thank you forjoining us, shara njit leyl, with a shift. , sharanjit leyl, with a rosy two coming from the east. —— rosy hue. let's head to dubai now — the so—called city of gold. traders there buy and sell $75 billion worth of the stuff every year. part of the reason for its success is that gold is untaxed, and therefore cheap. but from the start of next year, the government will be levying tax on gold sales. some worry this could dent the market. from dubai, here'sjeremy howell. dubai, a place to buy and honourable goal. but behind the bleeding in the windows, changes on the way. gold traders have been told that from the start of 2018, they must charge value added tax at a rate of 5%. some are nervous about what that might mean for business. people, you know, they are not ready to pay. the goal is ready at higher price. the price of the tax will be more. business will come down, definitely. it will fall by 15%— 20%. business will come down, definitely. it will fall by 15%- 20%. people come to the actor won gold market from all over the mid

let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story.leyl full is not it would seem that this is the backbone of japan's export market. electronics and cars. that's right, sally. it is also the risk global demand that is leading to that growth. it is the cars, the electronics, that has led to the uptick in exports forjapan. also imports grew with oil. we saw exports rise in 14% in october imports grew with oil. we saw exports rise in 14% in 0ctoberfrom the previous year and imports were up the previous year and imports were up nearly 19% from last year. it was really things like, looking at the breakdown of shipments of cars to australia, liquid crystal device production equipment and plastics to china, that led to the gain in exports and crucially, shipments to china, in fact, exports and crucially, shipments to china, infact, the exports and crucially, shipments to china, in fact, the largest trading partner, rose 26% in october from last year to well over y1 trillion which was the highest value on record. really, all of this robust gr

my name is shara njit leyl. you asia business report. my name is sharanjit leyl.ou could say it was the start of the shopping season in many countries around the world. before we get there, what is on the economic and business calendar for the next few days? japan just reported its trade data, showing it is gaining traction. it rose 14% from last year. later today, we have thailand enacting its third—quarter gdp numbers. 0n thailand enacting its third—quarter gdp numbers. on thursday, singapore does basically the same, out with its data. and we know that thursday is also a public holiday in the us as they celebrate thanksgiving. no mention that because the very next day is the biggest shopping day of the year in america. in fact, it is called black friday, because traditionally it was the day of the year when many retailers would be in the black or profitable. nowadays, it is known as the date retailers offer specials to shoppers and start the festive season. earlier, i spoke to alex staples, and asked whether he thought the japanese are peak would last. it looks

let's go to our asia business hub, where shara njit leyl is following the story., this one. softbank co nsta ntly interesting, this one. softbank constantly buying bits of this and that. tell us about this latest investment in uber. that's right, sally. lots of speculation has been swirling about that some sort of $1 billion deal could be made, but financial details of the investment have not yet been disclosed, as yet, and what it could be is potentially one of the largest private start—up deals ever. now, so far we have got a statement from uber saying they have entered into agreement with a consortium led by softbank, and that this would essentially help fuel investments in the elegy and their continued expansion at home, as well as abroad, while strengthening corporate governance. those last two words, corporate governance, that is key because it alludes to the many problems uber has had over leadership turmoil, executive departures, sexual harassment claims. the fact that venture capitalfirm claims. the fact that venture capital firm benchmark has an outstand

that's been the top story for our asia business team — shara njit leyl is following it for us.mp in quarterly hugejump in quarterly revenues huge jump in quarterly revenues for alibaba especially field by its online shopping. they rose by 61%, a $.3 online shopping. they rose by 61%, a $5 billion. online shopping. they rose by 61%, a $.3 billion. the firm also raised its revenue prediction for its forecast. we knew it was expanding to other things as well, investments in supermarkets and stores, started by jack in supermarkets and stores, started byjack mark, in supermarkets and stores, started by jack mark, the in supermarkets and stores, started byjack mark, the billionaire. also its shopping platform. active users in the chinese retail marketplace grew by about 539 million, up a staggering 20 million injust three months. it has been on a hugely strong run with its shares more than doubling in value and it is gearing up doubling in value and it is gearing upfor doubling in value and it is gearing up for the annual block buster singles day event on november 11. a huge sales bo