Transcripts For WHUT 20091229

and humidity, alternating with monsoon downpours...such can be the special challenges of golfing near the equator. weather delays forced organizers othe third iskandar johor open in malaysia to trim the event to just 54 holes. a million dollars in prize money attracted a strong field, including asias top golfer, south koreas kj choi. >>choi very difficult this course and accuracy is very important. and yesterday im hitting left and right and the rough. and hit it, so many bounce and kick over the greens. >>reporter: a regular on the pga tour, choi got huge local support that took the golfer himself by surprise. >>choi: early morning im very surprised, everybody come: hey, keep going kj! >>reporter: and go he did. choi ended the weatherhit second round in second place, behind the 22yearold indian, himmat rai. a lot of young golfers have performed well and even won on the asian tour this year, suggesting big things to come for asian golf. >>reporter: the tour itself has steered safely around the hazards of a global economic downturn. >>han: early in the year it was pretty challenging with the economic situation and all that. but you know we lost a couple of tournaments but most of the sponsors stood by us. we had some long term agreements in place and also now we added 2 new tournaments in this later part of the year. >>reporter: a lot of interest is coming from well beyond asia, boosted by the tours global tv presence. >>slack: weve managed to get a fantastic field so were very, very eased. and when you get a good field obviously the media interest increases, the television distribution increases, so the return on investment for the sponsor therefore increases. >>reporter: the lead sponsor of this event was iskandar malaysia a special economic zone that aims to become a thriving metropolis and centre for industry and services. in just the three years since its launch, the zone, a short drive from singapore has managed to attract more than 13 billion dollars of investment. it sees the golf event as a good fit. >>johari: the exposure is actually great globally and we know the target, in terms othe size, the reach in terms of the people watching the programme. its the right kind of audience that we want to actually be aware of iskandar malaysia. >>reporter: this part of malaysia has nearly two dozen golf courses that already attract players from neighbouring singapore and points farther east. >>othman: we have the basic requirement as a destination for golfing by virtue of the number of golf courses that we have of some quality. so what we need to do is actually to get the golf courses together andthen promote it as a destination for sports. reporter: heading into the final round, choi sat a stroke behind leader rai, with goosen a seemingly impossible seven shots further back. >>reporter: while rai played solidly, choi erased his lead with a series of birdies. and that kept him ahead ofa charging goosen who shot a superb 10under, good for joint third. >>reporter: but it was to be chois day. >>choi: its a great tournament this week and first time ever the asian tour, the first victory. iskandar the sponsor, thank you. the volunteers and the fans fantastic this week. thank you very much. i loveit in malaysia. >>reporter: and malaysia loves him...as well as the tournaments former champion. >>goosen: yes its nice to be back here. unfortunately i couldnt defend the title but i had a great week anyway. reporter: and just as goosen did last year, choi signaled hell be back to try to defend his iskandar open crown next year....pleasing sponsors, organizers...and above all, his fans. >> abirached: the prize money at the johor open has more than tripled since the first tournament two years ago, and organizers are looking to boost it further next year. their also hoping the event will be cosanctioned by the european tour helping to draw more big name golfers to southern malaysia. back to you raya >>reporter: thank you rian as the economic centre of the world shifts eastwards, it is becoming clearer to western economies that if they want to thrive in the 21st century then closer ties with emerging markets are crucial. with that in mind italy recently made a trip to india to forge bonds between the two countries. and some of the ideas that will create those bonds are truly innovative. >>reporter: india, along with countries like china and brazil - is one of the economic glittering prizes. whilstmost western countries have been struggling through the financial crisis indias economy is still showing growth of between six and seven per cent a year . with a population of over a billion, and an expanding middle class of some 350 million. >>valla: i would say india is as good a choice as brazil for example. because you know we have demographic trends that tell us that those countries are going to grow faster than our countries and this is a fact of life and this is going to be a fact of life for the next forty years. so youd better be there early enough to be able to take part in the development process. >>urso: india is not only a vast, significant and populous country of 1 .1 billion people, it is also the country with the youngest demography, a population younger than china. what this means is in the future, india has the growth potential of its own enterprises, own production activities and its own domestic consumption, that no other country in the world has. >>reporter: which is why italy organid a unique trade mission to new delhi and mumbai earlier this month. >>vattani: well it is a fundamental one, a fundamental mission because it brings together over 130 firms but also eight regions of italy from the north, from the centre, from the southern part of italy and this will give indians a very good image of the economic system in italy and also of the many areas in which italy retains a leadership. >>reporter: one of italys economic successes is the way in which much of its industry is grouped in clusters based around familyrun small and mediumsized industries. its a system that resonates with the indians. >>sharma: many of the companies which have come here representing the small and medium enterprises, which to my mind play a very significant role in the growth of an economy. they represent a strength and also are incubators of technologies. in my count too small and medium enterprises provide not only large employment, but also contribute to 40% of what india produces and india exports. >>reporter: traditionally, to many indians, the made in italy brand is summed up by food and fashion but the trade mission has helped convince them theres more. and that trade is a twoway street. >>singhania: some of the very promising areas for italian investment in india - are infrastructure, design, fashion and lifestyle, financial services, agriculture, manufacturing, space industry and biotechnologies. there are many opportunities for new businesses, joint ventures and knowledge transfer between italian and indian companies. we just have to be aware of them. >>reporter: a sentiment the italians agree wholeheartedly with. >>scajola: italy is one of the main commercial partners of india. the volume of our bilateral trade is significant - 8 billion us dollars -but keeping the potential and size of the indian economy in mind, this figure is still small. our trade with india can and must grow substantially. >>reporter: they are certainly putting the effort in. over 300 indian companies attendedhe conferences organised by the trade mission, some three thousand businesstobusiness meetings were held, as well as a number of memos of understanding signed; covering areas such as intellectual copyright, training and cofinancing, delegates were understandably optimistic. the aim is high - to increase bilateral trade to over us$17.5 billion in the next few years. >>mancini: it is a reasonable ambition, as long as the international economic framework resumes growth. therefore in international growth over the next few years this is a reasonable aim. if its not three years,it will be four. but we will reach it. >>reporter: one of indias business superstars, ratan tata, even endorsed the ambition when ceiving the order of merit of the italian republic, one of countrys highest honours. >>tata: ........thank you very much for this great honour. i shall cherish it and i will do my little bit tomake industry between ourselves better and bigger.thank you >>reporter: the concept of the italian regions dealing directly with indian states, rather than country to county, was pushed hard. but the italians also used the trade mission to sow the seeds of what they hope will become another irresistible attraction to doing business with them. that italy should, with its mediterranean ports, become indias logical gateway not just to italy - but to the whole of europe. >> abirached: thats it for this weeks world business. thanks for watching. well see you again at the same time next week. >> abirached: hello