Govt pledge $56mln to new four-year Laos aid deal  

The Australian Associated Press  

   CANBERRA, May 7 AAP - The Australian government today pledged  $56 million to Laos for a new four-year aid program aimed at  improving health, education and rural development.
   The funding would be available when the current four-year, $47.5  million package ended in June, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer  said.
   "There is a legacy of enormous physical and social damage caused  by decades of conflict in the countries of the Mekong region," Mr  Downer said in a statement.
   "Reducing poverty is still the fundamental challenge facing Laos  and the current Asian financial crisis has placed additional  pressures on the Lao economy."
   The aid program would include special emphasis on reducing death  rates among mothers and infants, with more than one in 10 children  born in Laos expected to die before their first birthday, he said.
   "Australia will also continue to focus strongly on supporting  activities that help mitigate the effects of the current economic  crisis," he said.