And nurses in an intensive care unit five forces in the Southern City of mitigating managed to rescue dozens of others trapped by the flames an investigation is now on the way. Those are our current headlines you can catch up with all of those on our website at. Aljazeera dot com stay with us all counting the cost is coming up next as always thanks very much for your company. For the benefit of saddam. Who witnessed documentaries that open your eyes. At this time on aljazeera. Hello im sammys a than this is counting the cost on aljazeera your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week a problem with davus an exclusive ski resort host of the rich and powerful to discuss making the world a better place but for who. Also this week African Skies moves are afoot to open up air travel across the continent when it prove a game changer for the regions economy. Class slavery see the link between supermarket shrimp and forced labor in one of the Worlds Largest food exports. A tiny town in the swiss mountains has hosted the World Economic forum every january for the past forty six years the rich powerful and famous mingle over five days of sessions and thats working the stated aim for this annual event improving the world high in the alpine problems of inequality are discussed by some of the planets richest and most successful leaders of industry. Men outnumber women this year for the very first time there were all female cochairs here to Environmental Issues are discussed by some of the worlds biggest polluters but the feeling on less elevated ground are they truly addressing the need for a more just Global Economic system the International Elites are acutely aware of the widening gap between rich and poor gender inequality and the derating state of the environment and then nervous about the political fallout the people in this room. Are immensely privileged we owe it to society to use this privilege for good we should ask ourselves do we want to live in a world where the wealthy hide in their gated enclaves or those around them struggle or do we want to help create a world grounded in the notion of fairness. A modest sum and some important questions come to mind which require adequate answers for the kind of world we want to leave the generation whose is the global order widening the supposed lines is it increasing these differences what are the powers that give reference to isolationism and opposed to harmony which give reference to conflicts over cooperation in. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi there who opened this years event u. S. President donald trump was the closing speaker diplomatic editor james bays has more on why donald trump went to davus. President trump clearly decided to perform the role of salesman in chief when he addressed the global elite here at davos this was a pretty conventional speech in which he talked about the achievements he says they have been in the last year and the priorities for the trumpet ministration talking about cutting bureaucracy saying for every one new regulation that his administration has introduced twenty one regulations have been got rid of and an old by this administration he made it clear that the u. S. Is open for investment im here to deliver a simple message there has never been a better time to hire to build to invest and to grow in the United States america is open for business and we are competitive once again in recent days theres been criticism of President Trump on his administration for introducing new terrorists what some would say is protectionism on solar panels and on washing machines but in this speech he made a plea for free trade but he said all countries need to play fair we cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others. This speech i think will be seen as a success by the white house in fact as they left the secretary of state Rex Tillerson and the treasury secretary stephen munition both told out zero it was an excellent speech how will it be received here by those that come every year to divorce one person who does that and has been to davos very many times said that people here like to hear concrete announcements this person quoted president macross saying that he would stop all coal powered power stations by the year twenty twenty one there were no such announcements in Donald Trumps speech the veteran go of dove or said to me what people would not be impressed with was mara lago happy talk its for you to decide whether thats what was delivered here james pays for counting the cost in davos well joining us from glasgow is Gregory Irwin gregor is a chief economist at the Global Council good to have you with us so the stated goal of davus is to make the world a better place but for home greg the davus elite really looking out for the interests of all. Well i think its an open question about exactly whose interests theyre looking out for but but issues around inequality how the benefits of globalization. Is going to benefit from new technologies digitalisation of the economy these are all issues that are being debated actively in davos this week but is it looking good when you have for example the i. M. F. Saying were going to have in twenty eighteen perhaps the best Global Economic growth in a decade and at the same time youve got an organization like oxfam that saying now you have forty two individuals holding as much wealth as three point seven billion to make up the poorest half of the worlds population that doesnt bode a good Economic Future for the world doesnt that its a very stark contrast and absolutely for sure its a problem for people at davos its also a problem for policymakers we could think youve got to you could have you get it through Different Levels theres partly this question of inequality between countries and one of the things weve seen happen over the past decade two decades has been a not knowing of inequality between countries as emerging countries drawn faster and the prospects for faster growth in countries like india are looking very good just this week in davos we had their own dream already saying that he wants to double the size of the Indian Economy between now and twenty twenty five thats a huge ambition but also at the same time youve got inequality within countries and thats where the record is is much less you get very real difficult to erode inequality in countries like the United States but you also see it in europe and increasingly you see it in american countries including in india is it fair to say that the Global Economic system is not working for all of the reasons you just mentioned there. Well its certainly working for some its certainly also delivering and has delivered over the past ten years an improvement in the Living Standards of many people in putting many people in the poorest countries but there are real questions about just how widely shared the benefits are we are seeing not just the concentration of incomes in among richer people but also wealth wealth inequality is perhaps more important than income inequality thats tied in with this question of Monetary Policy low Interest Rates and a low Interest Rate world asset prices become much higher much more inflated and that boosts the wealth of the wealthiest and thats one of the reasons why we know see wealth concentrated in such a small group of people many of whom are in davos this week what should do you think davus be promoting in order to overcome some of the challenges that we see on the Global Economic landscape. Well look i think on this question of income inequality one issue that people are diverse will need to consider is executive pay just whether executive pay really is grounded in reality whether pay differentials between the leaders of corporations and many of the people that work for those corporations are no justifiable so i think that is an issue for people at davos and beyond that i think when you look at new technologies when you look at the prospects for digitalisation for Artificial Intelligence the impact that they will have on the economies of the future you know were seeing new technologies becoming mainstream no beginning to become mainstream super the start of a process here thats going to open up a whole new set of issues around disruption to jobs and b. Tension we will widen some of the inequalities that weve seen in recent years or i will leave it there for now thanks for talking to us thank you very much. China and south korea have condemned the u. S. Decision to impose state tariffs on imported solar cells and washing machines adrian brown has the details from beijing what china had been anticipating these terrorists because of course President Trump has been talking a lot about this during the past few months now these tariffs are going to be phased in gradually over the coming weeks and months so its not going to happen immediately china is warning that of course washing machines made by china solar panels made by china are going to be much more expensive for u. S. Consumers its also saying that what the United States is doing is a misuse of trade laws but i think china is paying much more attention to an investigation the president from ordered last year under Section Three or one of the u. S. Trade act now specifically this investigation has been looking at chinese intellectual property practices areas like telecoms and also semiconductors now if President Trump is to impose tariffs on these sectors then that could hurt china because these exports are worth billions of dollars to china much more valuable than the washing machine or Solar Industry and i think what experts are saying is that what we may be seeing possibly are the opening shots in a trade war but what is more likely is increased trade friction between these two countries in the weeks and months ahead neither country can afford to have a trade war because of course china has so many investments in the United States and the u. S. Is a major investor here in china boeing starbucks General Motors these are two economies that are mutually dependent on one another and cannot afford to have a full blown trade war right now so those experts still to come on counting the cost im sorry plant in hong kong coming up why the city famous for its neon signs and blue going skyline may be under pressure to do the lives and switched off. Now fresh accusations Migrant Workers are still being abused in the thai fishing industry for years after their appalling working conditions made headlines Human Rights Watch says government reforms to address trafficking and forced labor have been largely ineffective victoria gates and the reports. Seafood caught in thailands winters ends up in markets all around the world. But in twenty fourteen the industry was badly damaged by accusations that many of its workers were victims of trafficking and forced labor. For years on and Human Rights Watch says the situation is as bad as ever despite government promises to clean up the industry after three years it is unbelievable got people inspection has not been able to identify a single case of forced labor at all the bottom line is many fishermen still work long hours with little pay for years abuses from captain and to escape from the dilemma. The thai fishing industry depends on low skilled Migrant Workers from neighboring countries many of them continue to be trafficked across the border and sold on to fishing boats despite being promised other jobs on land they complain of being forced to work through violence or intimidation of physical and mental abuse and of a struggle to get paid. So i thought about running away from the boat but if i try to escape theyd pay people to hunt me down theyd beat me up and smash my head and so many injured back to the boat Industry Leaders say thats not a picture they recognise and that all Migrant Workers have their rights respected. Who are poor i mean they are the consumers of america and europe can eat our seafood every think is fine every problem has been fixed by the current government the boats are correct and the workers are correct there is no more forced labor. International pressure. From outraged consumers led to the introduction of reforms to protect micro workers but without effective enforcement the thai fishing industry continues to be a big but one that also comes at a significant human cost. Thailand exports one point eight million tons of seafood annually and is one of the top five global exporters of shrimp seafood from thailand ends up in supermarket frozen aisles and even as canned pet food the three biggest markets for thai seafood are the u. S. Japan and the European Union but trafficking persists on thai fishing boats and the seafood on your plate and in your sushi could still be fish by whats being called slaves as a result there are calls for Seafood Companies and supermarkets to take more responsibility for proving supply chains are free from rights abuses or Multinational Companies say they investigate allegations of abuse in their supply chains they rarely share negative findings its about to get easier for almost seven hundred million africans to travel by air in the continent the idea of a single african ad transport market was first put forward at the African Union some thirty years ago well its now finally being launched its one of the pan african agenda twenty sixty three flagship projects the plan aims to use our transportation as an engine for Economic Growth tanya page has more. Ethiopian airlines is spreading its wings across africa buying parts of other countrys National Carriers the a. T. O. Paean expansion is expected to be boosted by the African Unions launch of a single is space during at summit in edison this week mark potter who runs the African Diaspora forum in south africa hes originally from ivory coast and constantly feel travel complaints flying in africa. Are when. But to get burns on your have to create a different flight and i could not believe. When i when i fly to france after ten hours. I live in france i mean another continent africans often have to fly to european cities as transit stops first before flying on to african countries journeys that should last hours sometimes take days not only does time consuming and expensive air travel keep families apart but it hinders Economic Development easier travel will help africans do business with each other another important priority for the African Union. Prosper is the chairman of the Pan African Business Forum the entrepreneur runs a charter Flight Company to help Business People get around the lack of direct routes as well as liberalizing air space for African Airlines he says the a you should be charging interNational Carriers more to fly in Africa Africa is that all is this where everybody come and do whatever he wanted you cant do that in the u. S. You cant do that in europe but you can come to africa you can fly in the drop anywhere. To get into that theres billions the Airlines Association of Southern Africa says a single is space could provide a major boost to the Continental Airlines if you look at the whole question of International Aviation into africa eighty to eighty two percent of the passengers are carried by International Airlines and the eighteen percent is owned by african lines so theres a huge disparity between. The United Nations says up to the year twenty fifty more than half of the worlds population growth will be in africa the launch of a single is space is a step closer to meeting their travel needs and aspirations. Joining us from london now is charles robertson. Charles is the global chief economist at Renaissance Capital all run cap hes also the lead author of the book the fastest billion the story behind africas economic revolution good to have you with us so lets start with this open skies agreement what sort of a boost would that give the continents economy i think is a nice segue know about integration in africa i dont think its going to make much of a difference going to help those of us who are traveling around the continent and dont want to be flying back to amsterdam paris or london to go from country to country but in terms of economic boost its not going to affect our forecasts at all or hang on you said it will help with the travel connections inside the continent how would that change given the majority of the market up to eighty percent of passenger travel is dominated by foreign carriers that theres an opportunity there for carriers to be growing and have been growing Ethiopian Airlines Kenya Airways theyre all doing into continent travel within the continent and it would make it easier with an open skies agreement there has already been some expansion of those airlines in west africa much more problematic you havent seen anything like that developed out of nigeria and again maybe the open skies will make a small difference. Will it not impact as the promoters of the plan say things like trade in the movement of goods and services i doubt its what would be more helpful would be the free trade arrangement within africa other some still hope to achieve in the long run that might make more of a difference in our view or in my view the most important trade growth is going to come from selling to the rest of the world its hard to design a developed its how japan developed thats more important in the long run what will come to the c. F. T as i think its called in a minute but lets talk about corruption thats another big theme at the a you summit its a big obstacle to Economic Growth. This is some is being held under the slogan of fighting corruption finding that sustainable path to make that transition do you have any more optimistic expectations of what the summit could do to try and find a Sustainable Way to fight corruption not much i think the strongest link on transparency internationals corruption score as with any other indicator is with per capita g. D. P. Rich countries on average have a corruption score of seventy seven out of one hundred thats pretty good. Countries with an income below two and a half thousand dollars per capita g. D. P. Have an average score of twenty eight out of one hundred and the big leap happens at about the thirty thousand dollars mark of per capita g. D. P. No country in africa has g. D. P. That high its where career is now and youre seeing president ial change in career because its reached that income level because the middle class is that strong that it will make a difference you cant make that much of a difference in low Income Countries theres more urgent priorities for everybody than dealing with corruption but i want to make though of the argument that says that yes there may be more urgent priorities for governments on the National Level maybe people. Hands are tied but the idea of activating that two thousand and six African Union convention on corruption activating that Advisory Board which was created so that it can sort of sit on top of Corruption Cases on the National Level too far fetched. Theres no harm in going head in trying to push against corruption its not helpful i agree with the African Union in their goal and ambition i just think its unrealistic to assume a dramatic rise in corruption scores i have a better performance against it for most countries you get some rare exceptions rwanda has a score of fifty four out of one hundred which is double the average of countries that its income level but its a its a very small country its very well organized and dominated by a strong president thats not normal and more normal is to assume not a great deal of change on the corruption side or this so talk a little bit about that Continental Free Trade Area you think negotiations will be wrapped up in this summit. Arent going to be very quick progress on this for many many years but its not a bad goal and its something which you would hope the African Union would be well placed to try and make progress on again i still think that its straight to the rest of the world which will be more important thats where the wealth is youve got over a billion people in africa as you know but in terms of global g. D. P. Its about two percent or so ninety eight percent of the worlds wealth is outside of africa and thats what tapping into that exporting to wealth is what will bring manufacturing industrialization and so on to africa and much stronger growth rates good talking to charles thanks for coming and finally hong kong may be famous for its bright neon signs and glittering skyline but its also earned the title of one of the worst cities in the world for like pollution now many residents are calling for authorities to flick that off switch on those infamous lights sarah clarke reports from hong kong. When the sun sits at home home the city skyline comes alive billboards and neon lights aluminite the crowded streets. The glow from the densely packed skyscrapers is one of the citys Main Attractions oh my god the lights were so on. And with it so nice but this appreciation is not shared by everyone in hong kong last year the government reported a Record Number of complaints the curtains may be drawn residents argue the glare outside is hard to a skype we receive some complaints about the Light Pollution they get in the sauna or they have. To stop us from the light outside the building to. Their home scientists at the university of hong kong spent months studying levels of Light Pollution collecting more than five million measurements but i found hong kong one of the worlds worst offender the lights pollution condition in hong kong was extremely severe in particular in the urban regions you know that the lights night sky brightness which is what we measure is on average a few hundred times over the level off that night sky without Light Pollution in cities such as so london shanghai im sorry billboard lighting and signage is regulated and there are penalties for the more but in hong kong there are no laws of voluntary charging card just businesses to switch off between eleven pm and seven am the critics say its not enough to make a difference. The government says four thousand eight hundred properties have signed up to the charges so far and its satisfied that its working we are doing our utmost to address this puppy concerned we are we attach importance to the voting to extend life and is taking effect if they dont everyone is convinced and some residents are take it upon themselves to act so each outlet or campaign to have a commercial building switch off after midnight she won but she. The lights to eventually turn back on i know that the building has side the child has turned on logic but just charge of eternal life is no one is. For now it seems hong kongs broad will continue to shine. And thats our show for this week but remember you can get in touch with us via twitter use the hash tag a j c t c when you do or drop us an email counting the cost of aljazeera dot net is our address theres more for you on line to aljazeera dot com slash c t c take you straight to our page which has individual reports links and the entire episode for you to catch up on. That set for this edition of counting the cost im sammys a than from the whole team here thanks for joining us news and aljazeera is next. Discover a wealth of Award Winning programming from around the world we need more and find professionals parity is to mind always a new generation to study finds powerful documentary debate some discussion as to be critical of almost all sexism challenge your perceptions the contours of this story are shaped by the interests of the countries involved only on aljazeera. From Satellite Technology to three d. 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