Integrating programs, promoting the role of people in building new rural areas and reducing poverty

On the afternoon of September 12, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting in person and online to listen to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the opinions of ministries, localities, experts and scientists on the report proposing investment policies for the national target program on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction for the period 2026-2035; and the draft Decree regulating multidimensional poverty standards for the period 2026-2030.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said that Vietnam has achieved many successes in poverty reduction, which have been recognized by the international community, but multidimensional poverty reduction poses higher requirements, especially in the context of ensuring socio -economic indicators and people's lives, towards a fair, prosperous society, with the goal of prosperity and happiness.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting on the report on the proposed investment policy for the national target program on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction for the 2026-2035 period; and the draft Decree regulating multidimensional poverty standards for the 2026-2030 period.

The issuance of the Decree on multidimensional poverty standards is a new step forward, both in line with international standards and defining new standards, in line with development requirements in the current period; it is a legal and policy basis for localities to implement in the new term.

Regarding national target programs, the Deputy Prime Minister assessed that the implementation of programs such as new rural construction, socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, and sustainable poverty reduction has achieved clear results, but there are still overlaps and duplications, causing difficulties in resource allocation. "Many localities have requested to return funds due to implementation mechanisms. Each program has its own capital, mechanism, and apparatus, leading to difficulties in management."

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Vietnam has achieved many achievements in poverty reduction, which have been recognized by the international community.

Therefore, the meeting needs to agree on applying multidimensional poverty standards and institutionalizing them by Decree; integrating the two target programs of new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction; reviewing the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period to ensure effectiveness, avoid overlap, concentrate resources and improve efficiency of use.

After listening to opinions and concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to fully absorb the opinions at the meeting, promptly complete the Draft Decree as well as report on proposed investment policies for the national target program on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction for the 2026-2035 period.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the process of drafting documents must be based on the results of summarizing and evaluating the results of the implementation of the two programs on new rural development and sustainable poverty reduction, which have been recognized by the people and the international community. The organization and implementation methods have also left many valuable lessons, the greatest success of which is the participation of the Party Committee, the political system and the promotion of the role of the people, especially farmers. This is a point that needs to be affirmed and continued to be inherited.

However, in addition, the implementation of the two programs on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction still has some limitations such as: Dividing too many projects, issuing many mechanisms, and spreading the same capital source, making the efficiency low. In some places, there is funding but it is not disbursed or implemented, causing waste. The apparatus and number of guiding documents are too many, making the procedures more cumbersome, reducing the effectiveness of implementation.

"We must frankly draw lessons to promote initiatives and overcome shortcomings in the coming period," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Regarding the multidimensional poverty standard, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that this is an international standard recommended by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and countries can apply it flexibly depending on their institutional conditions and development level. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment needs to adhere to the issued standards and rely on official statistics from the national statistics agency to determine the minimum income level. On that basis, calculations should be made in line with the development goals until 2030, ensuring that the average income per capita is raised, and poor households must also enjoy the common achievements of the country. The poverty standard is not a "hard index" but needs to be flexibly adjusted in each period.

In addition to income, index groups on education, health, employment, information, basic services, etc. also need to be reviewed. The Deputy Prime Minister suggested adding an index on the ability to adapt to natural disasters, storms and floods, etc. because "just one storm or one big flood can cause many households to fall back into poverty. This is a direct factor determining the sustainability of poverty reduction".

Regarding the classification of subjects, the Deputy Prime Minister said that we should continue to maintain three groups: poor households, near-poor households and middle-income households. The middle-income group needs attention because this is the threshold for falling back into poverty, requiring timely prevention and support policies.

The meeting was held in person and online to listen to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the ministries, localities, experts and scientists.

Regarding implementation, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that decrees and documents must not only set standards but also design specific mechanisms, policies, implementation plans and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. At the same time, clearly define the responsibilities of each level, "The Central Government issues standards, the province specifies them, the commune organizes implementation". At the commune level, the government, the political system, the Fatherland Front and the people discuss and decide on necessary work, ensuring that "the people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect".

The Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized financial responsibility and assigned the Ministry of Finance to ensure resources, "cannot stop at general principles, but must clearly define responsibilities and resource mobilization plans".

Commenting on the orientation of new rural development, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that the new set of criteria must inherit the achievements and at the same time supplement them to suit the new development stage. The goal is comprehensive and sustainable rural development, with people's lives becoming increasingly prosperous and happy. Documents issued by the Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat need to be fully understood and updated in the process of developing the new set of criteria.

The subjects and areas for implementing new rural construction need to be classified: Ethnic minority areas, remote areas, and areas with specific difficulties; difficult areas but not ethnic minority areas; areas with development conditions, from which there are different approaches, both setting high targets to strive for and having priority policies for resource allocation, which cannot be equalized.

"The approach must come from the grassroots, promoting the role of the people as the main subject. Policies and investment capital must be clear, decentralization must be strong, and more power must be given to localities to encourage dynamism and creativity," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Another issue noted by the Deputy Prime Minister is that after the arrangement and merger of commune-level administrative units, many localities need to soon complete urban and rural planning and allocate resources reasonably.

Emphasizing that planning must be one step ahead, serving as the basis for implementing tasks of building new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, avoiding fragmentation and patchwork, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to preside over and ensure that by 2026 all communes have planning.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/long-ghep-chuong-trinh-phat-huy-vai-tro-nguoi-dan-trong-xay-dung-nong-thon-moi-giam-ngheo-20250912213014168.htm