Support for people to develop forests

Preferential loans from the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office help people develop hill and forest economy

Together with the staff of the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, we visited the family of Ms. Bui Thi Hang, Binh Thai village, Thai Binh commune. Ms. Hang shared: My family used to be a poor household, with a large hilly forest land but lacked capital to invest in production. In 2019, with the support and guidance of the staff of the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office and the head of the village savings and loan group, my family borrowed 50 million VND from the bank to plant acacia and pine forests. Thanks to the capital, my family was able to plant 30,000 acacia trees and 3,000 pine trees. In addition, every year, I participate in training courses on science and technology transfer organized by the commune, so I have knowledge to apply in production. Thanks to that, my family's forest area has developed well. In 2024, I exploited the acacia forest, bringing in an income of over 200 million VND and was able to repay the bank, rising out of poverty.

Not only the people of Thai Binh commune, the loan capital of the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office has supported people in all communes of Dinh Lap district (old) and now the communes: Dinh Lap, Thai Binh, Chau Son, Kien Moc to develop forestry. Currently, the total outstanding loan balance of preferential credit programs being implemented at the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office is 392 billion VND, with 4,060 borrowers; of which, people borrowed to plant and care for forests is over 314.6 billion VND (accounting for 80.3% of the total outstanding debt). This is the unit with a high rate of forest planting loans compared to other transaction offices in the whole province.

Mr. Luong Cao Cuong, Deputy Director of the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, said: The unit has coordinated with the People's Committees of communes, associations and organizations to promote loan programs to poor households and other policy beneficiaries. In addition, the transaction office assigned local officials to coordinate with the People's Committees of communes to review and make a list of households with large forest land areas but lacking investment capital to support preferential loans, and at the same time advise and guide people to make loan applications quickly and promptly. At the same time, the unit coordinates with savings and loan groups to promote the bank's preferential loan programs, especially guiding households to invest in loans to develop forestry to promote the potential and advantages of the communes.

From preferential loans, people in the communes of Dinh Lap, Thai Binh, Chau Son, Kien Moc have invested in planting and caring for forests. Accordingly, the bank's loans have helped households plant and care for more than 55,000 hectares of forest, mainly pine, acacia, and eucalyptus forests. From the effectiveness of the capital, many households have escaped poverty and become rich legitimately. According to preliminary estimates from the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, the capital has helped over 1,200 households have an average income of over 100 million VND/year from the forest.

Mr. Hoang Van Hoi, Chairman of Kien Moc Commune People's Committee, said: The commune has a forestry land area of over 29,523 hectares, which is a strength for developing the forest hill economy. Exploiting that advantage, in the past time, the Commune People's Committee has closely coordinated with the bank to guide people to borrow preferential loans to invest in planting and caring for forests. Up to now, the outstanding loan balance at the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office is nearly 87 billion VND, with 1,220 households borrowing (of which, 80% of households borrow capital to plant forests). Currently, people in the commune have planted over 25,000 hectares of forest, from which the forest has helped people increase their income, get rich, contributing to reducing the poverty rate of the commune to 1.57% (in 2020 it was 7.56%).

Mr. Phan Anh Thang, Deputy Director of the Provincial Branch of the Social Policy Bank, assessed: In recent years, the Dinh Lap Social Policy Bank Transaction Office has always been the leading unit of the province in deploying loan capital to help people develop planting, care for and protect forests. Through monitoring, it can be seen that the capital is used by people for the right purpose and effectively, thereby contributing significantly to helping poor households and other policy beneficiaries escape poverty, get rich and develop the economy from the hills and forests.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/dong-hanh-cung-nguoi-dan-phat-trien-rung-5057195.html