from the labour party for two years. he has already served one year of his suspension. now it is time to catch up with the business news, with mariko oi.. from delhi to mumbai, we track the agenda of philip hammond on his india visit. and thailand's property sector, 20 years after the asian financial crisis. welcome to asia business report. we are live from singapore. british finance minister philip hammond heads to mumbai today as part of the uk's trade push to show that there a world of opportunity for britain outside of europe. his first stop in delhi on wednesday saw him meet with india's finance minister. the uk wants to attract the brightest minds. that's what philip hammond told founders from india's start—up community at a cafe in central delhi. his discussions with the finance minister included trade, financial services and infrastructure and talks focused on a post except trade deal. big uk plans to tighten immigration, but this didn't come up. business leaders seemed optimistic about the future. there is a great ability and opportunity for india to really liberalise its regime on how financial industry is expanding india. instead of rising domestic sales and a dramatic change in the digital world, thanks to the unique identity which india has. india is very important to business. do i get frustrated? you very important to business. do i get frustrated ? you see very important to business. do i get frustrated? you see so many opportunities in india, it is such a fa st opportunities in india, it is such a fast moving place, of course sometimes you wish you could capture those opportunities quicker. my main wish is for more consistency and less bureaucracy. mr hammond had one simple message, make an india that finances in the uk. in the capital he will need more business leaders and officials from the reserve bank of india. an institution that will be crucial for of india. an institution that will be crucialfor any of india. an institution that will be crucial for any future partnership. india needs more than $1.5 trillion of capital infrastructure alone in the coming yea rs, infrastructure alone in the coming years, so infrastructure alone in the coming years, so there is plenty of opportunity for both sides. president donald trump says he is working on sweeping reforms to the banking regulations, introduced in the us following the financial crisis in 2007. he has promised a rollback to make it easier for businesses to get loans. in terms of what he can do, this would require congress due get involved, it would involve rewriting the law that was passed by president obama back in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. essentially toughening up laws on banks and financial institutions. so any changes to that would require votes and passage through congress. as we've seen before, donald trump has struggled with the healthcare law. will he be able to craft new legislation on this issue that would get through? some republicans have been talking about this in advance of the day's meeting and has suggested that republican lawmakers are already at work trying to craft something. one of the things they are looking at is how they can pay for tax reform and they are trying to see if there's anything that could save the government might be and be put towards tax reform. —— money. anti—trust regular could have given preliminary approval to cap china's takeover of a swiss pesticide giant. but federal trade commission ruled that it would require the company in china to divest from three chemical products. the takeover would mark the biggest overseas ta keover the takeover would mark the biggest overseas takeover by a chinese firm. over the thailand. our week—long series looking at the property industry. like many other asian cities, real estate prices keep on going up. just last month a luxurious condo unit was sold at a record price of $19 million in central bangkok. the country has come a long way from 20 years ago when the asian financial crisis devastated the thai economy. what driving the property market? jonathan head reports. in its day, this building was one of the most spectacular and desirable residential projects anywhere in this region. then a massive financial crisis struck thailand and 20 years later this building still stands empty, a stark lesson to the day's property developers. —— today's. we've reached the 37th floor and from up here you really can see just how much the city has grown in the two decades since the crash. once again, bangkok is in the grip ofa crash. once again, bangkok is in the grip of a property boom. much of it happening along new railway line is being built out into the suburbs. apartment blocks are rising along this route is. they are aimed especially at first—time buyers. experienced property developers steer clear of the riskier low—end market. he is focused on luxury properties. the price right now for this property is lower than the market price. like this property near central bangkok. demand is so high here that he can buy a small apartment and resell it almost immediately at a substantial profit. people in the low end don't have much money and the bank doesn't give the markets, so this will be the problem. but at the moment which people have money and can buy anything they want. if you buy a high end property, people don't use rational much because they have money, they just use rational much because they have money, theyjust use emotion. he showed me and other project which has been heavily marketed overseas. —— another project. foreign, mainly asian, why account for nearly half of the purchases. but is buying uppity in thailand are good long—term investment, as rents are generally low. —— property. a rise in price is not certain. we feel an average rise for midmarket too high end property isjust average rise for midmarket too high end property is just shy of 5%. so the cost is 4%, the cost of the loan, that wipes out any return you might make. so is all of this construction sign of dangerously irrational exuberance? on my 20 yea rs irrational exuberance? on my 20 years ago, the banks in thailand are being a lot more cautious with their lending. some property projects might fail, but most will not. and there aren't many people in thailand who worry about another big crash. the man behind bangladesh's booming private equity fund says he isn't worried about security concerns and labour unrest in the country. he explained why the labour protest late last year involving thousands of workers doesn't really threaten the country's $30 billion garment industry. do you know how many people work in the garment sector in bangladesh? more than 5 million people. there are thousands of factories. so, 1000 workers were demonstrating or lost theirjobs. that's a fraction of the number of people the sector employs. the plaza was a tragedy. most of the factories in bangladesh are now complying. buyers comply with the consortium is. if you look at their report, most factories are quite compliant. bangladesh saw a very violent 2016, particularly marked by a devastating cafe attack when more than 20 people we re cafe attack when more than 20 people were killed in the capital. you represent the largest private equity gi’oup represent the largest private equity group in bangladesh. tell us, why should foreign investors be putting their money there? as a country we addressed it. there was quite strong action taken, quite a few people arrested. and some parts have been extremely quiet. there was some fear, but if you look at the day, the flights are all booked, the hotels are booked, it is his going as usual. of course nobody likes violence, but what happened injuly was a 1—off. violence, but what happened injuly was a 1-off. this is how asian markets started trading this morning. japan's nikkei up byjust over .5%. basically shrugging off the missile fired by its neighbour north korea. in tokyo, once again, we will be monitoring this toshiba shares. they are recovering after sharp falls on monday and tuesday. the energy sector is leading the game on wall street. that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. the top stories this hour: the us has accused syria's president of brutal, unabashed barbarism, after an apparent chemical attack left at least 58 people dead. one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war has sparked global condemnation. the un is set to stage emergency talks. a married couple in county armagh have been jailed for the sexual abuse of a woman they held captive for eight years. the victim had severe learning difficulties and when she was discovered by police weighed just six stone. chris buckler‘s report contains some harrowing testimony. for almost a decade, this estate in craigavon housed the secret of serial abuse. inside their home and hidden from view, keith and caroline baker kept a woman with severe learning disabilities a virtual prisoner. during those eight years, keith baker and his wife repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted her, and she wasn't his only victim. he was raping me for 13 years and i couldn't tell anybody about it, and it was hurting. mandy highfield lived with the couple and she's the mother of some of keith baker's children. she says she didn't know that the bakers were sexually abusing the vulnerable woman held captive in their house, but she eventually contacted the police because of the squalid conditions she was being kept in. she was 45 and that, but she was like a 12—year—old. keith took the handle off the door. there was no light bulb in the light, no carpet on the floor, no curtains up against the window. it was like a little prison. they were sick people, just really sick people. when the police found the woman, inside an unlit bedroom in the house, she weighed just six stone and the court was told that she only had one sound tooth. neighbours say keith baker seemed controlling of his wife, but they'd no idea what was happening behind the doors. i just thought she was in a situation of domestic violence with an abusive husband, that didn't let her out, that was controlling. but, as i say, it was very, very quiet. the woman had been reported missing by her husband in england in march 2004, when the bakers took her to northern ireland, supposedly on holiday. but it wasn't until december 2012 that she was discovered in this house, along with videos of the bakers abusing her. the whole case is extremely upsetting, it's horrific and it's depraved and the suffering of this woman, over a period of around eight years, can only be imagined. that's it from me. time now for sport today. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme. zlatan ibrahimovic scores a late penalty as manchester united snatch a 1—1 draw against everton. ireland's women footballers threaten to strike saying they're treated like fifth—class citizens. and defending masters champion danny willett says returning to the scene of his greatest triumph may not spark a return to form. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with football and the news that a zlatan ibrahimovic penalty in the 94th minute saw manchester united salvage a 1—1 draw against everton at old trafford. the swede was returning from a three game suspension and slotted home the equaliser after ashley williams was sent off for a clear handball. philjagielka had handed everton the lead after 22 minutes as ronald koeman‘s side were looking to move fifth and ahead of united but as it is they stay seventh butjose mourinho's team do