Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue (middle) addesses the event (Photo: VNA) Seventeen out of 25provinces with debt of over 100 billion as of January 31, 2016 have managed to trimdown their debt to a total 5.62 trillion VND, reported the committee.
In 2016, total capitalmobilised for the programme was nearly 228.4 trillion VND sourced from creditloans (59.7 percent), the community (8.5 percent), local budgets (12.3 percent),businesses (5.9 percent) and the central budget (3.2 percent).
During the year, 15districts and 828 communes were recognised as new-style rural areas, raisingthe total number of communes fulfilling all criteria of the programme to 2,358,26.43 percent of total communes nationwide, along with 30 recognised districts.The average commune completed 13.47 out of total 19 criteria.
At a committee meeting onJanuary 10, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuongnoted that 2016 was the first year that the new-style rural area buildingprogramme was integrated with the multidimensional poverty reduction programme,adding that the ministry completed a large legal framework supporting the work.
President of the VietnamCooperative Union Vo Kim Cu noted that agriculture is attracting interest fromlarge firms, helping speed up the sector’s restructuring, the building ofnew-style rural areas and poverty reduction.
In 2017, the country aimsfor 30 percent of total communes to fulfill all the programme’s criteria, arise of four percent over the previous year.
Meanwhile, Deputy Ministerof Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam noted that bythe end of2016, the country’s poverty ratio was about 8.38 percent, a reduction of 1.5percent year on year. The rate in poor districts was 46.43 percent, down 4percent year on year.
According to Ministry ofLabour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the northwestern mountainous regionrecorded highest ratio of poverty reduction which varied from 2.7 to 31.8percent.
General Director of theVietnam Bank of Social Policy Duong Quyet Thang said that last year, the bankprovided 55.15 trillion VND to nearly 2.3 million households. He added that thefirst year of the multidimensional poverty reduction programme distributed hugeamounts of resources through credit policies, while overdue debt was only 0.24percent.
Thang proposed the ministriesof Planning and Investment and Finance adjust charter capital for the bank soit can offer more loans to rural households to build sanitation works.
In 2017, the committee aimsfor a 1-1.5 percent reduction in the national average ratio of poor households,four percent in poor and ethnic minority localities and an increase of 1.5times in per capita income of poor households from 2015.
Addressing the meeting,Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue asked the committee to work harder toensure at least 50 percent of total communes nationwide become new-style ruralareas by 2020, and no localities fulfill less than five criteria of theprogramme.
He also requested thecommittee set higher targets for the multidimensional poverty reductionprogramme, while directing ministries and sectors to complete legal frameworkand finalise all documents for the first quarter of this year, especially thoserelated to capital.
The Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development was directed to guide the implementation of 19 criteriafor the new-style rural area building programme in the first quarter of thisyear, while publishing a handbook on the programme.
Deputy PM Hue also urgedministries to improve their policies to encourage stronger engagement ofbusinesses in agriculture, stressing that the current rate of firms investing inthe sector is too low./.
VNA
