It is necessary to redefine the counterpart capital ratio to suit poor localities.

At the discussion session, the majority of National Assembly deputies shared the view that integrating the three National Target Programs into one comprehensive program for the 2026-2035 period is a necessary institutional breakthrough, helping to overcome the situation of resource dispersion, policy overlap and multiple focal points.

It is necessary to clarify the "set of criteria" to ensure focused and effective resource allocation.

Commenting on specific contents, regarding the scope of subjects and classification of areas, delegate Ha Sy Dong ( Quang Tri Delegation) said that there is a risk of duplication and omission because the criteria for delimiting ethnic minority areas have just been issued but there are no results of the delimitation, while the criteria for new rural areas and poverty reduction are still in the draft stage.

"This makes the determination of beneficiaries, allocation of capital sources, and determination of support levels at risk of inconsistency between components, and even legal conflicts. Therefore, I propose to soon complete the synchronous criteria and a one-time allocation mechanism as a basis throughout the implementation process," the delegate proposed.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the goals, the general and specific indicators, according to delegate Ha Sy Dong, still lack practical basis, have not been fully quantified, and do not clearly reflect the new conditions of the two-level local government and the current status of livelihoods, infrastructure, and resources of ethnic minorities.

The audit report also pointed out that many indicators are still slogans and difficult to measure, such as indicators on skilled workers, income, or the rate of communes meeting new rural standards, which are lower than the targets set by the National Assembly for the previous period.

Therefore, delegates proposed to review the entire system of indicators in the direction of: clear political - legal - practical basis; measurable; accurately reflecting the characteristics of ethnic minority and mountainous areas; shifting from the approach of "counting criteria" to "assessing actual results".

Sharing the same concern, delegate Dieu Huynh Sang (Dong Nai delegation) affirmed that the Integrated Program focuses on the core poor areas, where ethnic minorities mainly live, improving new rural areas in difficult areas, avoiding overlaps and duplications, bringing support policies into life to ensure that people receive timely and substantial benefits. At the same time, it is necessary to decentralize and delegate power to local authorities.

However, delegates were concerned about the lack of consensus on the average income target for ethnic minorities: "The target of the number of communes escaping poverty by 2030 is too high compared to the actual poverty reduction rate. The inclusion of the target of the number of modern new rural communes in the Report lacks basis. Because in reality, there are no regulations on the official set of criteria for the period 2026-2030," the delegate expressed his opinion.

Delegate Dieu Huynh Sang. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Delegate Dieu Huynh Sang suggested that the Drafting Committee should clarify the data, the "set of indicators" and the basis for building the next stage's goals to be consistent with financial resources. At the same time, he suggested that the Government consider and unify the "set of indicators" to create a reasonable roadmap, clarify the scientific and practical basis of the indicators, based on growth forecasts, budget capacity and current implementation capacity of the commune level.

In addition, delegates said it is necessary to focus on urgent needs such as building infrastructure, improving education and health services, and supporting sustainable livelihoods for ethnic minorities, with the goal of sustainable poverty reduction for the poor.

"Currently, the criteria for modern rural areas and some multidimensional poverty reduction contents are not complete. I propose to build a common set of criteria with clear classification. At the same time, there must be clear decentralization and delegation of authority to avoid conflicting goals and avoid spreading resources and difficulties in coordination," delegate Dieu Huynh Sang proposed.

Also concerned about the goals, delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau delegation) said that in recent times, due to the complicated developments of climate change, many mountainous provinces have suffered great damage from flash floods, landslides , heavy losses of people and property, and essential infrastructure for agricultural production has been seriously destroyed.

Delegates suggested that it is necessary to prioritize allocating resources to urgently relocate villages at high risk of landslides and mudslides, allocate sufficient funding to build safe resettlement areas, essential infrastructure, sustainable livelihoods for people, and proactively prevent and minimize damage right from the source.

At the same time, more specific regulations are needed on the target rate of villages in high-risk landslide areas that are planned, arranged, and have stable population arrangements, identifying this as an important legal basis for allocating resources and organizing focused and effective implementation.

The central budget must play a leading role.

In addition to the content of goals and targets, the issue of structure and the ability to allocate capital also received much attention when many delegates expressed concerns about the burden of counterpart funding being too heavy on the shoulders of poor provinces, which are the core areas of difficulty.

According to the Government's Submission, the total capital demand for the National Target Program for the 2026-2030 period is expected to be 1.23 million billion VND. However, the structure of State capital allocation raises many concerns about the central budget's dominance, especially in the context that the main beneficiary areas are mountainous provinces, ethnic minority and mountainous areas, where local budgets are still very limited.

Delegate Ha Sy Huan (Thai Nguyen Delegation) analyzed that in the total State support capital of 500 trillion VND, the central budget capital only accounts for 100 trillion VND (20%), while the local budget is 400 trillion VND (80%). According to the delegate, this structure shows that the proportion of the central budget is not commensurate with its leading role. Meanwhile, the local counterpart rate is quite high, causing the financial burden to be concentrated mainly in the locality, creating great pressure on disadvantaged provinces, especially ethnic minority and mountainous areas with high poverty rates.

Delegate Mai Van Hai. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Sharing the same view, delegate Mai Van Hai (Thanh Hoa delegation) pointed out the big difference compared to the previous period. Specifically, in the 2026-2030 period, the central budget capital is expected to be 100 trillion VND, a decrease of more than 90 trillion VND compared to the total central budget capital for all three programs in the 2021-2025 period (over 190 trillion VND). At the same time, local budget capital increased from nearly 180 trillion VND (previous period) to 400 trillion VND. The delegate said that many mountainous provinces and communes "do not have enough revenue to cover expenses", the main source of investment is based on land use rights fees, but now localities only receive 80% to 85% of land use fees, making it even more difficult for counterpart funds.

Delegate Ho Thi Minh (Quang Tri Delegation) said that for ethnic minority areas, especially the central and Central Highlands provinces that are receiving subsidies from the Central Government, applying a 33% counterpart fund in the total capital needs is very difficult and can easily lead to outstanding debts in basic construction.

Delegates suggested that it is necessary to review the capital structure and exempt counterpart funds for poor communes and areas that frequently experience floods and natural disasters such as the central region and the Central Highlands, so that the resolution is truly feasible and humane.

Agreeing with this view, delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri Delegation) also expressed that the requirement to mobilize 33% of local budget capital and 28% from businesses and the community is very difficult to achieve, and it is necessary to redefine the appropriate proportion of counterpart capital.

According to delegate Dieu Huynh Sang (Dong Nai delegation), the central budget must be the main resource, playing a decisive role in concentrating investment resources with focus and key points.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/can-xac-dinh-lai-ty-le-von-doi-ung-cho-phu-hop-voi-cac-dia-phuong-ngheo-post928184.html