The Vietnamese government will spend VND5.03 trillion ($238 million) on the national sustainable poverty reduction program in 2013, versus VND5.06 trillion last year, state media reported. The Central Steering Committee for Sustainable Poverty Reduction made the statement at an online conference with representatives from all 63 cities and provinces nationwide on April 22. The program will focus on providing healthcare, education, water supply and housing as well as other basic social services for the locals, especially those in rural and remote areas. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh asked ministries and localities to make greater efforts to reduce the rate of poor households nationwide from 9.6% in 2012 to 7.6% by end-2013. The government has announced that it will reduce some financial subsidies for disadvantaged people and focus instead on implementing vocational training programs as it looks to stimulate the role played by the poor in improving their own lives, Mr. Ninh noted. Participants pointed out many shortcomings in the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction programs, including inefficient investment, a lack of policies creating sustainable income for the poor and slow issuance of support for near-poor families and those who have just escaped poverty. So far, up to 2.58 million households are deemed poor and 1.53 million near-poor, as shown in a national survey by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te – Economic Times April 23 p4, Sai Gon Giai Phong – Saigon Liberation April 23 p1)
