Vietnam, recently a rice importer, donates 1,500 tons to Iraq
NEW YORK - Three years after it stopped being a recipient of aid from
the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Viet Nam
today delivered almost 1,500 tons of rice to Iraq, the
agency said.
In a press statement released in Rome, WFP said the 1,467
tons of rice, worth approximately $500,000, were offloaded
at the port of Um Qasr and trucked to an Iraqi Ministry of
Trade storage facility for public distribution.
“This donation is a milestone for WFP and Viet Nam,” said
WFP Executive-Director James T. Morris. “Viet Nam is a
development success story, a country that is now capable of
using its food surpluses to help ease hunger and poverty in
other countries. We look forward to strengthening our new
relationship with Viet Nam.”
Mr. Morris said WFP especially valued Viet Nam’s donation
because it is part of a trend of “emerging donors” in
Southeast Asia. He said that Southeast Asia could well
produce the largest number of new donors to WFP because of
the region’s economic potential.
The WFP statement said, “Viet Nam’s donation will give much
needed assistance to a population heavily dependent on the
public distribution of food. Before the war, six out of ten
Iraqis relied on food rations as their only source of
income; in this post-conflict period, food aid is even more
important for Iraqis since many people are without jobs
while also facing higher prices in the marketplace.”
The agency said its Iraq operation is the largest in its
40-year history. WFP plans to bring into Iraq about 2.2
million tons of food commodities from April to the end of
October, equal to the total amount of food WFP distributed
worldwide last year.
WFP closed its doors in the Southeast Asian nation in
December 2000 after 25 years of operations.
According to WFP, Viet Nam has progressed from being a
significant importer of rice in the early 1980s to the
world’s second-largest rice exporter.
“Viet Nam stands as an excellent example of the long-term
benefits of international cooperation,” Mr. Morris said.
UN Agency - October 15, 2003.
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