Empowering Veterans to Develop the Economy

For over 10 years, veteran Doan Ba ​​Anh (69 years old) in village 3, Nghia Dung commune has always had a stable income from farming and raising cows. On average, each year, after deducting expenses, Mr. Anh has a surplus of 30 - 50 million VND. Mr. Anh shared, I have a stable income from my garden thanks to the loan from the Social Policy Bank. On an area of ​​2,500m2, his garden is always green with flowers, elephant grass, corn; in the cowshed there are always 2-3 cows raised for meat and breeding. The house is spacious, fully equipped, has water facilities, sanitation facilities, etc.

Thanks to a loan from the Provincial Bank for Social Policies Branch, veteran Doan Ba ​​Anh in village 3, Nghia Dung commune (Quang Ngai city) expanded his cow farming, bringing in a good income.

Mr. Doan Ba ​​Anh, enlisted in the army in 1976, then participated in an international mission in Cambodia. In August 1982, he was demobilized and returned to his hometown to get married and have children. He had no stable job, and although he had a large plot of land, he lacked capital to invest in farming and raising livestock, so his family's life faced many difficulties. In 2006, the provincial branch of the Social Policy Bank lent Mr. Anh 10 million VND. At that time, this was a large amount of money for his family. Therefore, he calculated very carefully, what to do to be effective in order to quickly pay back both interest and principal to the bank.

On the 2,500m2 land, he divided it into many plots, some growing flowers and vegetables to sell to earn money for daily expenses. Some growing corn, beans, grass, and rice to provide food for his family; and also using waste products to raise cows. Working diligently, by the 4th year, he had paid off the bank loan.

Mr. Anh said, doing business effectively, paying off debts on time, so I was confident to borrow more policy capital from clean water and environmental sanitation programs, job creation loan programs... to build sanitation works, expand scale, increase production. Thanks to that, up to now, I have raised 3 children to study, and married them off to stable marriages. My wife and I now have an income to take care of ourselves, without having to rely on our children and grandchildren.

Veteran Doan Ba ​​Anh in village 3, Nghia Dung commune (Quang Ngai city) reviews the records of veterans in the village to guide the procedures for borrowing policy capital.

The leaders of the Provincial Social Policy Bank Branch assessed that War Veteran Doan Ba ​​Anh is a typical example in credit activities entrusted from the Social Policy Bank, so they chose him as the Head of the Savings and Loan Group of War Veterans in Village 3, Nghia Dung Commune (Quang Ngai City). For many years, Mr. Anh has performed well the role of a bridge to entrust policy capital to many households in the area. Up to now, in Village 3, Nghia Dung Commune, there have been 56 households borrowing policy capital, with a total outstanding debt of more than 3.7 billion VND. Thanks to the capital invested for the right purpose, there has been no overdue debt, many farming households and war veterans have had a comfortable life.

Vice President of the Association of War Veterans of Quang Ngai City Nguyen Duc Viet said that the association currently has over 4,300 war veteran members. Most of them have devoted their youth to the resistance war and performed international missions in neighboring countries such as Laos and Cambodia. When returning to civilian life, many war veterans still have difficult lives. The Association of War Veterans of Quang Ngai City has coordinated with the provincial branch of the Bank for Social Policies to create conditions for war veteran households to access loans, invest in family economic development, replicate effective production and business models, and help each other escape poverty and become rich in their homeland.

By the end of 2024, the total outstanding debt entrusted to and managed by the Association of War Veterans of Quang Ngai City was more than 81.4 billion VND, an increase of nearly 9.4 billion VND compared to the beginning of 2023, with 2,610 households receiving policy loans. Most households operated effectively, so the overdue debt rate was only 0.23%.

Article and photos: TRUONG AN

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/202503/tao-dong-luc-cho-cuu-chien-binh-phat-trien-kinh-te-eca09da/