Retailers looking to expand their business internationally might do well to consider selling online in China or Japan. Those two countries take first and second place, respectively, in a new index of the 30 best countries for online retailing from A.T. Kearney.

When Marcos Purty arrived here in 2011 as the chief of General Motors' Indonesian operations, he found a mothballed auto plant. Today, that plant is humming. About 700 people work in the facility, 16 miles east of Jakarta, compared with about 30 just 18 months ago. And next month, GM will start delivering its first Indonesian-built vehicle in years, the Chevrolet Spin.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S (MAERSKB), owner of the world's largest container-shipping company, plans to add more vessels to its Singapore base after making the city-state its biggest hub after the headquarters in Denmark.

Laos has made considerable progress in its efforts to develop connectivity and trade facilitation, a senior government official told the meeting of Asian-European Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in Vientiane.