Hanoi to get more Soviet cash

Press, 1 July 1985, Page 10

Hanoi to get more Soviet cash

NZPA-Reuter Moscow The Soviet Union will boost aid to Vietnam, its key "South-East Asian ally, and reschedule outstanding debts, the two countries have announced. A statement issued after talks yesterday between the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Vietnamese Communist Party chief, Le Duan, said that the economic aid was to meet Vietnam’s urgent needs. Vietnam depends largely on Soviet aid for its economic survival. Non-Commun-ist aid was cut off when

Hanoi’s forces invaded and occupied neighbouring Kampuchea, ousting the Chinese--backed Khmer Rouge Communists in January, 1979. The joint statement said that the new Soviet measure would boost economic aid, provide soft-term credits from 1986 to 1990, and reschedule repayment of earlier credits. No figures were given for either the amount of aid or Vietnam’s debt. Western diplomats in South-East Asia have said that Vietnam receives more than SUSI billion ($2.14 bil-

lion) of aid each year from Moscow to keep its economy afloat and to help finance its large standing Army, which is based mainly on its border with China, in Kampuchea and in Laos. The Soviet Union uses former American bases in Vietnam for its armed forces in the Pacific Ocean. z The statement said that Moscow would increase its supplies to Vietnam of oil products, fertiliser, rolled metal, and cotton. Since he came to power in March, Mr Gorbachev

has repeatedly called for better relations with China, and diplomats in Moscow were keen to see if this aim might affect the Kremlin’s close ties with Vietnam. But there was no evidence of any strain between the two allies in yesterday’s statement. It said that Mr Gorbachev had accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam, but gave no date. Le Duan later left for Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, at the start of a provincial tour.