Strong poverty reduction, synchronous infrastructure investment
On May 18, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province said that after 4 years of implementing the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, the appearance of Thanh Hoa mountainous localities has had many clear changes, from infrastructure, people's lives to poverty reduction index.
Implementing the National Target Program for the period 2021-2025, Thanh Hoa province has focused on mobilizing all resources, promoting decentralization, delegation of power and synchronously implementing many specific policies for ethnic minority and mountainous areas. After nearly a term of implementation, many important targets of the Program have been achieved and exceeded.
The poverty rate among ethnic minorities in the province has decreased from 15.33% (in 2023) to 8.6% (in 2024), far exceeding the average target of 3%/year. In particular, 100% of communes have asphalt or concrete roads to the commune center; 100% of ethnic minorities have access to television and radio; the rate of 5-year-old preschool, primary and secondary school students to school is almost absolute; the rate of ethnic minorities aged 15 and over who can read and write in common speech is 100%.
The criteria for community activities, traditional culture, health care for people... also have many positive changes. The rate of villages and hamlets with community centers reached 95%; the rate of villages with traditional performing arts troupes operating regularly reached 62%; the rate of children with mild physical nutrition decreased to 13.5%.
Mobilizing and allocating capital flexibly and practically
The total capital source for implementing the Program in the province in the period of 2021-2025 is estimated at over 2,691 billion VND. Of which, central budget capital accounts for a large proportion (VND 2,646 billion), the rest is local capital, credit, enterprises, cooperatives and people.
The Provincial People's Committee has implemented the capital allocation work in detail for each project, sub-project, and specific annual content. In particular, Thanh Hoa has strongly decentralized the allocation and use of public investment capital, creating conditions for districts and communes to proactively operate and deploy infrastructure and production works in accordance with actual conditions.
As of the reporting time, the total disbursed capital from the state budget has reached more than VND 1,708 billion, equivalent to 84.3% of development investment capital and 68.3% of assigned career capital - a positive result in the context that many localities across the country are facing difficulties in disbursing capital for the National Target Program.
In addition to material results, the National Target Program also creates important changes in the thinking and awareness of ethnic minorities. The implementation of production projects, vocational training, and livelihood support not only helps people increase their income and stabilize their lives, but also gradually changes their "thinking style and way of doing things", eliminating the mentality of waiting and relying on the State.
Despite many positive results, the Program still has some targets that are difficult to achieve by 2025, such as: average income per capita in mountainous areas in 2024 will only reach 44.39 million VND, while the target is 66.2 million VND; the reduction of the number of communes and villages with special difficulties is still slow due to harsh terrain conditions, scattered population, lack of land for production...
In addition, support for residential land, production land, housing repair, and livelihood development still has some problems with mechanisms, norms, and beneficiaries, affecting disbursement progress and implementation efficiency at the grassroots level.
With a methodical and flexible approach, focusing on practical efficiency, Thanh Hoa is gradually shortening the development gap between ethnic minority areas and other areas in the province.
The National Target Program is not only a financial resource but also a spiritual motivation for ethnic minorities to rise out of poverty, contributing to sustainable and comprehensive development for the mountainous areas of Thanh Hoa in the new period.
