Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue requests reviewing poor districts

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue requested the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to carefully review poor districts in accordance with Resolution 30a while chairing a meeting of the Central Steering Committee on National Target Programmes in 2016-2020 in Hanoi on August 1.

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

The meeting was meant to review the progress of the national target programmes on sustainable poverty reduction and new rural development and set the committee’s tasks to accomplish the targets of this year.

Speaking at the event, Hue stated that public capital disbursement remained slow, equivalent to over 30% in seven months.

He asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) to review resources allocation in the two national target programmes to devise proposals to add into the Government’s resolution on speeding up the progress and quality of public investment disbursement.

The MoPI must coordinate with the ministries of Finance and Agriculture and Rural Development to promptly issue a detailed guideline on criteria for basic construction debts in the national target programmes on new rural development.

Hailing the efficiency of credit for new rural development, Hue required the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSC) to study resources to increase credit for the campaign.

The Deputy PM also called for special attention to be paid to “soft criteria” of poverty reduction, like cultural values, living environment, social safety and order, and livelihoods.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Hieu, the total State funding for the national target programmes this year amounts to over VND15.23 trillion (US$662.2 million), including VND8 trillion (US$347.8 million) reserved for the National Target Programme on New Rural Development and the remaining for the National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said as of late July, the country recorded 2,776 communes recognised as new-style rural areas, 223 of them met criteria for 2016-2020, up 416 compared to the late 2016.

As many as 34 districts have been acknowledged as new-style rural areas and the figure is estimated at 38 this year.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs reported that the total State funding for social welfares and poverty reduction in the first half hit VND4.174 trillion. The rate of poor households nationwide is expected to drop to 6.9% later this year, down 1.33% annually.

VBSC General Director Duong Quyet Thang stated the bank offered loans worth VND34.65 trillion to 1.32 million poor households in seven months this year, or more than 70% of the target set by the Prime Minister.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong and Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung underscored the need to soon remove difficulties in public investment, encourage firms to invest in agriculture and rural areas, and lay a legal framework to rally social resources on new rural development.

(Source: NDO)