The new-style rural area model has benefited many hamlets and communes (Photo: VOV)

With money borrowed from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies in Moc Chau district, Sung Thi Gia and her family in Ta Phenh hamlet began livestock production and cultivation. As a result, her family’s life has improved remarkably.

Gia said, “Thanks to the support of the local authorities, we borrowed enough money to plant 200 orange trees and raise pigs and chickens. Since 2019 we’ve sold 4 to 5 tons of oranges, hundreds of chickens, and dozens of pigs each year. My family’s economic and living conditions have remarkably improved.”

Tan Lap commune in Moc Chau district has 15 hamlets with ethnic minority people accounting for 90%. Thanks to support programs and policies on poverty reduction and new rural development, local people have seen improvements to their lives.

Ban Van Phuong, Vice Chairman of Tan Lap commune’s People's Committee, said, “Thanks to Party guidelines and State policies, people's lives have significantly improved. Many households can now buy household utensils. In the coming years, the government will create favorable conditions for local people to escape poverty.”

Since 2020 Yen Chau district has used 560,000 USD from the National Program on Poverty Reduction known as Program 135 to build and repair roads, and improve the electricity system, schools, and medical stations.

According to Lu Van Chung, Head of Yen Chau district’s Ethnic Affairs Section, “Many ethnic minority households have learned to use technology for production, do intensive farming, and restructure crops toward commodity production to rise out of poverty. The number of poor households has dropped each year. Much investment has been made in infrastructure, significantly changing the outlook for rural areas. Local education, training, and health care continue to improve.”

Other places in Son La besides Yen Chau and Moc Chau district, have implemented programs and policies to help ethnic minority people, with particular attention to education, health care, and culture.

All communes with ethnic minority residents have schools at all levels from kindergarten to high school.

Luong Van Toan, Deputy Head of Son La province’s Committee of Ethnic Affairs, said preserving and promoting ethnic minority cultural values is a high priority.

“All the policies have contributed to the socio-economic development of the areas that have ethnic minority residents. Roads, electricity, irrigation, schools, and other infrastructure has significantly improved. These policies have helped reduce poverty rate 3-5% every year while raising local people’s awareness, improving farming methods, boosting incomes sustainably, raising living standards, and establishing a market economy,” said Toan.

Under its socio-economic development plan for ethnic minority areas until 2025 with a vision to 2030, Son La plans to mobilize resources for local development, attract more investment, prioritize sustainable poverty reduction, address the problems and concerns of ethnic minority people, and promote technology application in production.