US$6 bln needed to boost development in ethnic minority areas over next five years

The capital volume was figured out in the latest national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2020 period released Thursday.

The total investment capital includes more than VND 115 trillion from central and local budget while the rest will be mobilized from other sources.

The capital will be used to finance projects on development of housing, agriculture, infrastructure, human resource, protection of fine cultural values in association with tourism development, healthcare and gender equality.

Over the next five years, the program targets to double the income per capita of people from ethnic minority groups compared to that of 2020, and to cut annual poverty rate by over 3 percent.

The program also targets to raise hygienic water access rate by ethnic minority groups to 90 percent and TV and radio coverage to 100 percent while relocating 60 percent of ethnic minority groups away from vulnerable areas to floods and landslides. 

Viet Nam’s population exceeded 96.2 million people, of whom ethnic people account for 14.7 per cent, according to the results of the 2019 population and housing census. 

Poverty rate among the ethnic groups dropped from 9.88% in 2015 to 2.75% in 2020.

By Kim Anh