At the meeting (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – 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.
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 said public capital disbursement remained slow, equivalent to
over 30 percent 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 15.23 trillion
VND (662.2 million USD), including 8 trillion VND (347.8 million USD) 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 the
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 recognised 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 4.174 trillion
VND. The rate of poor households nationwide is expected to drop to 6.9 percent later
this year, down 1.33 percent annually.
VBSC
General Director Duong Quyet Thang said the bank offered loans worth 34.65 trillion
VND to 1.32 million poor households in seven months this year, or more than 70
percent 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.-VNA