(HBO) – At the end of 2018, the rate of the poor households in the north-western mountainous province of Hoa Binh is estimated at 14.74 percent, down 3.1 percent year-on-year. The result has reflected the efficiency of preferential loans for the poor.
Xa
Van Hoan, a man of the Tay ethnic minority group in Phu Son hamlet, Cao Son
commune, Da Bac district said before accessing the loans, his family had been
in the list of especially poor households in the commune. In 2012, his family
was eligible to get a loan worth 20 million VND from a programme that supports
poor households and another loan worth 8 million VND from the Vietnam Bank for
Social Policies (VBSP)’ Da Bac district branch under a programme supporting ethnic
minority households in special difficulties. With the money borrowed, his
family bought two buffalos that gave birth to two calves after nearly one year.
In 2015 Hoan’s family paid back the due debt and borrowed another 30 million
VND to invest in animal husbandry. Currently, his family has five buffaloes.
With preferential loans from the VBSP,
poor households in Cao Son commune (Da Bac district) have invested in buffalo
breeding, gradually getting rid of poverty and stabilising their lives.
Hoan’s family is one of the more than 90,000 others in the province which have surpassed
the poverty line after 15 years since the preferential loans were offered in
the province.
As of late November, 9,582 households had accessed loans totaling over 303
billion VND, with more than 256 billion VND already paid back. Total loan
outstanding balance exceeded 922 billion VND, with 31,851 debtors.
Local Party committees and authorities need to pay more attention to vocational
training and agriculture and forestry expansion in order to optimise the preferential
loans, helping accelerate poverty reduction in the province.
In late March, 29 labourers from Da Bac district were sent to work as seasonal farm workers in Buyeo county, Chungcheongnam province, the Republic of Korea (RoK). Upon arrival, they quickly settled into their jobs, enjoying good working conditions and benefits, with wages aligned with the terms of their signed contracts. The programme is now being expanded, with relevant departments and sectors actively seeking additional seasonal employment opportunities in various localities across the RoK.
Luong Son Industrial Park has invested in standardised wastewater and emissions treatment systems, enforced tight emission controls, reduced noise, dust, and solid waste, and expanded green spaces, contributing to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development.
Hoa Binh police are collecting public feedback on amendments to the 2013 Constitution via the national identification app VNeID. This innovative approach marks a giant leap towards modernising grassroots democracy and enhancing transparency in public consultation.
A total public investment capital of 113 billion VND (over 4.3 million USD) was disbursed for a project to upgrade infrastructure and stabilise residents in the vicinity of the Da River reservoir between 2021 and the first quarter of 2025, giving a facelift to local rural areas and improving the quality of people's life.
Since the end of 2023-2024 academic year, Cu Yen Primary and Secondary School in Luong Son district has deployed e-study records for all of its 500 primary students, said the school principal Nguyen Thi Tuyen.
The Labour Federation of Hoa Binh city has actively worked to protect the rights and welfare of nearly 8,000 local workers and union members at 152 grassroots unions. Through regular dialogues, education campaigns, and welfare programmes, the federation has helped foster stable, progressive labour relations.
