PV: Could you please tell us some basic features of the situation of ethnic minorities in Vinh Long province?
Mr. Thach Duong: Vinh Long is a province in the center of the Mekong Delta, with an area of over 1,500 km² and a population of over 1 million people. Of which, ethnic minorities account for about 2.6%, with the Khmer accounting for 2.21%, followed by the Chinese accounting for 0.31%. Ethnic minorities live concentrated in Tra On and Tam Binh districts.
Compared to the general level, the socio-economic life in these areas has many limitations due to difficulties in infrastructure, uneven living conditions and development levels of the ethnic minorities. Although the ethnic minority population is not large, this is a community that plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the province and possesses unique traditional cultural values.
Therefore, Vinh Long province pays special attention to investing and supporting the development of ethnic minority areas, focusing on improving the quality of life for ethnic minorities through support programs and specific policies. However, the development gap between regions is still relatively large, and many solutions need to be implemented to gradually narrow the gap in the coming time.
PV: Through research, in recent years, the MTQ Program 1719 has received the attention of the province and the consensus of all classes of people in organizing and implementing it. How do you evaluate the results of the implementation of the contents and projects of the Program?
Mr. Thach Duong : Implementing the National Target Program 1719, phase 2021 - 2023, the total capital allocated from the central budget is 69,457 million VND. Of which, development investment capital accounts for 65,502 million VND. In 2024 alone, the central budget capital approved for the Program is 160,912 million VND.
From the allocated capital, in the past three years, the province has focused on investing in the construction and upgrading of traffic works, irrigation works, schools and medical facilities in disadvantaged areas. By the end of 2023, 100% of ethnic minority communes in Vinh Long province will have paved car roads to the center; about 90% of ethnic minority hamlets and villages will have paved car roads to the center.
In districts with a large ethnic minority population such as Vung Liem, Tam Binh, Tra On and Binh Minh Town, a total of 122 infrastructure projects have been invested in, with a cost of nearly 60 billion VND. The most obvious are the new concrete roads connecting remote communes, which not only help people travel conveniently, but also facilitate the trade of goods.
Another notable result is the support for economic development. Through the Program's projects, ethnic minorities are supported with crop and livestock varieties, production techniques and access to preferential loans. As a result, many households have successfully transformed their production models, increasing productivity and income. The poverty rate among ethnic minorities has decreased sharply from 18.76% in 2019 to 3.44% by the end of 2023, exceeding the average poverty reduction target of 3%/year.
In addition, the province also focuses on education and culture. Many policies to support ethnic minority students have been implemented, helping to increase the rate of school attendance and improve the quality of learning. At the same time, traditional festivals, craft villages and cultural values of ethnic minorities have been restored and promoted, contributing to preserving national identity.
To date, 75/87 communes in the province have met the new rural standards (86.2%), of which 35 communes have met the advanced standards and 5 communes have met the model standards. Of the 5 communes in ethnic minority areas, 3 communes have met the new rural standards.
It can be said that after more than 3 years of implementing the National Target Program 1719, although there are still limitations and difficulties, basically, the National Target Program 1719 has brought about encouraging results, contributing to promoting the completion of socio-economic infrastructure; developing production, increasing income, and improving people's lives.
PV: National Target Program 1719 is a new Program, consisting of many projects and sub-projects, so when implementing, in most localities, difficulties and problems have appeared . So what are the difficulties and problems in Vinh Long province, and what are the solutions to overcome them, sir?
Mr. Thach Duong : The first difficulty is financial resources. Although supported by the central budget, this resource is still not enough to meet all development needs. In particular, communes in region III need larger investments to escape the difficult situation.
In addition, the management and implementation of the Program in some relevant agencies and units and in localities is still slow; the disbursement rate of capital to implement the Program is still low. Meanwhile, there is a situation where some projects are allocated capital by the Central Government but have no beneficiaries, some projects have low targets but the Central Government allocates more capital, some projects have many targets but are allocated little or no capital.
Another problem is that the team of cadres working on ethnic affairs must take on many tasks, so they are not thorough in carrying out their tasks. This team is still limited in experience and expertise, causing difficulties in implementing complex projects.
Finally, complex geographical conditions and difficult transportation in some remote communes also slow down the progress of project implementation, especially infrastructure works.
However, in the process of implementing projects and contents of the National Target Program 1719, we received close guidance from leaders at all levels, along with timely financial resources allocated to implement the Program.
In particular, ethnic minorities in Vinh Long also have great confidence in the policies of the Party and State, actively participating in development projects, with the participation rate in projects supporting livelihoods and socio-economic development reaching over 85%.
In addition, to improve the capacity of the ethnic minority work team, participate in organizing, implementing and managing projects, in the period of 2019-2024, Vinh Long also organized 6 training courses on ethnic minority work for about 200 cadres performing ethnic minority work in the whole province.
PV: Thank you very much!
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