60% of Poverty Reduction Support in Vietnam Goes to Northwestern Region

The northwestern region, the poorest region in Vietnam, has received VND3.9 trillion ($175 million) out of VND6.54 trillion which the government approved for poverty reduction programs nationwide in the first half this year, accounting for 60% of the total amount. Of the allocated value, the mountainous region used nearly 60% for development investment and the rest fed managerial works, statistics given at a meeting on sustainable poverty reduction last weekend chaired by the party-led Central Economic Commission. The northwest recorded poverty rate of 26% as of end-2015, from 31.94% at the end of 2014. Speaking at the meeting, Nguyen Van Binh, head of the commission, said that a sharp fall in the poverty rate didn’t indicate sustainable reduction and asked state agencies and localities to find more proper supporting measures to help improve livelihood rather than provide subsidies. Having the same idea, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed the government cut subsidies for poor people with an aim to pursue sustainable poverty reduction for the 2016-2020 period. The ministry said the poor do not try to improve their lives or at least escape from poverty with regular state subsidies and temporary support will not be a good measure. In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam has estimated one million people suffered hunger, jumping 14% from a year earlier. The rise was attributed to prolonged droughts in the central and southern regions. The government has allocated more than 16,000 tons of rice and food to support the vulnerable people. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times Aug 29)