Prioritizing poor areas, ethnic minority and mountainous areas

Continuing the program of the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, the National Assembly listened to the Presentation and Verification Report on the investment policy of the National Target Program on new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas by 2035.

It is necessary to integrate 3 National Target Programs.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang, regarding the results of the 3 national target programs for the 2021-2025 period, by the end of October 2025, the basic programs had achieved and exceeded a number of targets, while 4/21 targets had not been achieved.

Regarding the results of allocation and disbursement of central budget capital for the 3 programs, the Minister of Agriculture and Environment said that the capital allocated and assigned to ministries, branches and localities was nearly 176,000 billion VND, reaching 90.4% of the estimate. By the end of October 2025, the disbursement rate reached 67.9%; by the end of January 2026, it is estimated to reach the highest 75% of the plan; about 45,000 billion VND will be transferred to implementation in 2026.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang presented the Report

Regarding the shortcomings, Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized that there are still some targets that have not been completed as assigned by the National Assembly and the Government and the disbursement results are slow. Accordingly, the reasons are that the system of guiding policies and mechanisms is slow to be issued and unclear; the content and investment objects are not close to reality; some localities are not resolute in implementation; national target programs still overlap and duplicate in content and objects, and resources are still scattered, leading to difficulties in implementation.

According to Minister Tran Duc Thang, the Government submitted to the National Assembly the integration of three programs into one program to realize the highest goal of the Party and State, which is to make people have a prosperous and happy life.

"Integration does not reduce policies, but overcomes overlaps and duplications, helping to focus more priority on ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the coming time" - Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized.

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment said that the beneficiaries of the program are communes, villages, people, communities and relevant organizations nationwide. Priority will be given to poor areas, ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

The program will be implemented nationwide, with priority given to ethnic minority and mountainous areas, for 10 years, divided into two phases: 2026-2030 and 2031-2035.

"The goal is to focus on key targets on income, poverty rate, rate of communes and provinces meeting new rural standards, and solving urgent problems of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas," said Minister Tran Duc Thang.

It is expected that the Program will be designed into 2 components:

- Component 1: Includes 10 general content groups, implemented nationwide.

- Component two: Includes 5 specific content groups, socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. These are specific policies, with additional investment for ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Regarding resources mobilized to implement the program:

Phase 1 (2026-2030): Directly allocated central budget capital: 100,000 billion VND; Combined capital of national target programs and other programs and projects, investment for rural areas, ethnic minority and mountainous areas: about 360,000 billion VND; The rest is local budget capital and other legally mobilized sources.

Phase 2 (2031-2035): Based on the implementation results of the 2026-2030 period, the Government will submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on implementation resources.

According to Minister Tran Duc Thang, regarding the mechanism for management, capital allocation and program implementation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is the program's main agency. The Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions guides the implementation and supervises the implementation of contents related to socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang presented the Report

"Ministries and branches guide the implementation of assigned contents. Implement thorough decentralization and delegation of power, along with allocating resources to local authorities in the spirit of "Locals decide, local authorities do, local authorities are responsible". The central government manages the whole, issues policies and mechanisms, guides, supervises, inspects and urges implementation" - Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized.

Minister Tran Duc Thang proposed to the National Assembly to consider approving the report and issue a Resolution on the investment policy for building the program for the 2026-2035 period; Allowing the extension of the implementation period and disbursement of State budget capital for 3 national target programs until December 31, 2026 to complete the goals of the 2021-2025 period; Assigning the Government to review, balance, and allocate additional resources to implement the contents of good disbursement and those in need of additional funding, and issue specific mechanisms and simplify procedures to accelerate the progress of program implementation.

Proposal to allow extension of disbursement time of state budget capital for national target programs

Presenting the Report on the review of the investment policy of the National Target Program on new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas by 2035, Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man affirmed that the general and specific objectives of the program are relatively comprehensive and comprehensive in all fields, inherited from the Programs of the previous period and have appropriate adjustments and supplements. However, regarding the specific objectives, it is recommended that the Government continue to review carefully to avoid duplication; the proposed targets must be well-founded, logical, feasible, and suitable to the new context of the country; clearly demonstrating the focus and priority on difficult areas, core poverty areas, and ethnic minority and mountainous areas in order to gradually narrow the development gap between regions.

Chairman of the Council of Nationalities Lam Van Man presented the Inspection Report.

Regarding the components and policies, Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man affirmed that the Ethnic Council basically agreed with the structure of the Program consisting of 02 components, and requested the Government to direct and fully absorb the opinions of relevant agencies, review and approve the program to ensure no duplication of content between the components and with programs and projects that have been decided or are being submitted for investment policy decisions; regarding regular tasks according to the functions and tasks of the agencies. At the same time, the Central Government should only stipulate the framework and assign targets, while specific and detailed activities should be assigned to localities to choose and decide on investment to suit the practical situation of the locality.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and the Presidium at the Session

"Choosing truly targeted content and policies to focus investment resources on key areas such as: people's infrastructure, production development associated with agricultural and forestry development; science, technology, digital transformation; forest protection and development, ecological environment; higher investment, especially for ethnic minorities with very few people, people living in highland and border areas and planning, stabilizing residents living in areas at risk of natural disasters and landslides, solving urgent, essential and specific problems in ethnic minority and mountainous areas" - Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man proposed.

Regarding capital to implement the Program, Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man emphasized that the Ethnic Council basically agrees with the Government's proposal on total capital and capital supplement plan for the Program, and requests that the Government soon have a plan to supplement capital for the Program right from the beginning of the period.

Session Scene

"The Government is requested to consider and recalculate the structure and proportion of counterpart capital to suit the practical situation of localities, especially disadvantaged provinces and ethnic minority and mountainous areas. At the same time, the principle of capital allocation needs to clearly show the concentration and priority of resources for ethnic minority and mountainous areas; research and clearly allocate resources for each component and content of the Program" - Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man proposed.

The Ethnic Council also basically agreed with the Government's proposal on the management mechanism and organization of the implementation of the Program. In the process of researching and approving the Program, Chairman of the Ethnic Council Lam Van Man requested the Presiding agencies to continue reviewing and absorbing the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and National Assembly deputies to complete, to ensure the clear responsibility of the Program's host agency, clearly assign the presiding agency for each component, content and coordinating agency according to functions and tasks. In addition, the overall management mechanism of the Central Government, promulgation of policies and instructions must be clear; localities must proactively decide on content, select models, integrate resources and be responsible for results.

Chairman of the Council of Nationalities Lam Van Man proposed that the National Assembly and National Assembly deputies consider, decide and approve the investment policy of the Program, with the name: "National target program on new rural construction, poverty reduction in coastal areas and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026 - 2035".

At the same time, consider the Government's proposal, which allows extending the time for disbursement of State budget capital for the National Target Programs: New Rural Construction, National Target Program for Sustainable Development and Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas in 2025 (including capital from previous years transferred to 2025) until December 31, 2026, and include this content in the Resolution of the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly.

The Council of Nationalities also requested the Government and the Prime Minister to fully absorb the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and National Assembly deputies to direct agencies to conduct feasibility studies, ensuring the objectives and principles are in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Public Investment; promulgate mechanisms, or submit to competent authorities to promulgate specific mechanisms to effectively implement the Program.

Directing Government agencies to promptly submit and promulgate criteria on new rural areas and GNBV; demarcate communes and villages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to ensure objectivity and science, as a basis for proposing targets, goals and contents of the Program.

In addition, it is necessary to guide and regulate the transition between two phases for ongoing projects, projects that have completed their objectives, and projects that no longer have subjects to ensure continuity and efficiency in capital management and use.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/tap-trung-uu-tien-dia-ban-ngheo-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-va-mien-nui-20251206081456165.htm