Improving income and improving the lives of ethnic minorities (DTTS) and mountainous areas is always a key task in Phu Tho province's development strategy.
With many synchronous solutions from production support to creating sustainable livelihoods, Phu Tho is gradually helping people stabilize their lives and rise out of poverty.
Phu Tho currently has 33 ethnic groups living together with more than one million ethnic minority people. Thanks to the implementation of national target programs, especially the 2021-2030 period, the material and spiritual life of the people has clearly improved.
In Dao Tru commune, where nearly 76% of the San Diu people live, many households have become examples of production emulation. Typical is Ms. Ton Thi Chin (Dao Tru Thuong village). From a poor household, thanks to the government creating conditions for borrowing capital, her family invested in barns to raise 3,000 laying hens. Diligently learning techniques, the chickens produce good quality eggs. Each year, after deducting expenses, her family earns about 250 million VND, officially escaping poverty and supporting many other households.
Mr. Luu Xuan Nam - Vice Chairman of Dao Tru Commune People's Committee - said: The commune always promotes propaganda, supports loans, and mobilizes people to convert agricultural structure and introduce new high-yield varieties into production.
At the same time, the commune coordinates to take farmers to visit effective models. Thanks to that, people's lives have changed significantly. In 2025, the commune's average income reached more than 55 million VND/person/year, and the poverty rate decreased to 0.73%.
With methodical approaches, communes in ethnic minority areas of Phu Tho always maintain economic growth rates from 7.5-8.5%/year; the poverty rate decreases by 2-3%/year. To date, 16 communes have escaped from particularly difficult areas, 115 communes have met new rural standards; average income of ethnic minorities reaches 42 million VND/year; 100% of communes have solidified roads to the center.
In the period 2021-2025, Phu Tho invested over 1,720 billion VND to build more than 760 infrastructure projects. Regarding livelihood support, more than 960 households participated in value chain projects; over 6,800 households diversified their livelihoods through 484 projects. The province also vocational training for more than 9,400 people (75 people certified nationally) and job counseling for nearly 2,000 workers.
The province aims to accelerate socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, gradually narrowing down to eliminate the gap in living standards and income compared to rural areas.
In the period 2026-2030, Phu Tho mobilized 6,603 billion VND to implement the National Target Program for socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The capital will be prioritized for investment in key projects such as transport infrastructure, healthcare, schools, living facilities, clean water, support for livelihoods, settlement, education development, improving the quality of human resources and health care for ethnic minorities.
In 2026 alone, the province plans to mobilize more than 1,300 billion VND to focus on solving housing, production land, and healthcare. At the same time, the province focuses on developing typical products, promoting community tourism associated with cultural preservation and building agricultural product brands, in order to sustainably develop ethnic minority areas.
