The ultimate goal remains to ensure that people have a prosperous and happy life.

On the morning of December 5th, responding to and addressing the opinions raised by National Assembly deputies during the discussion on the investment policy for the National Target Program on New Rural Development, Sustainable Poverty Reduction, and Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Regions until 2035, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang affirmed: The Government's policy of integrating three national target programs into one program aims at the highest goal of ensuring people have a prosperous and happy life, especially in ethnic minority and mountainous regions.

Báo Tin Tức•05/12/2025

Photo caption — General Secretary To Lam and President Luong Cuong attend the session. Photo: Doan Tan/TTXVN.

Extend the support period until 2035.

The majority of National Assembly delegates agreed and approved the merger of the three National Target Programs (NTPs) to overcome the shortcomings and limitations of the previous phase. However, some opinions expressed concerns that the merger might reduce policies and investment resources for ethnic minority and mountainous regions.

Minister Tran Duc Thang stated that the policy of consolidating into a single program demonstrates the government 's determination to ensure a prosperous and happy life for the people, especially those in ethnic minority and mountainous regions.

To achieve this goal, Minister Tran Duc Thang stated that, in addition to the general objectives, priority will continue to be given to building new rural areas with sustainable poverty reduction and socio-economic development for ethnic minority communities. The focus will be on improving implementation efficiency, avoiding overlapping and duplication of policies; and thoroughly decentralizing power to localities. The support period will be extended to 2035 (instead of 2030) as in the current program to concentrate long-term resources for more comprehensive and effective investment. This integration will not reduce policies or narrow the scope of support, but rather create conditions for greater concentration and priority for ethnic minority areas, which are currently the core of poverty in the country.

During the discussion, some National Assembly deputies expressed concerns and requested clarification on the basis for determining the feasible and appropriate goals, taking into account the resources and context of the 2026-2030 period, avoiding overly broad targets. Minister Tran Duc Thang stated: The goal is to have 65% of communes meeting the new rural standards, while the whole country had already achieved nearly 80% in the 2021-2025 period. Before the implementation of the two-tiered local government system, 79.3% of communes nationwide had already met the new rural standards according to the national criteria for the 2021-2025 period.

According to the review results from localities, after the mergers, approximately 65.6% of communes nationwide are likely to meet the new rural standards according to the criteria for the 2021-2025 period. Currently, the set of criteria for new rural areas for the 2026-2030 period has completed the procedures and will be submitted to the Prime Minister for promulgation in December 2025, with a focus on inheriting, supplementing, and improving the criteria for the 2021-2025 period.

According to a review by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, approximately 42% of communes currently meet the basic criteria of the new rural development standards for the 2026-2030 period, and these communes are expected to be recognized as achieving new rural development standards in 2026-2027. The remaining 25%, mainly in disadvantaged areas, ethnic minority regions, and mountainous areas, will receive priority resources to achieve new rural development standards by 2030. "Therefore, the goal of having approximately 65% of communes achieving new rural development standards by 2030 is feasible," Minister Tran Duc Thang affirmed.

Prioritize resources for the program.

Regarding the target of maintaining a multidimensional poverty reduction rate of 1-1.5% per year and ensuring 100% of poor communes escape poverty, Minister Tran Duc Thang stated: The goal of reducing the multidimensional poverty rate was affirmed in the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party and Directive No. 05 of the 13th Party Central Committee on strengthening the Party's leadership over sustainable poverty reduction work until 2030.

In reality, by the end of 2025, the multidimensional poverty rate will be approximately 0.9% - 1%, with an average reduction of over 1% per year during the 2021-2025 period. The projected multidimensional poverty rate according to the new poverty standard for the 2026-2030 period is approximately 9.6%, similar to the 2022-2025 period. Therefore, the above target is consistent with the Party's policy, reflects practical results, and is feasible given the socio-economic conditions of the country during the 2026-2030 period.

Regarding investment capital for the program, some delegates expressed concern that allocating 100,000 billion VND from the central government budget was insufficient, given the high policy and objectives, and the difficulty in mobilizing resources in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Minister Tran Duc Thang agreed with the opinions of the National Assembly delegates, stating that the program's scope and scale cover the entire country, encompassing almost all aspects and tasks of socio-economic development in rural areas, with a priority given to ethnic minority and mountainous regions. Therefore, the initial allocation of 100,000 billion VND from the central government budget is limited.

“However, in the period 2026-2030, besides this program, there are four other national target programs to be implemented in the area, as mentioned by delegate Tran Hoang Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation). These programs have similar objectives with a total capital of approximately 360,000 billion VND. In addition, the sustainable development program for the Mekong Delta region and the program for stabilizing the settlement of people in mountainous and difficult areas have been included in the draft Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Party, with planned investment focus in the period 2026-2030, and other sources of capital such as: social policy credit, commercial credit for investment in agriculture, farmers, and rural areas, capital from businesses, and voluntary contributions from the community and people. To achieve the goals and tasks of the program, during the implementation process, the Government will continue to balance the central budget to report to the National Assembly for priority supplementation.” "to suit the actual conditions," Minister Tran Duc Thang said.

Some National Assembly deputies argued that the regulation allocating 400,000 billion VND in local funding is too large, exceeding the balancing capacity of localities, especially those facing difficulties. Minister Tran Duc Thang stated: The local budget funding for implementation is the total budget allocated to the program by the two levels of local governments of 34 provinces and cities, including 7 localities that are self-sufficient and 27 localities that receive support from the central budget.

“This is one of the main sources reflecting the proactive role and responsibility of local Party committees and authorities in implementing the program's objectives in the 2021-2025 period. Of the nearly 300,000 billion VND of local capital allocated to implement the three national target programs, the capital from 16 provinces and cities that balance their own budgets accounts for about 65%. For the remaining 47 provinces, the proportion of counterpart funding from localities is regulated in accordance with the proportion of support received from the central budget and the actual conditions of the localities. In particular, for disadvantaged localities, the proportion of counterpart funding is only about 5% compared to the capital supported by the central budget,” Minister Tran Duc Thang stated.

According to Minister Tran Duc Thang, taking into account the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the review opinions of the National Ethnic Council, and the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the Government will continue to review and balance to determine the most appropriate budget allocation for localities. Some National Assembly deputies requested clarification on the principles and criteria for capital allocation, prioritizing areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and mountainous regions.
Minister Tran Duc Thang stated that the principles and criteria will be issued by the Prime Minister, prioritizing the highest allocation of funds to ethnic minority and mountainous areas compared to other areas. Local authorities will decide and take responsibility for the detailed allocation to projects to achieve the specific goals and targets of the program.

The full set of guiding documents will be issued no later than January 2026.

Many National Assembly deputies suggested reviewing and clarifying the content of investments in different areas, addressing any overlaps or inconsistencies between components and other national target programs. Minister Tran Duc Thang stated: During the program's development, the Government directed that the principle of consolidation should be to maintain stability, avoid disruption, and not abolish policies that are currently effective. The focus should be on reviewing and rearranging policies to clearly define areas of responsibility and target groups.

Accordingly, the program is designed with two distinct components: a general component for nationwide implementation and a component specific to ethnic minority and mountainous regions. Each specific task is allocated to only one component, based on the principle of clear content, clear resources, and clear beneficiaries; and is coordinated with other national target programs to avoid overlapping investments and ensure that no poor communes or particularly disadvantaged areas are overlooked.

In addition, to overcome the limitation of delays in issuing guiding documents, the Government assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions and other relevant ministries and agencies to jointly submit guiding documents for the implementation of the Program, ensuring consistency and clarity in content immediately after the National Assembly approves the investment policy for the Program.

It is expected that all guiding documents for local authorities to implement the plan will be issued no later than January 2026.

Some National Assembly deputies expressed concerns about the omission of certain areas and target groups, and suggested the need for transitional regulations to ensure that people continue to benefit from the policies. Minister Tran Duc Thang stated that the integrated program has fully inherited the policies and results achieved during the 2021-2025 period, without abolishing or cutting effective policies, ensuring that people continue to fully benefit, especially prioritizing poor communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

In addition, the Government has issued a Decree on the demarcation of ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the period 2026-2030 and is preparing to issue a Decree on the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2026-2030, a decision on criteria for poor communes, and the National set of criteria for new rural areas at all levels for the period 2026-2030, ensuring that there will be no legal gaps when the program is implemented; policies will be smoothly transitioned as soon as the National Assembly allows for the extension of the implementation period and disbursement of state budget funds for the remaining national target programs in 2025. The Government has assigned relevant ministries and agencies to guide the transitional regulations between the two periods.

Regarding the program's implementation, the majority of National Assembly deputies agreed on assigning a single agency to be the program's lead agency. However, to clearly define the management model, the role of the lead agency, the responsibility for each component, the content, the coordination mechanism, and accountability, Minister Tran Duc Thang stated: To create uniformity, consistency, and clarity in the implementation, especially in developing guiding documents for the program with specific responsibilities, the program is built on the principle of a single lead agency; ministries and sectors lead the content related to their state management functions and tasks, while also being accountable.

“The Government has assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment as the program agency responsible for compiling the explanatory report. Taking into account the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the verification opinions of the National Ethnic Council, and the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the drafting agency will study the report and submit it to the Government for consideration, defining tasks among ministries and sectors; especially the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion, with the highest principle being the completion of the program's objectives,” Minister Tran Duc Thang stated.

Many National Assembly deputies proposed strengthening decentralization and delegation of power to localities, linked with objectives and accountability. Minister Tran Duc Thang stated that the program is designed in the spirit of maximizing decentralization to localities, coupled with resource allocation based on the principle that localities decide, localities act, and localities are responsible. The central government will uniformly manage and issue mechanisms to strengthen inspection and supervision.

The government allocates total capital to local authorities based on actual conditions, allowing them to proactively decide on allocation plans and integrate resources to achieve the assigned overall goals. Simultaneously, a multi-level monitoring mechanism is established: central, provincial, and commune levels, promoting the role of citizens as key stakeholders in monitoring, ensuring transparency and accountability, and improving the quality of accountability at all levels of government.

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