The Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Dak Nong will invest more than VND2 trillion ($95 million) from now until 2015 to improve the lives of its ethnic minority residents. A Tin Tuc (News) newspaper report says that the money, mobilized from the central and local governments, investors and philanthropists, will be used to build infrastructure facilities and improve the living conditions of ethnic minority people in rural, remote and border areas. It aims to get 10,000 poor ethnic minority households out of poverty. At first the province will mobilize about VND500 billion (over $23.8 million) to support ethnic minority families to carry out household-based businesses, increase production and diversify their agriculture and animal husbandry activities, the report says. Agriculture, forestry and aquaculture extension services will be strengthened and training courses in advanced production methods will be provided to 11,000 ethnic minority households. About 1,000 effective production models will be introduced to ethnic minority households. By 2015, Dak Nong will provide vocational training to more than 5,000 ethnic minority youth every year and issue policies encouraging companies to employ ethnic minority workers in projects to plant forests, establish rubber plantations and pharmaceutical plants. The province plans to spend VND300 billion (nearly $14.3 million) on establishing village clinics to improve healthcare services and subsiding health insurance for all ethnic minority residents. About VND150 billion ($7.1 million) will be earmarked for building 3,000 houses for poor ethnic minority households. Over the past five years, the province has invested more than VND700 billion ($33.3 million) in its hunger elimination and poverty alleviation program and achieved positive results, with 7,000 poor ethnic minority households escaping poverty. Dak Nong now has about 40,000 ethnic minority households with a population of 150,000, residing mostly in rural and remote areas. About half of them live below the poverty line. (Vietnam News Sept 20)
