Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – At the end of 2017, the percentage of poor households nationwide stood at 6.7, down 1.53 percent compared to the same period the previous year, said Vice Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs Phan Van Hung on August 14.
Speaking at a working session in Hanoi between the Standing Board of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, the Committee for Ethnic Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hung said that the rate of poor districts also dropped to below 40 percent, a year-on-year decrease of about 5 percent.
Meanwhile, the number in border, ethnic minority-inhabited, and mountainous communes, as well as those in extreme difficulties shrunk by 3-4 percent year-on-year, fulfilling the target set by the Prime Minister, the official added.
However, he said, poverty reduction has remained unstable, with the annual per capita income of many ethnic minority groups reaching only 7-8 million VND (301-344 USD), equivalent to one-fifth of the national average.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Trung said that since 2016, nearly 22 trillion VND (946 million USD) sourced from the State budget has been funneled into the national target programme for sustainable poverty reduction.
Between 2016 and August 2018, up to 1.24 billion USD in official development assistance (ODA) has been committed to Vietnam in this field, making up more than 11.91 percent of the total ODA capital in the period.
The capital has been used to develop small-scale rural infrastructure; spur the production of agriculture, forestry, and fishery; reduce poverty; provide credit loans; and improve the competitiveness of farm produce.
Delegates at the session talked about bottlenecks in mechanisms; policies and resources relating to poverty reduction; and proposed solutions to these issues.
They called for joint efforts of all of the whole society and the political determination of the State in completing the sustainable development targets during the 2016-2020 period in the face of limited State budget. –VNA
VNA
