Vietnam opens new international airport

Laos has told Vietnam it will suspend work on a controversial dam planned for the Mekong River, official media reported, after Hanoi sought a 10-year deferment of the scheme.Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong informed his counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung "of Laos' decision to temporarily suspend the Xayaburi hydropower project," Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported at the weekend from Jakarta.It said the two communist leaders met in the Indonesian capital on the sidelines of the ASEAN regional summit.

SHALE exploitation in North Dakota has lifted incomes and brought unemployment down to 3.2% of the workforce, the lowest level in the country.

The Sinocism newsletter is compiled by Bill Bishop, and republished here with permission. Be Informed About China. The Sinocism China Newsletter. Free.

Airbus SAS won an order from Indonesia’s PT Lion Mentari Airlines for 234 planes worth US$24-billion at list price, giving the European planemaker entry into a market that competitor Boeing Co. has long dominated. The order, announced at the French presidential palace in Paris, includes 60 current-generation A320s, 109 A320neos and 65 A321neos. Customers typically buy planes at discounts. We’ve always wanted to be a big player in Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands and 240 million people

Japan on Saturday pledged $7.4 billion in aid over three years to help five Mekong states, in an attempt at fostering development in a resource-rich region also being courted by China."The stability and prosperity of East Asia will not be possible without the stability and prosperity of the Mekong region," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a press conference following a summit in Tokyo."The Japanese government will recognise the Mekong region as a significant destination of assistance and continue its cooperation strongly."

Japan has pledged $7.4 billion in aid over the next three years to help five Mekong states, in an attempt at fostering development in a resource-rich region also being courted by China."The stability and prosperity of East Asia will not be possible without the stability and prosperity of the Mekong region," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a joint press conference after the six-way summit in Tokyo on Saturday."The Japanese government will recognise the Mekong region as a significant destination of assistance and continue its cooperation strongly."

Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, better known as PetroVietnam, have launched the nation’s first indigenously built 300 foot-high drilling rig and Moc Tinh oil platform. Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Vietnamese ministers and agency heads, along representatives from the Russian Embassy and the Russian Consulate General in Vietnam attended the launching ceremony at Vietnam’s Vung Tau petroleum port. The ceremony was held on the 50th anniversary of PetroVietnam, VietnamPlus news agency reported.

As expected, the US and Canadian governments announced today that Canada would join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.  (To get caught up, Peter Clark has some great backstory on the recent machinations.)  First up with the good news was Canadian PM Harper: