$165M WB-funded Poverty Reduction Proj Benefits 142K Households in Vietnam

As many as 142,000 households, equal to 636,538 people, in six provinces in Vietnam’s central and Central Highlands regions have benefited from a poverty reduction project financed by the World Bank (WB) with a total cost of $165 million in 2014-2019, state media reported from a summation workshop in Hanoi on December 26. The figures have exceeded the project’s target of benefiting 120,000 households, equivalent to 540,472 people. Most of them are poor/near-poor households or those of ethnic minorities in 26 districts of the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Kon Tum, and Gia Lai, and the central provinces of Quang Ngai and Quang Nam. Besides, the project has helped build over 439 kilometers of inter-commune roads, 73 bridges, and clean water supply stations for over 1,000 households; complete irrigation projects and expand irrigation areas by 479 hectares of agricultural land; and form 4,100 livelihoods improvement groups. Currently, these districts have a combined population of 1.2 million people with an average poverty rate of 49%. (VietnamNet, BizLIVE, doanhnghiephoinhap, Cong Thuong, mpi)