With the Party, life is prosperous and happy (Part 3)

The vibrant journey of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) in collaboration with the government and people across Dak Lak's villages in eliminating illegal lending, addressing loan defaults, and contributing to community tourism development is a highlight in the landscape of policy credit over the past 20 years, especially since the implementation of Directive 40/CT-TW and Conclusion 06/KL-TW. The shift in awareness among Party committees and government levels regarding policy credit, realized through concrete strategies, has demonstrated the profound humanitarian value of this policy of the Party and Government.

This breakthrough in awareness stems not only from focusing leadership and guidance on social policy credit activities, but also from identifying social policy credit as a major and consistent policy of the Party and State, a crucial, regular, and long-term political task in poverty reduction, ensuring social security, building new rural areas, and developing the socio-economic conditions of ethnic minority and mountainous regions; it is a regular and central task in implementing the annual and five-year socio-economic development plans for 2021-2025.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dak Lak province and the Social Policy Bank (SPB) Dak Lak branch signed a cooperation program to improve the quality of policy credit.

Recognizing the role, position, and importance of social policy credit, in addition to the central government's policy mechanisms, the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee have issued many specific provincial policies and allocated local budget funds for implementation, such as: Regulations on the management and use of local budget funds entrusted through the Social Policy Bank for lending to the poor and other policy beneficiaries in the province; guidance document on verifying workers belonging to other policy beneficiaries who borrow capital to work abroad according to Resolution No. 14/2020/NQ-HĐND dated December 9, 2020, of the Provincial People's Council on regulations on other policy beneficiaries who can borrow capital from local budget funds entrusted through the Social Policy Bank to work abroad under contract...

Simultaneously, social policy credit programs are integrated into public investment decisions, national target programs, and other programs and projects in the socio-economic development plan for the period 2021-2030. The Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee have always paid attention to directing the mobilization and concentration of financial resources to meet the borrowing needs of the poor and other policy beneficiaries. By April 30, 2024, the total capital reached VND 7,779 billion, an increase of VND 4,771 billion compared to 2014, with an average annual growth rate of over 10.6%. Of this, entrusted capital from the local budget reached over VND 502 billion, an increase of VND 383 billion compared to 2014, accounting for 6.5% of the total capital, with an average annual growth rate of 15.7%. The capital structure has shifted towards increasing the capital mobilized by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) through state budget interest rate subsidies and local resources, clearly demonstrating the policy of "diversifying resources" with the motto "the state, businesses, and people work together".

In addition, local Party committees and authorities have directed entrusted socio-political organizations to coordinate with relevant sectors and agencies to focus on consolidating and improving the quality of social policy credit. As of April 30, 2024, the total overdue and non-performing loans amounted to VND 8.44 billion, accounting for 0.11% of the total outstanding credit.

The Board of Directors of the Social Policy Bank of Dak Lak province closely directs, supervises, and resolves difficulties to improve the effectiveness of credit operations, promptly meeting the capital needs of poor households, near-poor households, and other policy beneficiaries.

At the same time, review and continue to effectively implement Directive 39-CT/TU, dated June 30, 2023, of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and Plan 186/KH-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee on social policy credit work; continue to maintain and sustain the quality of credit in a stable and sustainable manner; focus on improving the quality of inspection and supervision, and inspect the entrusted lending activities of associations and organizations...

The Provincial People's Committee directed the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities to instruct the Agriculture Department, the Labor - War Invalids Department, and vocational training institutions to organize training, guidance, and transfer of scientific and technical advancements to households borrowing capital from policy credit programs in their areas. They closely followed the socio-economic development orientation according to region and the development of key local products to allocate loan capital in a focused manner, building effective economic development models for subsequent replication. Simultaneously, provincial political and social organizations coordinated the organization of 887 training sessions with over 103,700 members and officials participating in learning cultivation and livestock techniques and applying science and technology to production.

These efforts have created a ripple effect, attracting poor households and other policy beneficiaries to gradually become familiar with commodity production, utilizing 21 policy credit programs and programs entrusted by localities to develop the economy. With total loan disbursements from 2015 to the present reaching over 14,943 billion VND and debt collection reaching nearly 10,183 billion VND, social policy credit has helped more than 485,000 poor households, near-poor households, newly escaped poverty households, and other policy beneficiaries to borrow capital from the Social Policy Bank.

Social policy credit capital has been invested in all 184/184 communes, wards, and towns, and 100% of villages and residential areas, helping nearly 111,000 households overcome poverty; attracting and creating jobs for more than 40,000 workers (436 workers went to work abroad on temporary contracts); creating conditions for nearly 8,000 disadvantaged students to borrow capital for their studies; building nearly 230,000 rural clean water and sanitation projects; more than 7,000 houses for poor households; nearly 66,000 households in difficult areas borrowed capital for production and business to increase income and gradually improve their lives to escape poverty; supporting the construction of nearly 445 social housing units according to Decree 100/ND-CP; and more than 4,800 ethnic minority households in particularly difficult areas received loans. This contributed to the completion of 79 communes being recognized as achieving new rural standards. The poverty rate decreased from 17.83% in 2016 to 6.34% at the end of 2021 (according to the poverty standard for the 2016-2020 period) and further to 9.15% at the end of 2023 (according to the poverty standard for the 2022-2025 period).

However, the goal of making Dak Lak province "fundamentally a regional center, a province with rapid and sustainable economic and social development in the Central Highlands, oriented towards industrialization and modernization" by 2030; and by 2045, developing the province into a "center of the Central Highlands region in all fields," or closer to becoming a province "among the moderately developed provinces nationwide" by 2025, still faces many challenges. The results of poverty reduction are not yet truly sustainable; the annual rate of households falling back into poverty remains high. International economic integration has led to shifts in the economic structure, trade, and infrastructure, affecting the production and business activities of the poor and policy beneficiaries, and some credit policies have been slow to be adjusted.

Therefore, the Provincial Party Committee determined that the continued effective implementation of social policy credit plays a crucial role in creating resources to achieve targets and tasks related to sustainable poverty reduction, new rural development, human resource development, ensuring social security, political stability, national defense and security, and socio-economic development in the province.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dinh Trung directed Party committees and authorities at all levels in the province to further promote the effective implementation of social policy credit. This includes continuing to enhance the role and responsibility of Party committees, authorities, the Fatherland Front, and political and social organizations regarding social policy credit in accordance with Directive No. 40-CT/TW and Conclusion No. 06-KL/TW of the Party Central Committee. Annually and within the five-year socio-economic development plan, relevant departments and agencies should proactively develop budget estimates, balance resources, and prioritize the allocation of entrusted local budget funds and other legal funds as stipulated for entrustment to the Social Policy Bank, to implement social policy credit programs related to national target programs. The goal is to achieve a 15% share of local government budget funds entrusted to the provincial branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) by the end of 2030, representing the total policy funds in the province.

According to Dao Thai Hoa, Director of the Dak Lak Provincial Branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), the branch's staff and employees are always committed to serving the poor and ensuring that no one is left behind. Therefore, the branch regularly collaborates with relevant departments and agencies to research, develop, and issue new projects and policy mechanisms. They report to and advise the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee on allocating resources to serve the poor and other policy beneficiaries in the province, in line with each stage of socio-economic development and the VBSP Development Strategy until 2030. Priority is given to lending capital to remote areas, ethnic minority regions, and areas with high population density, ensuring sufficient capital for poor and near-poor households to develop production and gradually achieve sustainable poverty alleviation.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/co-dang-cuoc-doi-am-no-hanh-phuc-bai-3-158884.html