Small capital creates big value for the urban poor (Part 2)

The implementation of Directive 40-CT/TW is a correct policy of the Party and State, meeting the people's aspirations and increasingly entering life, strengthening people's trust in the Party and State, contributing to achieving the goal of rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, ensuring progress, fairness and social security.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Son, Deputy Head of the Central Economic Commission, stated that Ho Chi Minh City is a special urban area, the largest in the country in terms of population and economic scale; the largest economic, cultural, educational, training, scientific and technological center of the country; the driving force for the economic and social development of the Southern Key Economic Zone in particular and the whole country in general. Every year, the City contributes over 1/5 of GDP and over 1/4 of budget revenue to the national budget. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City is a locality that has always been a pioneer in piloting and proposing to the Central Government many policies and mechanisms for the socio-economic development of the whole country in general and the City in particular.

In order to build Ho Chi Minh City into a civilized and modern city, with a special urban role, leading the industrialization and modernization cause, making increasingly greater contributions to the region and the whole country, the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 dated June 24, 2023 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City and expected to create more favorable conditions for the City to unlock resources, create momentum for development, and maximize potential and strengths to develop commensurate with its leading position in the socio-economic development of the Southeast region and the whole country.

“Economic development must be associated with creating livelihoods, jobs, income and sustainable poverty reduction, improving the quality of people's lives is a major, important, consistent and continuous policy of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and the whole country in general. This is also one of the top key political tasks in the process of building and developing the socio-economy of Ho Chi Minh City to become civilized, modern and humane” – Mr. Son emphasized.

In recent years, the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee has directed Party committees, Party organizations, authorities, Fatherland Fronts, and mass organizations at all levels in the City to continue to widely disseminate the contents of Directive No. 40-CT/TW of the Central Party Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership over social policy credit (Directive 40). This is considered one of the important tasks in implementing the 5-year socio-economic development plan for 2021 - 2025, contributing to the successful implementation of the Party Congress Resolution. The Standing Committee of the City Party Committee has directed the concentration of financial resources to meet the borrowing needs of the poor and other policy beneficiaries in the City.

Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee at the Conference to summarize 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW

Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the Party Committees and authorities at all levels of the City are well aware of the role, position and importance of social policy credit in implementing the goals of poverty reduction, job creation, new rural construction and ensuring social security of the locality. In particular, the Party Committees and local authorities of districts, towns and Thu Duc city have paid attention to directing and creating favorable conditions for the VBSP to perform well the assigned tasks. Accordingly, the mass organizations have well implemented the contents entrusted by the VBSP, the quality of the entrustment has been increasingly improved.

In recent times, the City's Unions at all levels have closely coordinated with the VBSP in the area and local authorities in consolidating and improving the quality of social policy credit, doing a good job of loan assessment, strengthening inspection, supervision, urging debt collection, collecting interest, guiding borrowers to use capital effectively, doing a good job of consulting, guiding the construction and replication of typical production and business models, helping each other to escape poverty and get rich... contributing to bringing preferential credit capital to poor households and policy beneficiaries in a timely, targeted and effective manner.

According to the report of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Policy Bank, the City is currently implementing 08 social policy credit programs in the area, of which 04 programs are lent by local capital. The total lending turnover from the beginning of 2015 to June 30, 2024 reached 24,445 billion VND, with nearly 563,000 poor households, near-poor households and other policy beneficiaries receiving loans; debt collection turnover reached 15,114 billion VND, equal to 61.8% of lending turnover. By June 30, 2024, the total outstanding debt of policy credit programs reached more than VND 11,470 billion, an increase of VND 9,426 billion compared to 2014, with 194,283 poor households and policy beneficiaries still having outstanding debt, the average outstanding debt per household reached VND 59 million, an increase of VND 41.8 million compared to 2014.

The poor and other policy beneficiaries who have the need and meet the conditions can access the products and services provided by the VBSP. In particular, the loan program to support job creation, job maintenance and expansion, including central and local capital sources, the outstanding loan balance of the program reached VND 8,029.5 billion, accounting for 72.6% of the total outstanding balance, with 138,204 customers borrowing capital. This is the credit program with the largest outstanding balance among the social policy credit programs being implemented, contributing significantly to helping over 566,700 workers find jobs, reduce the unemployment rate, increase income, expand production, develop industries, and implement the City's sustainable poverty reduction program.

In addition, the poverty reduction support loan program has been implemented by the Sustainable Poverty Reduction Board in the area since 1994. Up to now, the program's outstanding debt has reached 1,671.2 billion VND, an increase of 1,455.3 billion VND compared to the time of handover, accounting for 15.1% of the total outstanding debt, with 33,690 poor households, near-poor households and households that have just escaped poverty at all stages borrowing capital. This is the credit program with the second largest outstanding debt among the social policy credit programs being implemented. ...

Mr. Tran Van Tien, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Policy Bank, said at the Conference to review 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW, in the past time, the City Party Committee and Government have always identified social policy credit as a correct policy of the Party and State, which is of great significance in socio-economic development. In particular, this is a channel to create more resources for sustainable poverty reduction, contributing to promoting fairness and equality in society. As of June 30, 2024, the total social policy credit capital at the Ho Chi Minh City Social Policy Bank branch reached VND 12,193 billion, an increase of VND 9,955 billion (4.5 times) compared to the end of 2014.

“The social policy credit capital of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Ho Chi Minh City branch, has always received attention from the City's leaders to create favorable conditions to serve the borrowing needs of the poor and other policy beneficiaries. Every year, in addition to the capital supported by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, the City continues to focus on strengthening socialization, maximizing the mobilization of resources from all classes of people and economic sectors in the area. In particular, priority is always given to the budget of the City, districts, and Thu Duc City entrusted to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to provide loans to poor households, near-poor households, and newly escaped-poverty households according to the City's criteria and loans to create jobs. The social policy credit capital has promptly met the needs of beneficiaries, creating favorable conditions to support the poor and other policy beneficiaries in the city" - Mr. Tien said.

Currently, in order to transfer social policy credit capital to the right beneficiaries, at the same time improve credit quality, provide maximum support for the poor and other policy subjects to access financial and credit services in the condition of reducing management costs and social costs, the VBSP has implemented the method of direct lending with the delegation of some work contents through socio-political organizations. Specifically, such as establishing and directing the activities of Savings and Loan Groups according to the principles of voluntariness, mutual assistance, democratic and public loan assessment of households eligible for loans, guiding borrowers in using capital, checking and supervising the process of using loans, urging debt collection together with the VBSP; coordinating with the VBSP and authorities at all levels to organize training, fostering, and coaching on management skills for the team of Association officials acting as trustees and the Management Board of Savings and Loan Groups...

The implementation of Directive 40-CT/TW is a correct policy of the Party and State, meeting the people's aspirations and increasingly entering life, strengthening people's trust in the Party and State, contributing to achieving the goal of rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, ensuring progress, fairness and social security.

The credit capital of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Policy Bank has helped the poor and other policy beneficiaries access preferential credit capital from the State, contributing to limiting black credit in the area. In addition, the effective implementation of social policy credit programs has made an important contribution to promoting socio-economic development in line with the State's orientation; achieving the goal of sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas, and ensuring social security. Policy capital has contributed to reducing the rate of poor and near-poor households according to the City's criteria through the stages. Specifically, from the period of 2014 - 2015, poor households decreased from 4.23% to 0.48%, near-poor households from 2.53% to 1.69%. By the period of 2021 - 2025, poor households decreased rapidly from 1.49% to 0.33%, near-poor households from 0.80% to 0.57%.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/do-ng-von-nho-tao-gia-tri-lon-cho-nguo-i-dan-nghe-o-tha-nh-thi-bai-2-158609.html