Breakthrough in sustainable poverty reduction - Part 2: Motivation from policy capital

Capital to support investment in socio-economic infrastructure development helps mountainous localities gradually change their appearance. IN PHOTO: Long Son village, Tra Son commune, Bac Tra My (photo taken in February 2025). Photo: HO QUAN

Promoting poverty reduction capital

The Song Vang bridge project connecting Tam Tra (Nui Thanh) - Tra Kot (Bac Tra My) route to village 2, Tra Kot commune with a total investment of 6.5 billion VND has been handed over and put into use in 2024, making the traffic of 64 Co ethnic households more convenient.

Ms. Ho Thi Hoa - Head of Village 2 said that this bridge replaced the small, narrow, degraded suspension bridge - the only way for motorbikes to enter the village. During the construction process, 6 households whose production land was affected volunteered to donate land and hand over the site.

“Since the bridge was built, there is no longer a situation where vehicles transporting agricultural and forestry products have to cross the river or goods are stuck during the rainy season due to rising river water. This has significantly improved people’s lives and incomes,” said Ms. Hoa.

Mr. Le Van Tuan - Vice Chairman of Bac Tra My District People's Committee said that the investment capital to implement Sub-project 1 and Sub-project 2 under Project 1 on supporting investment in developing socio-economic infrastructure is nearly 310 billion VND.

Through investment projects, 82% of communes have asphalted or concreted roads; 97% of households use the national grid; 100% of communes have solid schools and classrooms, meeting learning needs. All 13 commune health stations are qualified to provide health insurance examination and treatment for people, of which 7 health stations meet national standards.

In Tay Giang district, in the period of 2021 - 2024, the capital to implement Project 2 on diversifying livelihoods and developing poverty reduction models is more than 18 billion VND.

From this capital source, Tay Giang assigned sectors, organizations and localities to be investors to implement 20 projects. A typical example is the project of raising breeding cows according to the value chain between production and consumption of products in the communes of Bha Leê, A Tiếng, and Lăng, with a total capital of more than 2.8 billion VND, attracting 66 poor households and 6 near-poor households to participate.

In 2022, Mr. Alang Bon's family in Nal village, Lang commune (Tay Giang) received support of 40 million VND to buy 3 cows. After 2 years of hard work, the herd has grown to 9 cows. Next, Mr. Bon sold some of the bulls to pay off his debt and invested in digging a fish pond, buying breeding pigs, and saving up to build a house.

With support of 40 million VND to carry out a project of raising breeding cows, Mr. Alang Bon's family in Nal village, Lang commune (Tay Giang) has successfully escaped poverty. Photo: HO QUAN

By 2024, Mr. Bon's family's total income reached more than 120 million VND, becoming one of the first two households to escape poverty from the local breeding cow model.

According to Mr. Mac Nhu Phuong - Acting Chairman of Tay Giang District People's Committee, to maximize resources from the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, the district reviewed the actual needs of households to have appropriate support plans.

This focuses on supporting livestock, agricultural tools, housing, domestic water, and preferential credit loans, etc. to create conditions for people to rise up and escape poverty sustainably. This is an important premise to help the district reduce 390 poor households in 2024 and aim to reduce 412 poor households in 2025.

Focus on disbursement

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - the governing body implementing the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, the total capital plan for implementing the program in 2025 (including extended capital for 2022, 2023, and 2024) is over VND 1,032 billion. Of which, the estimated capital extended to 2025 is nearly VND 437 billion; the expected capital plan for 2025 is over VND 595.6 billion.

In 2025 capital, development investment source is more than 227.3 billion VND, career capital is more than 368.2 billion VND. As of March 15, 2025, the Department of Finance advised the Provincial People's Committee to allocate detailed development investment capital according to projects and sub-projects to relevant agencies, units of the province and poor districts with a total amount of more than 223.6 billion VND.

The Song Vang Bridge project with a total investment of 6.5 billion VND has been handed over and put into use in 2024, helping 64 Co ethnic households (village 2, Tra Kot commune, Bac Tra My) to travel conveniently. Photo: HO QUAN

More than 3.7 billion VND of Project 4 cannot be allocated in detail and disbursed in 2025, so the Department of Finance proposed to return more than 3.4 billion VND to the central budget. At the same time, nearly 267.3 million VND of the provincial budget will be transferred to other programs and projects.

Based on the allocated development investment capital for 2025, units and localities plan to invest in 111 works/projects. Currently, 85 projects are under construction, 8 projects have been bid, 8 projects have been approved and 10 projects are being submitted for approval. Units and localities have allocated 185.8/223.6 billion VND (83.1%).

Regarding career capital, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has requested the Department of Finance to review and submit to the Provincial People's Committee to allocate funds to implement Project 5 for the districts of Bac Tra My, Nam Tra My, Tay Giang and Nam Giang with a total amount of nearly 50.6 billion VND.

The remaining capital plan is 317.7 billion VND. It is expected that this March, the Department of Agriculture and Environment will conduct a review in accordance with the principles, criteria, and norms for allocating state budget capital and the proportion of counterpart capital from the local budget according to Resolution No. 22 of the Provincial People's Council. In particular, it is proposed to return more than 63.3 billion VND of Project 5 capital because sufficient funding has been allocated for implementation.

The representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that by March 15, 2025, the entire province had disbursed capital for 2025 (including capital for 2022, 2023, 2024 extended to 2025) of 56.9 billion VND (6%). Of which, the capital extended to 2025 was disbursed 41.8 billion VND (10%); the capital plan for 2025 was disbursed 15.2 billion VND (3%).

The reason for the slow disbursement is that units and localities have not completed the procedures to transfer capital plans for 2022, 2023, and 2024, extending the disbursement period to 2025.

Besides, in 2025, the Central Government was slow in allocating career capital, affecting the progress of capital allocation and implementation, especially Project 5 on housing support.

Central budget capital also has detailed changes for each project and sub-project compared to the previously estimated capital, so the departments, branches and units assigned to preside over projects and sub-projects must review and propose to reallocate the capital plan, which takes a lot of time.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Anh Tuan - Head of the Steering Committee for the implementation of national target programs said that the province's goal is to disburse 100% of capital sources for 2022, 2023 and 2024 transferred to 2025 before April 30, 2025; disburse 60% of the capital plan for 2025 before June 30, 2025 and 100% of capital for 2025 before December 31, 2025.

With a large amount of capital and not much time left, localities and units assigned to implement projects should urgently go to the treasury to complete procedures for transferring resources to 2025. At the same time, strictly implement the counterpart to implement works and projects; have a disbursement plan for each program, project portfolio and commit to progress. Local leaders and units must take responsibility for delayed disbursement and loss of capital.

“The Department of Agriculture and Environment must urgently review the capital sources for 2025 that have been and have not been allocated and urge relevant units to fully allocate capital. At the same time, calculate the disbursement progress from now until the end of the year, especially for new projects in 2025. If it falls within the period of abolishing district-level administrative units and merging commune-level administrative units, it must be calculated which units and localities will be assigned to implement, ensuring that the disbursement progress is not affected,” Mr. Tuan suggested.

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Final article: Steady steps towards sustainable poverty reduction

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/but-pha-giam-ngheo-ben-vung-bai-2-dong-luc-tu-nguon-von-chinh-sach-3151932.html