VIETNAM increased defence spending dramatically this year despite a budget package geared to improving education and welfare.
Local press reports yesterday put the 1994 budget - discussed by the National Assembly - at 30,735 billion dong ($21.6 billion), up more than 30 per cent.
While spending on health care, education and welfare rose 60 per cent, spending on defence went up 50 per cent.
The budget news comes after Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet told the Assembly Vietnam's military had been beefed up to cope with the 'new situation'. Vietnam was opposed to the use of force to solve territorial disputes, he said.
Some US$554 million has been spent on the military compared to US$140 million on health, $US405 million on welfare and US$400 million on education.
The rise in military spending, traditionally a secretive affair, has stunned foreign observers. Many were expecting further military cuts after those that followed the 1989 withdrawal of troops from Cambodia.
