Foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have granted more than $1 billion for Vietnam from 2005 through June, 2009, the online VietnamNet newspaper reported. The figure equals the aid by NGOs for the Southeast Asian country between 1989 and 2004, the paper noted, adding that the number of foreign NGOs there has increased to 750, up from 560 in 2004. The government of Vietnam Dec. 21 bestowed the Labor Order to the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) for its efforts in mobilizing funds from NGOs.
