Vietnam has announced a stimulus plan worth more than USD 1 billion to avoid recession as the global economic crisis bites into its export-led economy. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a number of measures to boost production, investment and consumer spending at a monthly cabinet meeting Dec. 2, the official Vietnam News Agency, or VNA, reported. Dung said the stimulus would fund public works projects, including a large irrigation canal in the northern Red River delta, and help finance rice storage depots for about one million tons of grain in major farming areas." (Dow Jones)