms of what will keep the financial markets happy, right? >> you are right about that, charles. there are two sides the political and economic. certainly when it comes to the political side, china never really loses an opportunity to do a little bit of chest beating. editorials here in state-run media accusing the united states of playing a political game of chicken, saying t

most asia-pacific markets ending friday moderately higher, rounding out a week of, well, what could be described as extreme volatility. better than expected data out of the u.s., including lower jobless numbers and cisco helping to boost investor confidence. let's go to all of the details of friday's action. tgif. >> back to you, andrew. most of the markets did end higher today, except for japan. the nikkei ended down 0.2%, failing to stay above that 9,000 mark, after touching it briefly this morning. automakers were the big pull, with nissan falling nearly 2%. and the yen has been gaining strength all day. it's trading about $76.71 to the dollar. that's hurting exporters in japan. in hong kong, the hang seng is up about 0.1%. we're seeing this is the third week in a row this index will be down overall. there's one major performance to fengs. that's li & fung, it beat first-half net forecasts. they're one of walmart's main clothing suppliers. in shanghai, that was up about 0.5%. it's coming along with more speculation that the central bank won't raise interest rates to fight inflation.

because it is having a true economic impact in asia pacific. tokyo is the largest stock market here in asia. it is also the second largest holder of u.s. debt. what they want to talk about are some market fundamentals. they want to hear that there is going to be some sort of turn-around and what they know is that this is a brave new world where it is no longer a aaa world for the united states. >> interesting though. a 1% decline going in the market. that is a run of the mill sell-off. that's nothing that makes it into the history books. >> reporter: certainly. and part of the reason for that is because of the g-7 statement, we're thinking. that's at least the thinking from the tokyo stock exchange. or there has been some positive movement out of europe. all of these factors combined. people were preparing over the weekend for a really bad day here so perhaps the preparation of that. and some positive moves may have contained some of the damage here. >> it will be a long day of trading still ahead. then another few hours before we get into the u

some land lifts in the asia pacific wondering if we are at the bottom of the market but others say we are not even close. >> anna, thanks. >>> we are tackled the economics for you. let's talk about the politics of this crisis. the white house is facing heavy pressure to shore up confidence and they are doing it pretty fast. brianna keilar, what are the things the administration could do today to ramp this up? >> reporter: you know, kyra, one of the things we have heard frequently from the administration is that the markets, the ratings agencies, these are things they can't control, and it may not be very reassuring but the strategy is certainly slower moving than the panic. you've seen the white house and they continue to emphasize this deficit reduction process. of course, you know that congress is away for this month, and what we heard yesterday from the president trying to be reassuring was that he was going to try to intervene in the process in terms of sending recommendations on entitlement reform and tax reform to that bipartisan commission that is going to be tackling this issu

here in the asia pacific is was a different story, most markets finishing down.ong kong hang seng closed down 0.5 the s&p asx 200 also down. more so in korea, seoul's kospi finished down 2.3%. the nikkei advanced for the first time in three days, closing up slightly. japanese exporters got a boost in the currency markets to reign in the appreciation of the yen. in china, the shanghai composite was up on speculation the federal reserve may introduce qe3 to stimulate the world's largest economy. ali, i have no doubt you will cover that sto. >>> we'll pick up what you said about the yen in just a moment. nina, let's first talk about what's going on in italy. a long speech by the prime minister yesterday warning that things are not as bad as markets seem to be treating them in italy. some serious problems. >> yes, absolutely, ali. silvio berlusconi made a rare appearance to the italian parliament during this crisis. what he said was that the banks were solvent, the country's economy was solid. but if you take a look at the bond yields on the italian ten-year debt, th

that's from the senior economist for asia pacific. he says interest rates are stimmive.onesia is relatively insulated from the rest of the world markets. decline in the u.s., decline in europe isn't having as much of an effect as it has on other countries that might have stronger or wider links to the west. >> when i was down there, the world economic forum, certainly a lot of positive news from the indonesian economy. it's good good resources, too. there are problems there. it's not all that rosey. >> the jakarta composite fell 13% in the last few weeks. it has risen to 8% recently. it got smacked by everything going on in the u.s. and europe. here it's a question of timeline. short term versus long term. if you want to be in it for the short term, maybe you shouldn't be in it because that's going to be so much more volatile. if you're in it for the long term, we're talking about emerging markets. >> a classic emerging marketplace. >> exactly. then you can stay in it for the long term. most asian economies are recurring and volatility is inherent for these economies. if

in the past week, the first to pull out were the asia-pacific markets, especially the chinese ones, which the confidence and optimism in this region. >> brown: the chinese have also kept a close eye on the situation in the u.s. as america's largest foreign creditor, china holds $1.2 trillion in u.s. government bonds. in beijing today, vice-president joe biden tried to shore up confidence in the u.s. economy. he told chinese president hu jintao that, when it comes to chinese investments in the u.s., "you have nothing to worry about." >> to get straight to the point, mr. president, president obama asked me to come to beijing to meet with you and others to reaffirm our absolute, total commitment to a strong and enduring positive relationship with china. >> brown: still, the recent debt ceiling battle in washington has drawn sharp criticism from beijing. last month, the state-run news agency, xinhua, complained the u.s. debate "kidnapped" the worldwide economy. it said american politicians had engaged in "dangerously irresponsible" political brinksmanship. this week, amid the biden visit, chi

china that contributes to international rules and norms and enhances security and peace in the asia pacific region and around the globe. united states is pursuing a comprehensive relationship with china capable of addressing challenges and advancing our shared interests. china's expanding headlight capabilities are able to contribute to the therefore of international public goods. however the pace and scope of china's sustained military investments have allowed china to pursue capabilities we believe are destabilize to regional military balances, increasing the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties. such capabilities could increase beijing's options for using military force to regain military advantage. this very much speaks to the logic that we see for sustained and reliable military to military dialogue and military security dialogue between the united states and china so that we can gain the transparency and strategic understanding that is necessary to forge that positive and comprehensive relationship. in fact in many ways i w

the players pretty much all reside in the east asia-pacific region aside from the united states. the implications are fairly profound. if you visited china 10 years ago compared with today, the differences are absolutely phenomenal. i believe that in order to truly understand the economics implications of the rise of asia and the way in which society has so transformed itself, you have to have visited on a very regular basis, because the rise of asia and specifically the rise of china has happened so quickly. the change of society, the development of society, the rise of their economy is so significant, so consequential with profound implications for our own country, i don't know that we have focused enough attention on what it means. to have. who -- to have who -- wha pres plugged into asia, i think is important. >> what should we be doing toward china, economically, politically, foreign policy? >> we have to get our own house in order. if we are going to compete with the chinese, if we are going to do what needs to be done as a competitive nation in the 21st century, we have a

and that is 2012 is an utterly extraordinary year in the asia-pacific region. have an election here. the chinese have their succession in the fall of 2012. 70% of the top leadership will march 2012, south korea later in the spring of 2012. potential political changes in b 2012. there has not been a year in several generations when all of the top national leaders were essentially focus on domestic politics and the politics of succession as 2012 will be. that's a terrible time to have a lousy economy and a lot of concerns about the future. >> one of the things, one of th> reasons i left bob taken to last year, we can always count on bob to take the long view to tell us it's not as bad as we really think it is. but let me just quote was something david wrote in the near times. he said the debt crisis chipped away at the global authority of president obama, celebrated by we came to office as a man who attended an air of -- now the topic of discussion on capital is whether the age of obama is giving way to an age of austerity, one that will inevitably reach american

commitment to the security of the asia-pacific region, to encourage china to andy a role in the region, a to partner with our asian allies and partners to address common security challenges. let me wrapup by offering that we hope that the report, which we think has a lot of a very interesting and useful -- we hope as a lot of a very interesting and useful analysis -- will contribute in a responsible fashion to the many things that are ongoing with respect to china's military modernization. with that, let me turn to your questions. >> you said in the beginning that the chinese military is destabilizing and then he went into a whole list of things the chinese have done. can you to specifically say which part of the buildup you consider destabilizing? >> i think i said it was a potentially destabilizing, and that speaks, again, to the importance of being able to have not just between the united states and china, but between china and other countries of the region, deep, sustained, continuous and reliable discussions and engagement between our military and security established so that we c