Integrating two new rural programs and sustainable poverty reduction: New driving force for rural areas

On the afternoon of June 22, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a national conference to review the National Target Program (NTP) on new rural construction (NRD), the NTP on sustainable poverty reduction and the movements "The whole country joins hands to build NRD", "For the poor - No one is left behind" for the period 2021 - 2025. Co-chairs were: Do Van Chien - Politburo member, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Le Minh Hoan - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly; 2 Deputy Prime Ministers: Tran Hong Ha and Mai Van Chinh. At the Khanh Hoa bridge, Mr. Dinh Van Thieu - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired.

Rural appearance has changed completely, millions of households have escaped poverty

After 15 years of implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Development and 25 years of implementing the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, the two programs have achieved many great achievements, helping to change the socio -economic landscape in rural areas. To date, the whole country has 6,084/7,669 communes (79.3%) meeting the new rural standards. Of these, 2,567 communes have met the advanced new rural standards, 743 communes have met the model new rural standards. 329/646 district-level units in 60 provinces and centrally run cities have been recognized by the Prime Minister as having completed their tasks/met the new rural standards; 24 provinces and centrally run cities have 100% of their communes meeting the new rural standards; 12 provinces have met the new rural standards. The average income of rural people in 2025 is expected to reach about 58 million VND/person/year.

Delegates visited the OCOP product booth at the ceremony to receive the certificate of recognition of Dien Khanh district meeting new rural standards in early 2025.

For the sustainable poverty reduction program, in the 2021-2025 period, the average multidimensional poverty rate decreased by 1.03% per year; the average poverty rate in poor districts decreased by 6.7% per year. There are 19 extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas that have escaped poverty and extreme poverty. To date, 3 poor districts have been recognized as having escaped poverty. It is expected that in 2025, 19 more districts will escape poverty. The total number of poor and near-poor households at the beginning of the period was 2,393,332 households, and it is expected that by the end of 2025 there will be 1,256,197 households, meeting and exceeding the set target.

In Khanh Hoa , up to now, 73/90 communes have met the NTM standards (accounting for 81.1%). Of which, 34 communes have met the advanced NTM standards, 2 communes have met the model NTM standards; Dien Khanh district has met the NTM district standards. The province no longer has communes with less than 15 criteria; on average, each commune meets 18 criteria. The average income in rural areas in 2024 will reach 47.7 million VND/person/year, an increase of 21 million VND compared to 2020. In the period of 2022-2025, the multidimensional poverty rate in the province will decrease by an average of 1.6%/year, meeting and exceeding the set target. By the end of 2024, the whole province will have 4,348 poor households, accounting for 1.26%; 8,925 near-poor households (a decrease of 3,732 households). Khanh Hoa has two particularly difficult districts, Khanh Son and Khanh Vinh, which have now escaped the list of poor districts.

Unified integration of 2 programs

At the conference, the Central Steering Committee for National Target Programs unanimously proposed the development of the National Target Program for the 2026-2035 period by integrating the two current programs on new rural areas and sustainable poverty reduction into one program. The integration will help the new program not only be a comprehensive and profound socio-economic development tool in rural areas, but also improve the efficiency of public investment, streamline the leadership apparatus, unify support policies, and reduce duplication of content and targets.

A corner of Khanh Vinh mountainous district on the journey of developing an ecological mountain urban area. Photo: M. Hung

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the achievements of the two programs in the past period, which have contributed to helping millions of households escape poverty, become well-off, and significantly improve their material and spiritual lives. The face of the countryside has changed comprehensively. The socio-economic infrastructure system has been invested synchronously, creating new vitality in the villages. Many advanced and exemplary NTM models and effective value chains have been formed, becoming vivid evidence of in-depth and sustainable development. The Prime Minister agreed and emphasized the need to continue implementing the program in the direction of integrating the two NTM programs and sustainable poverty reduction in the coming period. At the same time, he agreed to recommend and propose to the National Assembly to prioritize the allocation of resources to implement the program in the 2026-2030 period and the 2031-2035 period, ensuring the successful implementation of the set goals; Agree to propose the Government Party Committee to report to the Politburo for consideration and direction for Party committees at all levels to include in the Resolution of Party Congresses at all levels the goals and solutions for building new rural areas and sustainable poverty reduction for the 2026-2030 period, with a vision to 2035.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to develop a report on investment policies for the two national target programs on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction for the 2026-2030 period in the direction of integrating them into one program, submitting them to the Government for consideration and reporting to the National Assembly; preside over and coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to develop a set of national criteria for new rural construction at all levels for the 2026-2030 period in the direction of delegating authority to localities to specify criteria and targets suitable to the conditions and characteristics of regions. The Prime Minister requested localities to complete steering committees at all levels in accordance with the 2-level local government model, without interruption in implementing the two programs. At the same time, assess the current status of new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction, identify the goals and tasks to be implemented in the 2026-2030 period, and send them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for synthesis; Speed ​​up the disbursement of state budget capital sources, especially the central budget sources assigned, striving to disburse 100% of public investment capital by 2025.

Some important targets by 2030: Per capita income in rural areas increases at least 2.5 times compared to 2020 (reaching about 105 million VND/person/year). The whole country has no more poor households according to the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2022-2025; at least 80% of communes meet the new rural standards, of which at least 35% of communes meet the advanced new rural standards and 10% of communes meet the modern new rural standards. By 2035, the average income per capita in rural areas increases at least 1.6 times compared to 2030; the national multidimensional poverty rate decreases to less than 1%. The whole country has at least 90% of communes meeting the new rural standards; 50% of communes meeting the advanced new rural standards; 25% of communes meeting the modern new rural standards.

HONG DANG

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/xa-hoi/202506/tich-hop-2-chuong-trinh-nong-thon-moi-va-giam-ngheo-ben-vung-dong-luc-moi-cho-khu-vuc-nong-thon-0504330/