Henoted the high poverty rate among ethnic minority groups, which make uponly 14.3 percent of the national population but account for over 47percent of the total number of households living under the poverty line,despite great improvements seen over recent years.
Phuexplained that although the Party and State have paid great attention todesigning support policies for ethnic minority groups, the totalinvestment remains limited.
For example, allocatedinvestment for Programme 135 on boosting socio-economic development inextremely difficult, ethnic minority and mountainous regions has reachedonly 64 percent of the total plan, he noted, adding that in 2015, theprogramme has received only 6 trillion VND (282 million USD), just halfof the approved amount of 12 trillion VND (558 million USD).
Regarding measures to mobilise resources for socio-economic developmentamong ethnic minority groups, Phu said the policies will focus onincreasing loans and reducing non-refundable aids.
Aprogramme will be designed to encourage lending to people from ethnicminority groups, creating favourable conditions for them to boostproduction and improve income, he said.
Meanwhile, thecommittee will mobilise all possible resources for the work, includingcontributions from organisations and enterprises as well as donationfrom individuals and international organisations.
Phurevealed that the Government has recently approved an investment of upto 6 trillion VND (282 million USD) for the implementation of supportpolicies for ethnic minority groups, raising the total capitalallocation for the work this year to about 10 trillion VND (467 millionUSD).
The Minister-Chairman also expressed hope thatministries and localities will promptly realise the policies andsimplify administrative procedures, thus making it easier for ethnicminority people to access the capital.-VNA