Soc Trang (VNA) – More than 1,500 ethnic minority households in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang have built new houses, changed their livelihood, and gradually escaped poverty thanks to preferential credit capital under the Government's Decree 28/2022/ND-CP on implementing the National Target Programme on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period.
Tran Phen, a resident in Vinh Quoi commune of Nga Nam township, said that his family had previously not dared to dream about a solid house as they have no land for production, and all members in his family had to seek jobs to earn their living.
Thanks to preferential credit capital of 30 million VND (about 1,200 USD) from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and his savings, he built a solid 64-sq.m house at a cost of 110 million VND.
Phen said that previously, his family usually suffered from floods in rainy season. They were also afraid of thunderstorms when it rained.
Thach Thi Cam, another resident in the same commune, also received a preferential loan of 40 million VND to build a new house. She said that her family is thankful for support from the Party and State.
With the new solid house, Cam and her husband feel secure to work and save money to afford tuitions for their children.
Director of the VBSB Transaction Office in Nga Nam township Nguyen Viet Chin said that 42 local customers have accessed preferential loans to build houses with total outstanding loans of more than 2 billion VND.
That housing support contributes to improving the living conditions of ethnic minorities, helping them settle down, boost economic development and improve their quality of life, Chin said.
Deputy Director of the VBSP Transaction Office in My Tu district Tran Phuoc Phi Bang said that with 7,482 households or 32,253 people, the Khmer people in the district account for 24.59% of the population.
The bank branch has disbursed nearly 5 billion VND from preferential credit capital under Decree 28 to 122 cases.
One of the borrower Thach My Ngan in My Thuan commune of My Tu district said that she used to be a small vegetable trader. At the end of 2022, she was provided with credit capital of 20 million VND to change her livelihood.
Her family decided to rent 4,000 sq.m to grow lotus for flowers, lotus bulbs, and lotus roots. Currently, on average, her family harvests 20-30kg of lotus roots per day, earning nearly 500,000 VND. Her family has accumulated capital and plans to buy 2,000m2 of land to continue growing lotus.
Trinh Bich Tuyen, Deputy Director of the SPBV’s Branch of Soc Trang province, the preferential credit capital implemented under Decree No. 28 of the Government has profound humanitarian significance, contributing to the effective implementation of policies, goals and tasks on poverty reduction in ethnic minority areas.
The branch has actively advised the provincial People's Committee to review and make a list of eligible borrowers so that the bank can have proper disbursement.
To date, the Soc Trang branch has disbursed nearly 63 billion VND to more than 1,526 customers, of them, 719 customers received nearly 27 billion VND for housing improvement, and 806 customers were provided with loans worth 37 billion VND to changed their livelihoods./.
