SEOUL TO PLACE DEFENSE ORDERS WORTH US$6.5 BLN.

SEOUL, May 1 Asia Pulse - Amid all-out efforts by the Lee Myung-bak administration to boost economic growth, the defense acquisition agency on Thursday announced an economic stimulus package that will see the placing of nearly 1,800 orders, worth over 6.6 trillion won (US$6.5 billion), before the end of next month.

The plan also includes a 24.5-billion won increase in the total amount of defense equipment to be purchased from the country's small and medium sized firms, about 70 per cent of which will be purchased before the end of June, bringing the total to some 1.02 trillion won, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

"The early placing of planned orders will lead to the placing of 1,792 orders out of some 2,300 planned within the first half of the year, a 31-percent ...