Ngo Truong Thi, Deputy Head of the Social Welfare Department under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalid and Social Affairs, has reported a drop in number of poor households from 47 percent in 2008 to 43 percent as of present day.

At a meeting with the media in Hanoi on December 14, Thi said the achievement was a result of implementing the Government’s Resolution 30A programme for rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in 62 poor districts in Vietnam . Since the implementation of the programme in late 2008, the Government allocated a total of 10 trillion VND (555 million USD) to those districts.

The programme targets to push the rate of poor households in those districts below 40 percent by 2010 and equal to the regional average level by 2020.

Apart from the government’s investment, 38 economic groups and state-owned corporations and enterprises have so far this year pledged to give 2.1 trillion VND (116.8 million USD) to 62 targeted districts from 2009-2020. By November of this year, 697 billion VND (38.7 million USD) have already been distributed to the designated districts.

That money was spent on building over 59,700 houses for poor families, 60 infrastructure projects at district level, and 520 other projects at the commune level.

Enterprises also coordinated with localities to send almost 1,000 people to work in Libya, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates with a monthly salary of between 4-6.5 million VND.

At an effort to reduce the poverty rate, local government encouraged young intellectual volunteers to work at poverty-stricken communes as well as sending officials to 13 provinces sent to enforce poverty reduction policies.

Thi further informed that on Dec. 17, the government will hold a conference to review this year’s of implementation of the Resolution 30A in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai./.