Achieving many important results but still having shortcomings and limitations
According to Chinhphu.vn, in recent times, the implementation of 3 National Target Programs has achieved many important results, actively contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. The National Target Program on New Rural Development and the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction (2021 - 2025) have basically achieved and exceeded the goals and targets assigned by the National Assembly and the Government for the 2021 - 2025 period, and the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021 - 2030 period I 2021 - 2025 has completed 6/9 groups of targets set out.
The achieved results have affirmed the correctness of policies and guidelines, contributing to restructuring and developing the country's economy in a rapid and sustainable direction; infrastructure, rural appearance, material and spiritual life of rural people have been comprehensively improved; implementing the goals of the 21st century;...
However, in the process of implementing the programs, there are still shortcomings and inadequacies, of which the most prominent are: There are still overlapping scope, subjects, and content between the 3 Programs. The beneficiaries of the 3 Programs are mountainous communes and poor ethnic minority areas; in terms of area, there are many ethnic minority communes in mountainous areas that are both rural communes and poor communes; the infrastructure investment, livelihood support, and vocational training items overlap in content.
The independent implementation of the 3 Programs in the past has encountered some difficulties and problems in the implementation process such as dispersed resources, slow disbursement of public investment capital, localities (commune level) receiving many sources of investment capital for infrastructure, causing difficulties in planning, reporting and mobilizing counterpart funds, overlapping in management and supervision, difficulty in evaluating the effectiveness of the Program, reducing investment efficiency, and not taking advantage of the complementarity between Programs.
Unifying a management and operation mechanism
Given the shortcomings, it is necessary to merge the 3 national target programs. From there, it is possible to unify a management and operation mechanism, avoid having to do many administrative procedures, issue many guiding documents with the same implementation content, especially at the grassroots level. At the same time, unify the decentralization and allocation of resources to localities for implementation and responsibility; the central government does not replace projects and does not approve each project.
At the same time, jointly implement a goal of improving people's lives, especially in areas with special difficulties, towards sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas that meet standards according to new, modern, comprehensive, sustainable criteria, flexibly adapting to climate change, ensuring harmonious development between socio-economic development and environmental protection, preserving landscape, cultural identity and traditional values.
In addition, the merger is also to avoid overlapping policies for policy beneficiaries, especially the content of investment for poor communes, communes with special difficulties in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; supporting livelihoods, vocational education, employment, housing, and migration for the poor and ethnic minorities in the same area.
Implement well the policy of focusing resources, investing with focus and key points, prioritizing areas with special difficulties. Improve the effectiveness of management and use of state budget capital, as well as mobilize maximum legal resources for implementation. In line with the model of local government at 2 levels (province, commune), no longer at the district level, as at present.
In addition to advantages, the merger of the National Target Program also has some limitations and problems that need to be focused on reviewing and resolving. That is, the progress of development and reporting to competent authorities between Programs is different. Although the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas has some contents and projects that are similar to and similar to some contents of the National Target Program for New Rural Development and Sustainable Poverty Reduction, however, when implementing the merger, it is necessary to conduct a review and reconstruction (not possible to implement according to the mechanism). At the same time, it is necessary to study, review, and redefine the goals; scope, subjects; time; re-evaluate the impact of the Program on the economic, social, cultural, environmental, security and order; study and rebuild the orientation and principles of central budget allocation...
Regarding procedures, the development of the new National Target Program, on the basis of merging 3 National Target Programs, must carry out procedures according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment, Decree No. 85/2025/ND-CP dated April 8, 2025 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment and other relevant regulations.
