The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs is seeking opinions on the draft Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of Resolution No. 71/2025/NQ-HĐND on mechanisms and policies for lending to the poor and other policy beneficiaries from the city budget.
According to the draft, young people who have completed military service, police service and employees aged 60 and over, who are healthy and need to borrow capital to create jobs, maintain or expand jobs will enjoy preferential loan policies.
The maximum loan amount is 200 million VND/person, the maximum loan term is 10 years. This group of subjects will be able to borrow at an interest rate equal to the poverty loan interest rate prescribed by the Prime Minister for each period. According to the level applied in 2026, the interest rate is 6.24%/year (0.52%/month).
It is expected that the resolution will be submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council for consideration and approval at the third quarter of 2026 session.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs, in 2025 and 2026, the city will have more than 7,000 young people completing military service and police service returning to their localities.
This is a young labor force, trained in discipline, bravery and adaptability in the military environment, with many advantages when participating in the labor market.
However, currently, support work mainly stops at counseling, job introduction and vocational training before and after demobilization. Many young people still face difficulties in capital sources to start a business or create their own jobs.
Therefore, lending at preferential interest rates will help young people, after completing their obligations, proactively build production and business plans, create jobs, and soon stabilize their lives, while also being consistent with the policy of supporting employment for demobilized youth of the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.
In addition, the Department of Home Affairs said that Vietnam entered the population aging phase from 2011 and is expected to become a country with an aging population by 2036, with about 20% of the population aged 60 and over.
In Ho Chi Minh City alone, by the end of 2025, there will be about 1.6 million people aged 60 and over, accounting for about 11 - 12% of the population and this number will continue to increase in the coming years.
According to data from Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance, currently only about 20% of elderly people are receiving pensions or monthly social insurance allowances. The majority of the rest have to live on savings, social allowances, family support or continue to work to have income.
In the context of rapid population aging, the city believes that the elderly are not only subjects who need to be cared for in terms of social security but also a valuable resource with a lot of experience and knowledge, which can continue to contribute to socio-economic development.
In addition, the aging trend also opens up opportunities for the development of the "silver economy" with many fields such as healthcare, services, technology, finance and tourism for the elderly.
