A total of 33,480 Mekong Delta households have so far this year lifted themselves out of poverty, decreasing the region’s poverty rate from 7.2 percent in 2013 to 6 percent currently, according to the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region.

The committee highlighted the leading role of Can Tho City and Long An, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Dong Thap, and Tra Vinh provinces in the work.

Until the end of this year, the region will undertake maximum efforts to help 11,000 families escape from poverty.

According to Nguyen Phong Quang, the committee’s deputy head, the achievements were attributable to concrete measures undertaken by the regional localities, such as increasing capital for vocational training from 10 percent to 12 percent, revising the vocational curriculum in line with poverty reduction measures, and developing a family-based economy and agricultural products.

In addition, the farmer’s union at all levels coordinated with the agriculture and fishery extension centre in providing training on farming and breeding techniques for local people, he added.

Can Tho city provided nearly 12,000 disadvantaged households with access to health care and insurance, as well as electricity. It also built houses for 4,838 poor families.

Meanwhile, An Giang and Tra Vinh provinces handed over more than 2,500ha of farm land to ethnic Khmer people.

In the near future, the Mekong Delta localities will train specialised officials, mobilise capital from different sources, promote technological transfers and create more jobs for local people, especially farmers without land, in a bid to help the rest of the population escape from poverty by 2020.-VNA