AVS welcomes Vietnam aid

By Stephen Robson

CANBERRA -- The national meeting of the Australia-Vietnam Society on October 26 welcomed the Australian government decision to resume bilateral aid to Vietnam.

National chairperson of AVS Tom Uren characterised the decision as a positive way to end Vietnam's isolation.

Calling for continued support for non-government programs that amounted to about $15 million in 1991, AVS believed that the aid program should “draw on the expertise of people who have long experience of working ... with Vietnamese people and organisations”.

Looking at some of the major problems that Vietnam faces, Tom Uren pointed to the lack of infrastructure. “AVS believes that a program which concentrates on small-scale integrated programs which include water supplies, preventative health care, education, rural electrification and communications, would help alleviate some of the growing social inequities in Vietnam.”

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