The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has hailed Vietnam’s poverty reduction program named 135 as it has benefited many poor people in difficult communes of mountainous areas. The second phase of the program 135 slated from 2006 to 2010 has helped develop rural economy and improved people’s lives in remote areas, said Setsuko Yamajaki, UNDP country director in Vietnam at a conference in Hanoi Nov 19. Under the program in the second phase, VND13.9 trillion ($777.5 million) has been poured into 12,377 infrastructure projects and 2,017 agricultural training courses in 50 provinces so far. Between 2006 and 2009, six foreign organizations financed $300 million for the program.
