Thousands of Khmer households escape from poverty hinh anh 1The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang supported 11,200 households to escape from poverty in 2017 (Illustrative image. Source VNA)

Soc Trang (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang supported 11,200 households to escape from poverty in 2017.

The number of poor households dropped to 38,300, making up 11.85 percent of the total households in the province, down 3.4 percent compared to 2016.

More than 5,000 Khmer families were supported to get out of poverty, reducing the ratio of poor Khmer households to 17.95 percent.

Head of the provincial department for ethnic affairs Ly Binh Cang attributed the outcomes to the Party and State’s support policies in building infrastructure, funding, transferring technology, and providing know-know in cultivation, animal husbandry, and family economic development.

He noted that the local socio-economic development has been recovered after serious losses caused by saltwater intrusion in 2016.

In 2017, the province recorded growth in aquatic outputs, production values, and exports. Local authorities paid much attention to reducing poverty, building new rural areas, and implementing ethnic affairs policies.

The Government’s Programme 135, which was launched in 1999 with the aim of improving living conditions for rural residents with a particular focus on ethnic minority communes, provided nearly 60 billion VND (2.6 million USD) to build infrastructure such as roads, irrigations and community houses in disadvantaged areas.

In addition, the province made effective use of funds worth over 100 billion VND (4.4 million USD) to support tens of thousands of households, mainly from the Khmer ethnic group, with accommodation and cultivation land, job change, electricity, and water.-VNA
VNA