Preferential loans from a bank for the poor have proved their efficiency when helping poor people, particularly those belonging to ethnic minority groups, in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong escape from poverty. Director of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies’ Dak Nong branch Tran Mot said on September 22 that the bank has to date disbursed nearly VND280 billion ($13.16 million) to assist 20,000 poor households in the locality. Thanks to a preferential loan given six years ago, H’Hoa, a Ma ethnic woman in Gia Nghia town, had enough money to buy a female buffalo and plant pepper trees. Her family harvested more than 1 ton of pepper last crop. (vietnamplus.vn Sept 23)
