The gap between rich and poor in Vietnam is up to 9.5 times.

The gap between rich and poor increased from 9.2 times (in 2010) to about 9.4-9.5 times (in 2012).

Assessing the achievements in poverty reduction, Ms. Victoria Kwawa - Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam said that in the past 20 years, Vietnam has successfully reduced poverty. However, Ms. Kwawa expressed concern because there are still 19 million poor people, of which 75% of the extremely poor are ethnic minorities. In addition, there are still many people near the poverty line and are always at risk of falling back into poverty. Another aspect is that in recent years, inequality has increased slightly. While income has increased in all groups, the average income of the richest 20% compared to the income of the poorest 20% has increased from 7 times to 8.5 times in the period 2004 - 2010.

Inequality in access to social services is also a concern, Ms. Kwawa said. For example, despite increased health insurance coverage and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, the gap in infant mortality rates between the highest (Dien Bien) and lowest (Ho Chi Minh City) localities is still five times; and the gap in rates between ethnic minorities and the majority is three times. Economic inequality and access to essential social services are intertwined.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Cao Lai Quang also admitted that, besides the achievements in poverty reduction, Vietnam is facing great challenges.

According to Mr. Quang, the Vietnamese Government has clearly recognized these limitations. Firstly, the poverty reduction rate is uneven and unsustainable. The poverty rate has decreased rapidly in poor districts, especially disadvantaged communes, and ethnic minority areas, but in many places the poverty rate is still over 50%, and in some cases over 60-70%; the proportion of poor ethnic minorities accounts for 47% of the total number of poor households in the country, the average income of ethnic minority households is only 1/6 of the average income of the whole country; the gap between rich and poor increased from 9.2 times (in 2010) to about 9.4-9.5 times (in 2012).

Second, there are too many policies for poor households and poor areas, causing resources to be dispersed and difficult to organize and integrate. Specifically, the system of policies and poverty reduction programs designed in most national target programs (16 programs) and many poverty reduction policies (over 8 areas with about 70 policies) are all implemented in one area.

Third, although the State has prioritized investment resources for poor districts, communes, especially disadvantaged villages, ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the investment level is still low compared to actual needs; there are many poverty reduction policies, but they are mainly direct support policies to increase access to basic social services (such as health, education, housing, etc.). This group of policies is also having negative impacts, creating expectations and dependence of a large number of poor people, while there are few policies to create livelihoods for the poor, with low investment rates. The delay in issuing policies to support near-poor households and households that have just escaped poverty also limits the goal of sustainable poverty reduction.

“Because the poverty line is still low, in reality, there are still a number of poor people who have escaped poverty but still face many difficulties in life and want to be on the list of poor households. The State's investment policy has not achieved equality among the population and has not encouraged poor households to proactively escape poverty,” said Mr. Quang.

Vietnam has made significant progress at the national level in reducing child mortality over the past 30 years and is on track to achieve MDG 4 by 2015. However, inequality between different groups is increasing, particularly in terms of ethnicity, financial income, place of residence and maternal health education. According to the Ministry of Health, ethnic minority children are 3-4 times more likely to die than their Kinh/Hoa neighbours. More worryingly, the mortality rate among ethnic minority children has been increasing over the past 5 years (according to the National Nutrition Surveillance 2012).

According to the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the most immediate challenge is the slowing growth and the impact of Vietnam's structural reform program. Vietnam's economy grew at an impressive average of 7.51% per year in the 2001-2005 period, and 8.23% and 8.46% in 2006 and 2007; but grew by an average of only 5.83% per year in the 2008-2012 period, and only 5.03% in 2012, the lowest growth rate since 2000.

The economic restructuring program associated with growth model innovation will create positive impacts on the economy in the medium and long term. However, the short-term impacts of these changes (both economic and social) are inevitable and need to be carefully assessed to minimize adverse impacts, including on poor and vulnerable households./.

According to VOV.VN