Can Tho to Lift 3,000 Poor Families Out Of Poverty

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho plans to help over 3,000 households rise out of poverty in 2015, bringing the local poverty rate from 2.84% in 2014 to 1.84% this year, the lowest in the region. To achieve this goal, Director of the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Xuan said the city will foster economic development with the aim of generating approximately VND202.5 trillion ($9.47 billion) from trade and industrial and agricultural production in 2015, an 11.5% increase from 2014. The city also plans to create 50,000 employment opportunities alongside vocational training courses for 40,000 local residents, raising the city’s rate of trained workers to 50.7%, the highest in the region. Besides, Can Tho city will raise funds to build houses and clean water supply systems for the poor, in addition to extending health care, education, and bill payment support. In 2014, the locality invested some VND38 trillion ($1.78 billion) in and granted another VND48 trillion ($2.24 billion) as loans to industrial and agricultural development. The capital flow, in turn, helped the city generate over VND181 trillion ($8.48 billion), up 12.5% from the previous year. It also provided 5,500 local poor households with VND30 billion ($1.4 million) worth of loans and offered vocational training to 38,000 people. Last year, more than 50,000 jobs were created, helping nearly 3,250 families escape poverty. (vietnamplus.vn Jan 12)