Party and State policies and investments have brought remarkable changes, especially in infrastructure, in mountainous and ethnic group-inhabited areas. The view was heard at a workshop reviewing State budget allocations to mountainous and ethnic group-inhabited areas. The workshop was co-hosted by the National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Affairs and the United Nation Development Program in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on December 23. The NA Council’s Vice Chairman Danh Ut said the Party and State have issued a number of policies covering almost all fields for mountainous and ethnic group-inhabited areas. They have helped foster socio-economic development and significantly reduce poverty in these regions. Thua Thien-Hue NA deputy Dong Huu Mao, however, pointed out that a considerable overlap between the management and implementation of the annual State investments to these regions is hampering the effectiveness of those investment policies. At the workshop, besides looking into shortcomings, participants also proposed measures to better the State budget allocation so as to enhance the efficiency of the programs and projects funded by the investment source. (vietnamplus.vn Dec 24)
