An Giang (VNS/VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of An Giang plans to reduceits poverty rate from 2.63 percent to less than 2 percent by the end of thisyear, according to the provincial People’s Committee.  

Povertymeasurements are based on the national multidimensional approach which includesper capita income and access to basic social services such as education, healthcare, housing, clean water, hygiene condition and information.

To meetpoverty reduction targets this year, An Giang will spend more than 1.13trillion VND (38.2 million USD) for the national target programme onsustainable poverty reduction.

The moneywill be from the central Government’s budget, the province’s budget, loans fromthe Bank for Social Policy, the Fund for the Poor, and other sources.

This year,the province will focus on improving living conditions and access to socialbasic services for the poor and near poor.

The policiesinclude soft loans, health care, education, housing, electricity, jobs,vocational skills and legal issues.  

In thehealth care sector, the province will invest more in facilities and humanresources at the grassroots level and ensure that all poor people are providedfree health insurance cards this year.

The provincewill help 1,088 poor households rebuild dilapidated houses this year.

Le Van Phuoc,Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said this is thelast year of the province’s five-year socio-economic development plan (2016–2020),so it will tighten measures to meet the targets of the national targetprogramme on sustainable poverty reduction.  

An Giangwill build roads, schools, medical stations, small irrigation projects andclean water projects, especially in ethnic, mountainous and border communes,this year.

Ofthe 29 ethnic minorities in the province, Khmer, Hoa and Cham are thethree major ethnic groups.

This year,the province will implement projects that will help the poor developagricultural production, diversify livelihoods and expand effective povertyreduction models.

Located atthe upstream areas of the Tien and Hau rivers, which are two tributaries of theMekong River, An Giang has favourable conditions for developing agriculture,tourism and trade, and services.

In the past,many poor households in the province escaped poverty after they were providedsoft loans and other assistance. 

In Phu Tan,an agrarian district, authorities have given instructions on animalbreeding, vegetable cultivation and small trade to poor and near-poorhouseholds, and helped them access soft loans.

Giap Tam Hiep’sfamily, which used to be a near-poor household in Phu Tan’s Phu Long commune,received a soft loan for breeding eels and then breeding cows for meat.

Hisfamily escaped their near-poor situation two years ago and now have astable life as they breed 10 cows and his wife sells fish at the market, hesaid.

“My familycan now save 10 million VND (42 USD) a month. I no longer need to go to thecity to find a job,” he said.

Vo ThanhTung, head of the Phu Tan Division of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, saidthe district has helped more than 8,000 poor and near-poor households to accesssoft loans worth a total of more than 130 billion VND (5.5 million USD) since2015.

About 90 percentof the households have used soft loans effectively and have achievedsustainable incomes, he said.

The districthad 1,164 poor households at the end of last year, accounting for 2.2 percentof its total households./.