At the Cabinet meeting (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucchaired a Cabinet meeting on April 24 that discussed aninvestment proposal within the National Target Programme on Socio-economicDevelopment in Mountainous and Ethnic Minority Areas in the 2021-2030 Period.
According to a report from the Government Committee forEthnic Minority Affairs, Vietnam is currently home to 14.1 million ethnicminority people, or 14.7 percent of the population. Mountainous and ethnicareas have seen rapid development over recent years but remain the mostdisadvantaged in the country.
The report proposed that the Programme be carried out in twophases in communes and hamlets where ethnic minority households make up atleast 15 percent of all households.
Total investment in the 2021-2025 period will reach 204trillion VND (8.68 billion USD at current exchange rate), and over 210.5trillion VND in the 2026-2030 period. Funding will come from central and localbudgets, policy credit, and other sources.
The Programme aims to cut the poverty rate in ethnic areas byover 3 percent each year to 2025 and bring it down to less than 10 percent ofthe population by 2030. The average income of ethnic minority households in2025 is to double that in 2019.
The Government Committee for Ethnic Affairs also proposed tenprojects in a range of fields.
PM Phuc spoke of the Committee’s thoroughpreparations, adding that this is one of three major national target programmes.
He asked the Committee to avoid overlapping with othernational target programmes on building new-style rural areas and ensuringsustainable poverty reduction.
He agreed with a proposal to focus on assisting livelihoodsand improving the living conditions of ethnic minority groups. He highlightedthe need to take advantage of different sources of capital to develop theseareas rather than depending on the State budget.
The programme should identify specific solutions in resolvingthe lack of residential and cultivation land, housing, and water for daily use,he said.
Cabinet members also heard a report from the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment on completing the Prime Minister’s draft decision on alist of enterprises to divest before the end of this year, replacing the PM’sDecision No. 1232.
PM Phuc requested a careful review of divestment in certainareas and stressed that openness and transparency are paramount during theprocess, to prevent corruption./.
VNA
