A major turning point for ethnic minority and mountainous areas

This is the first time the Vietnamese National Assembly has issued a comprehensive resolution on the development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Nghe An province about the importance of the Resolution for ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Nghe An.

PV:Having worked for many years in ethnic minority and mountainous areas and currently holding an important position at the agency in charge of this work in the province, how do you evaluate the significance of the above resolution?

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai:Our country has 53 ethnic minorities with 14,118,232 people, nearly 3 million households (accounting for 14.7% of the country's population). The ethnic minority population accounts for only 14.7%, but the poverty rate is up to 55.27% of the total number of poor households in the country.

In Nghe An province alone, according to the latest census, ethnic minorities number 491,295 people, accounting for only 14.6% of the province's population but equivalent to, or even larger than, the population of some provinces.

New Huoi Version 1. Photo courtesy of Dao Tuan

Without timely policies and systematic investment, the poor will gradually become ethnic minorities. Therefore, I think that the National Assembly's passing of the above resolution is very timely and appropriate to current reality.

PV:However, for a long time, there have been many policies for ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, sir?

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai:After reviewing, our country currently has 118 policies, but they are not concentrated, but scattered across fields, ministries, branches, programs, projects... so the policies lack general coordination, leading to duplication, dispersion, and lack of connection between policies.

For example, we mobilize people to produce, but cannot link output, processing, and consumption markets, or produce but have no way to transport products.

For example, in Na Ngoi commune (Ky Son), people grow a lot of ginger, but having to carry each basket to sell is obviously too much effort, while the price is unstable, how can they feel secure? Or there are policies issued but the allocated budget is even only about 1.05%... how can it be effective?

In Tri Le commune (Que Phong), although there is an electricity line running through it, many villages still do not have access to the national grid. Photo: Thanh Duy

Therefore, the issued Resolution will integrate 118 synchronous and unified policies, reduce management focal points, clearly assign tasks; promote the role and functions of ethnic affairs agencies; ensure and improve the efficiency of investment resources; prioritize investment with focus, key points, and concentration on especially difficult areas, ethnic groups with specific difficulties in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

All are integrated into the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period.

This is the third National Target Program, after poverty reduction and new rural construction. And the important thing is that when the National Assembly promulgates it, it will clearly determine the capital allocation from the beginning.

The National Assembly's issuance of the Resolution also has important implications for the implementation of the millennium goals, because out of the 17 goals, 15 are related to ethnic minority areas.

PV:So, according to you, how should Nghe An receive the above Resolution in spirit and in what way?

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai:The National Assembly requested the establishment of a Steering Committee for the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period, with a Deputy Prime Minister as Head of the Steering Committee; the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee as Standing Deputy Head of the Committee, with the participation of relevant ministries, departments and branches to direct the implementation of the program.

Therefore, the province must also establish a steering committee to do this, including the head and some deputy heads and all members of related sectors, not just the Ethnic Minorities Committee. Because the Ethnic Minorities Committee is only a standing agency to advise the province, it cannot replace the departments; they have their own expertise.

Next, in my opinion, based on the overall plan of the Central Government, Nghe An must review and develop a specific implementation plan, suitable for each task associated with the practical situation in Nghe An.

For example, creating livelihoods, jobs, and increasing incomes need to be clarified for each region; or planning and arranging stable population, it is necessary to clarify which areas need to be arranged, which areas are stable; which areas are suitable for growing which raw materials? That is, it is necessary to grasp the current situation and general picture of the ethnic minority and mountainous areas of the whole province to have appropriate and practical solutions.

Leaders of Dong Van commune (Que Phong) talk with people resettled at Hua Na hydropower plant. Photo: Thanh Duy

I think that, no matter what the solution, the first goal must still be to create a stable, gradually sustainable livelihood for people where they live.

I have traveled a lot, in some highland districts I have visited almost all the communes. Living with the people, I can see that they are also struggling to make a living, not necessarily waiting and relying on others. People often ask about plant varieties and animal breeds that bring stable income...

But for a long time, many varieties of plants and animals have been brought back and have been made with great effort, but the prices are low, transportation is difficult, and the output is not guaranteed, so it is not sustainable.

Therefore, the most basic and core thing is to make people feel that their business is stable, no longer uncertain and they have to leave their homeland. Supporting compatriots does not have to be lofty but should be close, the closest things to the people.

PV:Thank you!

The overall project for socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030 has a total minimum implementation capital of more than 335,000 billion VND. The goal by 2025 is to strive for the average income of ethnic minorities to increase at least 2 times compared to 2020; the poverty rate among ethnic minorities to decrease by more than 3% each year.

Specific targets by 2030: the average income of ethnic minorities will be half of the national average; the poverty rate will be reduced to below 10%; there will be basically no more extremely disadvantaged communes and villages; 70% of communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas will meet new rural standards.