Policy capital helps people on Ly Son island escape poverty

Photo caption — Mr. Le Van Chau (Dong An Vinh village) borrowed capital from Ly Son Policy Bank to grow purple onions and garlic, developing a stable economy .

Ly Son Island (Quang Ngai) is located 15 nautical miles (about 30 km) from the mainland. Not only does it play the role of a "fence" in protecting the sovereignty of the sea and islands, today Ly Son special economic zone is "wearing" a new look with synchronous infrastructure, tourism is a key economic sector. The "garlic kingdom" Ly Son also makes its mark in the journey of poverty reduction thanks to effectively utilizing preferential credit capital from the Social Policy Bank.

Solid support

As a native of the island, experienced with the storms, Mr. Le Van Chau in Dong An Vinh village vowed to devote his whole life to his homeland's sea and islands. However, at his old age, he no longer has the strength to go out to sea. Because of that, the economy has declined, falling into difficult circumstances, especially during the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the midst of struggling to make a living, in 2022, Mr. Chau and his wife were able to access preferential capital of 100 million VND from the Transaction Office of the Ly Son Social Policy Bank under the Employment Loan Program. Taking advantage of his family's 3,500 m² of agricultural land, he decided to grow onions and garlic. From the initial policy capital, after just over two years, Mr. Chau's agricultural production model has initially brought about clear results, providing him with a stable source of income.

Mr. Le Van Chau shared that onions and garlic are typical crops on the island, but the initial investment capital for seeds is very high. Previously, my wife and I only planted one crop of garlic and then left the land fallow. Since accessing preferential capital from the Social Policy Bank, I have reinvested and improved the land to grow two more crops of purple onions in a year. This year, the weather is stable, so onions and garlic have high yields, bringing a good income for the family. My family, like many households in Ly Son, hope to continue to borrow capital from the Social Policy Bank to invest in production and reduce poverty sustainably.

Also in Dong An Vinh village, despite being born with a disability in both legs, Nguyen Huu Tho (born in 1988) still has the will to escape poverty. In 2022, with the support of the Social Policy Bank, he and his wife boldly borrowed 50 million VND from the loan program for the poor to invest in planting and caring for garlic. Thanks to his diligence, the first garlic crop has helped the family have a stable source of income to cover their living expenses.

That same year, Mr. Tho continued to be guided to access a loan of 50 million VND from the Employment Loan Program. Mr. Tho bought more tools, opened a small car repair shop, and took advantage of his free time to increase his income. By the end of September 2025, Mr. Tho and his wife had paid back 20 million VND in principal. Every month, he tries to pay 482,000 VND in interest on time, and at the same time saves 800,000 VND through the loan group to proactively pay interest in difficult times, especially during the rainy season, when business is unstable. From a poor household with no clear livelihood, thanks to preferential capital and the spirit of overcoming difficulties, Mr. Tho's family is gradually stabilizing their lives, gradually escaping poverty sustainably.

Accompanying the islanders

Accompanying the people of Ly Son island over the past 22 years, capital from the Ly Son Social Policy Bank has helped thousands of households on the island escape poverty, expand their livelihoods, and improve their quality of life.

Ms. Le Thi Phuc, Head of the Savings and Loan Group of Dong An Vinh village, said that in 2024, the group had 63 members. The total outstanding loan capital of the group was more than 4 billion VND for loans to poor and near-poor households, clean water sanitation programs, job creation, and housing construction.

In the first 9 months of 2025, 3 members of the group, who are poor households, have borrowed capital for production and escaped poverty. In order to avoid overdue debt, the Savings and Loan Group must not only be close to the people, but we also encourage members to have the habit of saving, creating a source of capital to pay interest when facing economic difficulties.

Director of the Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies of Ly Son, Tran Van Nam, said that the preferential capital source in recent years has been effective, fully meeting the loan needs of the people of Ly Son special economic zone. The loan capital not only improves the lives of poor and near-poor households; helps students feel secure going to school but also contributes to helping people expand production, increase income and improve their lives.

To improve the quality of credit capital, the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Ly Son always clearly implements 3 goals: conducting voting and selecting eligible households; promptly providing sufficient loan capital for households in need and mobilizing the participation of associations, unions, and savings and loan groups to accompany the Social Policy Bank to better serve the people.

Director of the Ly Son Social Policy Bank Transaction Office Tran Van Nam added that currently, the Ly Son Social Policy Bank Transaction Office is maintaining 54 savings and loan groups, opening 3 transaction points at the Cultural Houses of villages in the special zone on the 12th, 15th and 18th of every month; organizing transactions, complying with the transaction dates and hours according to the posted schedule, fully publicizing signs, transaction information, suggestion boxes, and hotlines according to regulations.

“In the coming time, Ly Son Social Policy Bank will continue to effectively implement Directive No. 39-CT/TW of the Secretariat on improving the effectiveness of social policy credit in the new period. In addition, we will synchronously deploy policies to the grassroots level and widely propagate policies so that people clearly understand the role of policy credit in contributing to the task of poverty reduction and socio-economic development,” said the Director of the Transaction Office of Ly Son Social Policy Bank.

Chairman of Ly Son Special Zone Nguyen Van Huy said that the capital source from the policy bank has contributed greatly to poverty reduction in Ly Son Special Zone. Up to now, the poverty rate in Ly Son is 5.02% (311 households), decreasing by an average of 1 - 1.5% per year. In the coming time, the People's Committee of Ly Son Special Zone will continue to work with the Social Policy Bank to support the source through entrusted loans so that people can access this capital source most conveniently.

According to the Transaction Office of the Ly Son Social Policy Bank, to date, the total outstanding credit balance in the Ly Son special economic zone is nearly 172 billion VND, with 2,214 customer households still in debt. In the first 9 months of 2025, 1,123 households borrowed policy capital with outstanding debt of 68.5 billion VND. Lending capital in the Ly Son special economic zone has not generated overdue debt.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/tai-chinh-ngan-hang/von-chinh-sach-giup-dan-dao-tien-tieu-ly-son-thoat-ngheo-20251015142859725.htm