The integrated National Target Program needs to clearly distinguish poor communes, disadvantaged communes, and especially disadvantaged communes according to a new set of criteria to avoid widespread investment.

Many delegates suggested that the Integrated National Target Program should clearly distinguish poor communes, disadvantaged communes, and especially disadvantaged communes according to a new set of criteria to avoid widespread investment.

At the meeting to review the investment proposal for the National Target Program on new rural construction, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026 - 2035 held by the Ethnic Council on December 1, delegates basically agreed and highly agreed with the policy of merging three national target programs to concentrate resources, avoid duplication and have a more suitable project implementation mechanism.

However, some delegates expressed concerns about the rush to submit the bill to the National Assembly for approval, fearing that there would not be enough time to review the subjects, content and issue detailed guidance documents.

View of the meeting.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Suu - National Assembly Delegation of Hue City proposed to add a request for the Government to submit a comparison table of three national target programs to clarify overlapping content, component policies, and objects; content that can be merged to create consistency and resilience; specific content that must be kept separate; content that needs to be eliminated because it is not suitable for reality and is outdated.

In addition, delegates suggested assessing the impact of the merger plan on future versions and program management at the provincial and communal levels.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Suu, National Assembly Delegation of Hue City, spoke

Regarding goals and targets, delegate Nguyen Thi Suu pointed out the lack of consensus on the average income target of ethnic minorities. The target of the number of poor communes escaping poverty by 2030 is considered too high compared to the actual poverty reduction rate (less than 3% per year). The delegate also said that the target of 10% of modern new rural communes is unfounded because the official set of criteria for the 2026-2030 period is not yet available. Delegate Tran Thi Kim Nhung (a member of the National Assembly working full-time at the Law and Justice Committee) also shared the same opinion, emphasizing the need to provide National Assembly deputies with current data and a basis for setting targets for the next period, especially in line with financial resources.

Delegate Tran Thi Kim Nhung, a full-time member of the National Assembly at the Committee on Law and Justice, spoke.

Delegates recommended that the Government unify the set of indicators into three levels to create a more reasonable roadmap, according to which the mandatory indicator is to meet the minimum basic services for the poor, the target is to be able to achieve relatively compared to the plan and the pilot indicator is to apply to new contents. At the same time, it is necessary to clarify the scientific basis of the indicators, based on growth forecasts, budget capacity and implementation capacity of the commune level. Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Quang Van Huong also suggested reviewing the average income target for ethnic minorities because the absolute number is not clear and it is necessary to stick to the absolute number for easy assessment.

Vice Chairman of the Council of Nationalities Quang Van Huong speaks

Delegate Nguyen Thi Suu pointed out that the Audit Report has not yet determined the investment boundaries between public investment, career expenditure, specific policies, and regular tasks of ministries and there is still a risk of overlap with sectoral programs such as education, health, and culture.

Meanwhile, delegates Tran Thi Kim Nhung and Trinh Xuan An both emphasized the issue of policy duplication and integration. The delegates said that integration is very difficult and a bottleneck, and suggested considering transferring content related to education and health to the specialized National Target Program on education and health to avoid difficulties in integration and division of responsibilities.

Delegate Trinh Xuan An, a full-time member of the National Assembly Committee on National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs, spoke.

Delegates recommended that the Government submit a review of overlapping sectoral programs and a list of contents to be included or not included in this consolidated National Target Program. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly distinguish poor communes, disadvantaged communes, and especially disadvantaged communes according to the new set of criteria to avoid spreading investment.

Delegate Leo Thi Lich requested a clear explanation of the meaning and consistency of the four investment items in the educational content of the second component. In particular, the delegate also had concerns about the content of solving the shortage of residential land and production land because the previous phase did not meet the targets, but the draft provided general contents and did not have any targets for evaluation.

Delegate Leo Thi Lich, a full-time National Assembly member at the Ethnic Council, spoke.

The issue of capital and capital structure is one of the contents that received much attention. Delegates all agreed that the level of 400,000 billion VND of local capital in the period of 2026-2030 is not feasible. Many mountainous provinces do not have investment resources, and budget revenue is only enough for regular expenditure. Delegate Trinh Xuan An noted that if it is a "main state budget", it must be the central budget, but the ratio of local capital to be four times the central capital in this case is not reasonable. Delegates also expressed concern that the usual method of capital accumulation leads to a large number but very low feasibility.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Suu proposed that the Government explain the basis for calculating 400,000 billion VND and allocate it to specific groups of provinces, and clearly state "The central budget is the main source" in the audit report for particularly difficult provinces, and add the requirement to have a mechanism to mobilize policy credit instead of people's contributions. Delegates said that the Resolution is in the direction of the central budget, policy credit, ODA, and PPP as the main resources and suggested that the Government closely report on the counterpart capital and consider increasing credit capital for the Social Policy Bank.

Regarding the principle of capital allocation, some delegates suggested that the Government determine the allocation method based on three criteria/levels: Ethnic minority rate; Area of ​​difficult areas; Rural population size. It is necessary to clearly state "Central budget allocated according to a transparent formula" and "Provincial People's Councils are responsible for detailed allocation, increasing the initiative for integration".

Regarding specific mechanisms, some delegates said that the Review Report has not clearly stated which specific mechanisms need to be legalized by the National Assembly and which mechanisms are assigned to the Government to regulate. Some specific mechanisms related to response, self-implementation, and community assignment have signs of going beyond the law and need to be decided by the National Assembly. Delegates proposed classifying specific mechanisms into 2 groups: Group A (Going beyond the law) will be included in the Resolution of the National Assembly; Group B (Internal) will be assigned to the Government to regulate in the Resolution. In particular, it is necessary to add the provision that "specific mechanisms must ensure that they do not create legal risks for grassroots officials" and be associated with the requirement of "distinguishing subjective errors and objective risks".

Delegate Trinh Xuan An emphasized that if a special mechanism is requested from the National Assembly, it should be included in the Resolution for early implementation, avoiding the practice of following the Law on Public Investment in a scattered manner, causing difficulties for large integration programs.

Regarding the 2025-2026 transition period, delegates basically agreed to extend the budget period until the end of 2026, but noted that the Review Report did not mention the transition of education, health, and ethnic policies.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Council of Nationalities Hoang Duy Chinh delivered a concluding speech at the meeting.

Concluding the meeting, Standing Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Hoang Duy Chinh highly appreciated the comments of the delegates. The delegates agreed on the need to merge the 3 National Target Programs into one Program to overcome the shortcomings, limitations, duplication, overlapping policies, inadequacies in guiding documents, and difficulties in implementation in the recent period. Standing Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Hoang Duy Chinh suggested focusing on the focal point for direction and implementation; focusing on investment resources with focus and key points for disadvantaged areas, ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In particular, ensuring the synchronous implementation of the program, reviewing to avoid duplication, and more clearly defining the responsibilities of the presiding agency and coordinating agencies in organizing implementation.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Hoang Duy Chinh suggested that the Government review the targets for the coming period, especially in the current context of merging commune levels. "This is very important to have a basis for evaluating and reviewing investment goals and contents and avoiding the situation of not being able to disburse because "the task has been completed", Standing Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Hoang Duy Chinh emphasized.

Regarding resources for implementation, it is recommended that the Government has a plan to ensure sufficient resources, clearly allocate them to each component, and give special priority to ethnic minority and mountainous areas. It is necessary to recalculate the capital mobilization mechanism because these areas are low-lying areas, core areas (the most difficult areas) and the state budget must play a decisive role, and it is not possible to apply the capital mobilization rate as in the previous period.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/chuong-trinh-muc-tieu-quoc-gia-tich-hop-can-phan-dinh-ro-xa-ngheo-xa-kho-khan-xa-dac-biet-kho-khan-theo-bo-tieu-chi-moi-de-tranh-dau-tu-dan-trai-20251203133753212.htm