Vietnam NA Passes $10.7B Budget for National Target Programs 2016-2020

Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA), the country’s highest legislative body, has adopted two National Target Programs with the focus on sustainable poverty reduction and rural development for the 2016-2020 at a cost of VND240 trillion ($10.76 billion). The approval was made by 88.26% of lawmakers voted at the NA’s ongoing session in Hanoi. The two programs, including sustainable poverty reduction costing VND46.16 trillion and rural development with VND193.15 trillion, will stress on lowering the rate of poor households to make the poverty rate averaged at 1% and 1.5% nationwide and on upgrading infrastructure and improving livelihood of people in rural areas in order to have 50% of communes meet new rural development standards by 2020. National Target Programs were launched with the aim of reducing poverty and improving livelihood and culture of people in remote areas in the implementation of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals that Vietnam has ratified. Vietnam spent an estimated VND323.98 trillion ($14.4 billion) for national target programs in 2011-2015, the report showed. (Thanh Nien – Young People Nov 13 p3, www.nhandan.com.vn Nov 13)