Quang Ngai Approves Anti-Poverty Scheme

The central province of Quang Ngai has approved a program to reduce poverty through 2015. The program targets reducing the number of poor households by 4-5 per cent every year, and by 5-7 per cent in mountainous areas. The Vietnamese government would not cut investment for poverty reduction programs despite public investment cut and inflation control, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said. Vietnam reports 3.05 million poor households and 1.61 million near-poor ones, accounting for 14.2% and 7.53% of its total population. It also aims to cut the poverty rate to between 4% and 5% by 2020. (Vietnam News Dec 27)