The impact of policy loans in Con Cuong district.
Policy-based capital in Con Cuong district has been effectively utilized, contributing to the successful implementation of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the area. The Con Cuong Branch Office is a model organization nationwide and will be commended by the Social Policy Bank in May.
Preferential loans help people escape poverty.
Following the staff of the Social Policy Bank of Con Cuong district, we visited the family of Mr. Lo Van Mon in Lam Khe village, Chi Khe commune. The couple's spacious house is situated in a lush 5-hectare acacia plantation, complete with a production workshop.
Mr. Mon excitedly recounted that after returning home from working away from home to avoid the Covid-19 pandemic, he received a 50 million VND grant from the Social Policy Bank, which allowed him to continue his shoemaking business and invest in livestock farming and forestry.
Besides forestry and cattle farming, Mr. Mon's shoe factory is providing jobs for 7-10 local workers. Although revenue is not yet high, he and his wife are now confident in producing goods in their hometown. Currently, orders for shoes are numerous, and Mr. Mon hopes to receive more preferential loans to invest in expanding production and buying more cattle for breeding.
Currently, many effective production and business models bearing the mark of the Social Policy Bank are operating in Con Cuong district. For example, Mr. Lu Van Hung's household in Dong Tien village, Lang Khe commune, borrowed 50 million VND from the poverty alleviation loan program. Now, he owns 8 buffaloes and 4 cows and has escaped poverty. Similarly, Mr. Quang Van Son's household in Cai village, Cam Lam commune, has been borrowing 100 million VND from the near-poverty loan program since 2022. He has now escaped poverty (previously a poor household), owns 8 buffaloes, renovated his house, and his son is studying at the Military Technical Academy…
Many savings and loan groups also incorporate cultural and artistic activities into their meetings to improve the quality of group activities and diversify lending activities. Bản Bủng Xát, Châu Khê commune, is a buffer zone of Pù Mát National Park. For generations, the people have mainly relied on the mountains and forests for their livelihood. Now, with the cooperation of the Social Policy Bank and local authorities, state capital has been brought to help the people develop livestock farming, weaving, and other activities to stabilize their lives.
Ms. Lo Thi Linh, head of the Savings and Loan Group in Bung Xat village, said: "The village's Savings and Loan Group has 45 members, with a current outstanding loan balance of over 3.4 billion VND. Thanks to attracting members to participate regularly, interest collection and savings mobilization are smooth, and there are no bad debts. Many borrowers repay their loans ahead of schedule, have surplus funds, and return to deposit them into savings."
Ms. Linh also added that after the launch ceremony of the sustainable savings and loan group model, linked to community activities in June 2024, the members have been participating in regular monthly meetings. During these meetings, members exchange experiences in borrowing capital, investing in production, and raising funds within the group to support each other in life.
Building bridges to bring capital to our people.
Con Cuong is a mountainous district in Nghe An province, sharing a 62km border with Laos and is one of the 10 largest districts in the country. Transportation remains challenging, and ethnic minorities account for 75.23% of the population, primarily the Thai people. Thanks to the determination and unity of officials and the people, sustainable poverty reduction efforts in this locality have achieved many positive results in recent years; poverty rates were nearly 23% in 2020 and have now decreased to 13.8%.
During the period 2021-2025, the Social Policy Bank implemented many specific credit programs, especially lending programs under Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP, loans for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, loans for social housing, loans for people who have completed their prison sentences, etc.
The unit has adopted innovative approaches tailored to the local area, successfully implementing credit programs with high quality and efficiency. As a result, outstanding loans have consistently grown at a high rate, averaging nearly 20% annually. To date, outstanding loans have reached over 708 billion VND, an increase of 344 billion VND compared to 2020, with 3,494 households accessing preferential loans from social policy credit. For six consecutive years, from 2019 to the present, the branch has maintained no overdue loans.
Social policy credit funds have made a significant contribution to achieving national goals on sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas, and developing the economy of ethnic minority and mountainous regions in Con Cuong district. As a result, the district's appearance has undergone many positive changes, with three communes achieving the new rural area status.
With the perspective of "Good groups lead to good associations, good associations lead to good communes, and good communes certainly lead to good districts," from 2020 to the present, the Con Cuong District Branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies has actively directed and reviewed each savings and loan group according to the population size of each village and hamlet. Con Cuong District is the first unit selected by the Nghe An branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to pilot the model of sustainable savings and loan groups linked to community activities.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Nam, Director of the Social Policy Bank Branch in Con Cuong district, said: "To date, we have 72 savings and loan groups operating in conjunction with community activities; 100% of the savings and loan groups conduct monthly transactions proficiently through the VBSP Smart Banking app, and for many consecutive years, 100% of the groups have been rated as good."
Thanks to those who have built bridges to bring capital to the people, over the years, preferential loans have reached the people, ensuring they reach the right recipients and are used for the right purposes, making a significant contribution to the successful implementation of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Con Cuong district.
Mr. Tran Khac Hung, Director of the Social Policy Bank of Nghe An province, assessed: The Social Policy Bank of Con Cuong district is a well-organized unit with good credit quality. Through credit programs in the area, it has changed the economic and social lives of the people, positively changing the way of thinking and doing things of the local people...
With the achievements made, the Con Cuong District Social Policy Bank has been recognized and highly appreciated by its superiors and has been honored with many emulation titles and awards such as: being recognized as a "Collective that excellently completes its tasks" for 5 consecutive years; receiving a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister; receiving a Certificate of Merit twice from the Governor; and receiving a Certificate of Merit twice from the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province. Many individuals have received Certificates of Merit from the Governor and the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, and the title of "Outstanding Emulation Soldier at the grassroots level"; 1 "Outstanding Emulation Soldier in the Banking Sector"; and 2 individuals have been awarded the title of "Outstanding Advanced Model" at the provincial level.
