The meeting was meant to review the progress of the national target programs on sustainable poverty reduction and new-style 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 programs 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 programs on new rural development.
Hailing the efficiency of credit for new rural development, Hue required the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) 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 programs this year amounts to over VND 15.23 trillion (USD 662.2 million), including VND 8 trillion (USD 347.8 million) reserved for the National Target Program on New-style Rural Development and the remaining for the National Target Program 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 recognized 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 recognized as new-style rural areas and the figure is estimated at 38 this year.
The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs reported that the total State funding for social welfare and poverty reduction in the first half hit VND 4.174 trillion. The rate of poor households nationwide is expected to drop to 6.9 percent later this year, down 1.33 percent annually.
VBSP General Director Duong Quyet Thang said the bank offered loans worth VND 34.65 trillion 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 Labor, 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: VNA