The local budget contribution rate of 33% is too large.

Group 4 (Lao Cai, Khanh Hoa, Lai Chau) — Delegates participating in the discussion at Group 4 on the afternoon of December 3. Photo: Ho Long

Integrate three programs to avoid overlap and focus resources

At the discussion session in Group 4 (including the National Assembly delegations of Khanh Hoa, Lai Chau and Lao Cai provinces) on the afternoon of December 3 on the Investment Policy of 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, the delegates basically agreed with the policy and the necessity of implementing the Program in the next phase.

National Assembly Deputy Sung A Lenh ( Lao Cai ) expressed "agreement and strong support" for integrating three national target programs into one program; at the same time, he hopes to soon implement this integrated program, without interrupting investment resources.

Delegates analyzed that in recent times, the implementation of three national target programs has achieved many results, changing the face of disadvantaged areas, especially ethnic minority areas.

National Assembly Representative Sung A Lenh (Lao Cai) — National Assembly Delegate Sung A Lenh (Lao Cai) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

However, the implementation also revealed limitations. These are overlapping and unsynchronized guidance documents; standards and norms for implementing different contents and sub-projects of the program; overlapping in subjects and areas; or regulations limiting areas without limiting subjects, making it very difficult to implement...

Regarding investment resources, delegate Sung A Lenh stated that due to being scattered across 3 programs, they are still small, spread out, not highly effective, and not sustainable.

For example, a rural road project with a length of 5km but the funding is divided into stages, which is very inappropriate, while the project registration estimate from the grassroots is very complete. Therefore, it causes difficulties for people's circulation, especially the circulation of goods.

From that reality, "integrating three national target programs is necessary to focus resources on implementing projects".

The delegate suggested that the Government review investment projects to ensure they are appropriate in scope and sustainable in the long term. “Investment resources must be large enough, not scattered or spread out. The total capital is very large, but spreading it out will not solve the problem,” the delegate emphasized.

Agreeing with the above opinion, National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Quoc Luan (Lao Cai) added that integrating three national target programs helps avoid overlapping resources and implementation mechanisms, making it more convenient for localities to implement.

According to delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan, up to now, these programs have been "extremely effective" with most of their goals achieved.

The program has helped people have valuable resources to stabilize their lives, develop production, increase income, thereby reducing poverty and getting rich; at the same time, helping to change the face of rural mountainous areas, highlands, and especially difficult remote areas.

“Personally, I strongly agree with us continuing to invest in phase 2 of the program,” said delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan.

Recalculating local contribution mechanism

Giving specific comments, delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan proposed that the draft Resolution should supplement regulations on specific mechanisms and policies in implementing the National Target Program.

Because this Program is implemented in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas with difficulties. Without specific policies, it will be very difficult and very complicated. "The National Assembly should have its own specific mechanisms and policies to implement the national target program to facilitate local implementation and maximize the effectiveness of State investment," the delegate analyzed.

One issue that many delegates are interested in is the investment funding source for the Program. The Government estimates 1.23 million billion VND. In the immediate future, the central budget will directly support about 100,000 billion VND; the local budget is 400,000 billion VND (accounting for 33%).

Delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan pointed out that many localities have not yet balanced their revenue and expenditure, so the provisions in the draft Resolution will be difficult.

“Should we recalculate the local contribution mechanism and make contributions according to each component? For the first component on new rural areas and poverty reduction, the central budget is the seed capital, while the local budget contributes a lot. But for the second component on socio-economic development in mountainous ethnic minority areas, the central budget must be the main source, because most of them are located in mountainous provinces with difficult socio-economic conditions,” the delegate suggested.

Sharing the above opinion, National Assembly member Dang Thi My Huong (Khanh Hoa) said that the regulation on the local budget contribution rate of 33% is too high, not suitable for the capacity of localities that still depend on the support capital of the central budget. In many localities in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the actual maximum counterpart capital capacity is only 10%.

“To avoid the situation where localities do not have enough counterpart capital, leading to difficulties in project implementation, it is necessary to study and supplement the principle of allocating counterpart capital based on each locality's capacity. The draft Resolution needs to state stronger regulations: for provinces with a large number of ethnic minorities, the counterpart capital ratio is lower, and further research is needed to determine how lower the level is,” delegate Dang Thi My Huong suggested.

Resources should be prioritized for remote, isolated and ethnic minority areas.

According to National Assembly Deputy Chamaléa Thi Thuy (Khanh Hoa), ethnic minority and mountainous areas account for about 75% of the country's area, but contribute less than 20% of the national GDP, showing a large gap in socio-economic development.

National Assembly Delegate Chamalea Thi Thuy (Khanh Hoa) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

In addition, the poverty rate in this area is 3-4 times higher than the national average, with many localities having a poverty rate of over 50%. The basic infrastructure of this area is still very poor, many communes do not have connecting roads, lack schools, medical stations, and clean water.

“The Government needs to study and prioritize resource allocation in a more clear direction. Accordingly, at least 70% of total resources should be focused on remote areas and ethnic minority areas. At the same time, it is necessary to strongly mobilize social resources and encourage the participation of businesses, social organizations and communities in development programs,” the delegate suggested.

Also according to delegate Chamaléa Thi Thuy, to ensure investment efficiency as well as prioritize investment in this region, the Government needs to focus on core issues such as: essential infrastructure (transportation, electricity, clean water, schools, medical facilities); sustainable livelihoods (developing organic agriculture, community tourism, traditional industries); paying attention to education and vocational training (increasing free vocational training, especially for ethnic minority youth); deploying digital technology applications to monitor and implement programs more effectively.

National Assembly Representative Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) — National Assembly Deputy Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

Basically agreeing with the draft Resolution, National Assembly Deputy Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) suggested that it is necessary to review the targets to avoid overlaps and duplications with other national target programs (on education; on health, health care, etc.).

Along with that, there should be principles to ensure appropriate capital allocation; priority policies must be clearly defined. At the same time, there should be early guidance to implement effective programs.

To avoid spreading, it is necessary to unify the assignment of a presiding agency to coordinate implementation, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to preside, coordinate with the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to deploy.

However, delegates are concerned that if a large program is assigned to a ministry or locality, will it be guaranteed if it is assigned to the Department of Agriculture and Environment?

Delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh suggested considering and reviewing which components can be assigned to the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, but still ensuring that there is only one agency in charge.

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