[Vietnam] Northern region to bring poverty down

from The Vietnam News Agency

HA NOI — The northern mountainous region set a goal of reducing its poverty rate by 2.5-3 per cent annually between 2006 and 2010 at a Government-hosted two-day conference discussing measures to boost the region’s socio-economic development held in Ha Noi yesterday.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, among the participants, said the northern mountainous provinces have over the past years recorded achievements in all fields, especially improvements in the spiritual and material life of ethnic minorities.

However, the northern mountainous region and western parts of central Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces remained poor in comparison to other parts of the country, PM Khai said.

To change the situation, Khai called for the creation of conditions that will enable the region to boost the production of commodities in order to increase the living standards of ethnic minority people.

The PM also emphasised the need to preserve the traditional cultures of ethnic groups and provide sufficient educational and healthcare services to locals even in the most remote locations.

Together with building roads and irrigation works as well as clinics and schools for the local residents, authorities of northern mountainous provinces should also focus on implementing policies that encourage minority groups to practise their traditional religions, Khai said.

Provinces in the region plan to exploit available natural resources, such as minerals and water, and their border location to back economic development.

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said over the last five years, the Government has made considerable improvements in the midland region’s infrastructure, especially in transport, telecommunications, and irrigation networks.

Between 2001 and 2005, economic development in the midland region and the northern mountain provinces was higher than the country’s average increase. The infrastructure had been improved to meet the demand of socio-economic development and national defence of the region.

By 2010, the region strives to rapidly shift the economic structure, aiming for 26 per cent of the economy to be devoted to the agro-forestry industry and 40 per cent to trade and services.

On the first day, the conference heard reports on developing infrastructure for transport, forest protection and afforestation programmes in the northern mountainous provinces.

Participants also heard reports on the resettlement of inhabitants in border communes, preventing landslides, State’s policies on education and training and religious practises in the northern mountainous provinces.