Sudan and Kenya sign pipeline agreement
South Sudan and Kenya have signed an agreement to build an oil export pipeline to the Kenyan coast. On Friday, South Sudan announced it was shutting down its oil production because of a row with its northern neighbour, Sudan, through which all its oil is currently exported.
HK and EFTA sign trade accord
Hong Kong and the member states of the European Free Trade Association - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland - have signed a Free Trade Agreement. The acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Gregory So, and EFTA ministers signed the agreement in Liechtenstein. The accord is Hong Kong's first free trade agreement with the European economies. It covers trade in services and goods as well as investment, and other trade-related issues such as protection of intellectual property.
Rio Tinto sign deal with Aborigines
One of the world's biggest mining companies, Rio Tinto, has signed a landmark deal with five Aboriginal groups in Western Australia, giving the company access to seventy thousand square kilometres of traditional land in which to develop new mines and rail and port infrastructure.