The dissertation clarifies theoretical issues about the role of provincial authorities; Overview of experiences of some provinces in the country on the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province.
Trang 1THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY
THAI THANH QUY
THE ROLE OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
FOR SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IN
MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN NGHE AN
PROVINCE
Major: Political Economy Code: 9310102
SUMMARY OF THE PHD THESIS IN ECONOMICS
HANOI - 2019
1 Reasons to choose the topic
Poverty is one of the pressing socio-economic issues that many countries around the world are facing
In Vietnam, the Party and the State have been soon aware of the risk of poverty and invested much effort and money to implement the poverty reduction program throughout the country
However, the results of poverty reduction in Vietnam in the past have not been stable and there are still many challenges
Nghe An is one of the poor provinces Recently, Nghe An provincial government has achieved many achievements in leadership of socio-economic development in the locality, people's lives have been gradually improved both physically and spiritually However, the results of poverty reduction are not sustainable, with high risk of re-poverty (about 10%), concentrated in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province
The mountainous area of Nghe An province is a strategically important area in terms of socio-economics, national defense, security and foreign affairs of the province and North Central region, including 10 district-level administrative units, and 1 town Due to unfavorable natural conditions and poor economic development, people's lives, especially ethnic minorities, face many difficulties, with low per capita income, which is equal to 63.3% of the whole province's average The poverty rate in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province is still high compared to the average of the province One of the main reasons is that the provincial government has not fully played its role in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province Therefore, the study of the topic “The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous area of Nghe An province” will contribute to further clarifying the theoretical and practical issues of the role of the provincial government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe
An province, thereby proposing solutions to improve the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the coming time
Trang 22 Research purpose and tasks
2.1 Research purpose: The thesis aims to propose views and solutions to improve
the role of provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
of Nghe An province in the coming time
2.2 Research tasks
To achieve this goal, the thesis sets out the following tasks:
- Overview research of study works related to the thesis, then pointing out "gaps" that
needs to continue the research;
- Clarifying theoretical issues about the role of provincial authorities in sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas;
- Analyzing the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas of Nghe An province from 2014 to 2017 From that, to point out
achievements, limitations and causes of restrictions on the role of the provincial level
government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
- On the theoretical basis, carrying out analysis and evaluation of the role of the
provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An
province, the thesis proposes views and solutions to enhance the role of the provincial
government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
till 2025, with a vision to 2030
3 Research objects and scope
3.1 Research objects
The research object of the thesis: the role of provincial authorities in sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas
3.2 Research scope
3.2.1 Regarding the content
3.2.1 Regarding the content
The thesis studies in the direction of implementing the functions of the provincial
government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas under the perspective
of political economy Therefore, the thesis focuses on the study of:
Firstly, identifying strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas;
Secondly, promulgating sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous
areas;
Thirdly, organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas In this content, the thesis only studies:
- Developing a apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction;
- Implementing laws and policies of the Central State and policies promulgated by the province on sustainable poverty reduction;
- Coordinating with relevant organizations on sustainable poverty reduction
Fourthly, checking and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
3.2.2 Regarding the geographical space
The thesis conducts sustainable poverty reduction research in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, including 11 districts and towns which are: Thai Hoa town, Anh Son district, Con Cuong district, Quy Chau district, Ky Son district, Nghia Dan district, district Que Phong, Quy Hop district, Tan Ky district, Thanh Chuong district, Tuong Duong district
3.2.3 Regarding the time
Firstly, the thesis studies the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 -
2017 The secondary data used by the thesis for the study are mainly in this period Particularly, for the data of the poor, poor households and poverty reduction, the thesis only used the data for the period of 2015 - 2017, because:
Firstly, from 2011 to 2015, the poverty criteria in Vietnam only consider the income perspective In November 2015, Vietnam introduced a new criterion and poverty standard according to the multi-dimensional approach and the income level criteria also increased (from 400,000 VND per person to 700,000 VND per person for rural and mountainous areas
Secondly, despite only until 2016 when the new criteria and poverty standard started to be implemented, at the end of 2015, Nghe An province had investigated the poor and poor households according to this new poverty standard and criteria Therefore, the data published about the poor and poor households in early 2016 are actually the data
of 2015 according to new poverty criteria and standards Therefore, the number of poor and poor households in 2014 is less than that in 2015 and poverty reduction in 2014 is
Trang 3Factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas:
- The policy of the State and the locality;
- Effectiveness of the apparatus
The necessity of the study
The role of the provincial government in
sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous
areas:
- Developing strategies and plans for poverty
reduction;
- Issuing sustainable poverty reduction policies
in mountainous areas;
The reality of the role of the provincial
authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas of Nghe An province:
- Developing investment planning and plan
- Issuing sustainable poverty reduction policies in
mountainous areas
- Organizing the implementation of poverty
Solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas of Nghe An province:
- Completing the building of planning and plan
- Completing policies
more than in 2015 Based on this data, the analysis on the role of provincial government
in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in Nghe An province will be
inacurrate
Secondly, the thesis proposes views and solutions to improve the role of provincial
governments in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
to 2025, with a vision to 2030
4 Research method
4.1 Research questions
The thesis is implemented from the following research questions:
- What is sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas?
- In which contents does the provincial authorities play a role in sustainable
poverty reduction? Which factors influence the role of provincial government?
- What are the achievements and limitations of the provincial government role in
sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of
2014 - 2017 and causes of limitations?
- What solutions are needed to improve the role of the provincial authorities in
sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province?
4.2 Research framework of the thesis
The thesis proposes a research framework in the direction of proposing functions
of the provincial governmental role in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
as follows:
Figure 1.1 The research framework of the thesis
Source : The author
4.3 Methodology
The thesis studies the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province approaches under the perspective of the economic science, majoring in political economy Therefore, the thesis takes the perspective of dialectical materialism and historical materialism as the methodology
4.4 Specific research methods and information collection methods
Firstly, the thesis uses the methods of analysis and synthesis, historical and
logical methods, comparison methods, descriptive statistical methods to be specific methods to study and explain the role of the Provincial level government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province under the perspective of political economy
The thesis also inherits the existing research results, supplements and develops new arguments and practices in accordance with the research purpose of the thesis
Secondly, the methods of information collection include:
Firstly, the secondary information is collected from the database system of the Department of Statistics, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Department
of Planning and Investment, Social Insurance of Nghe An province, Nghe An Bank for Social Policies
Secondly, the primary information is collected through:
(i) Investigating and surveying with questionnaires to collect primary information needed to analyze and assess the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe
An province (ii) (ii) Interview: In order to better understand the poverty situation in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, the thesis interviewed experts and
Trang 4managers on poverty reduction in Nghe An province
5 Contributions of the thesis
5.1 In terms of theory
Firstly, the thesis builds the concept of sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas, identifies the basic criteria to assess sustainable poverty reduction and
clarifies the relationship between poverty reduction, multi-dimensional poverty reduction
and sustainable poverty reduction
Secondly, the thesis has developed the theory of the role of the provincial
authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in accordance with the characteristics of
mountainous areas Specifically:
- The thesis has built the notion of the provincial government role in sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas It is the provincial government that uses
administrative and economic measures to influence the natural, socio-economic
conditions, socio-economic organizations and the poor themselves to implement the goal
of sustainable poverty reduction and contribute to solving socio-economic problems in
mountainous areas
The thesis also clarifies the role of the provincial government in sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas
- The thesis not only inherits but also develops the role of the provincial
government in sustainable poverty reduction in the context of mountainous areas and has
found the factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities for with sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas
5.2 In terms of practice
- The thesis has found limitations and causes of limitations on the role of the
provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe
An in the period of 2014 - 2017
- In order to overcome these limitations, the thesis has proposed a system of
solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction
in accordance with the characteristics of mountainous areas of Nghe An province In each solution, the thesis creates new proposals For example, for the policy of capital support, the thesis said that the poor should be divided into: the poor due to objective reasons and the poor due to subjective causes For the poor due to objective reasons, they themselves can overcome poverty, so it is needed to provide them with resources to overcome poverty; For the poor with subjective reasons, they themselves cannot overcome poverty,
so we should not sponsor them both materially (thanks to material support they will become dependent and do not work) and resources In order to reduce poverty, the local government has to create jobs for them, by sponsoring better-off households who know how to do good business in the locality and regulate that in order to receive such funds, the better-off households must have the poor people work under the introduction of the local authority
The thesis has proposed to the National Assembly to strengthen the supervision in accordance with the Resolution No 76/2014/QH13 on promoting the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction goals; to the Government on perfecting policies to reduce poverty in mountainous areas, first of which is to reduce direct support policies, increase conditional support policies and mountainous development policies
6 Structure of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, table of contents, conclusion, list of references and appendices, the thesis is structured into 4 chapters:
Chapter 1 Overview of the thesis-related research situation Chapter 2 Theoretical and experience issues about the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
Chapter 3 Actual situation of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
Chapter 4 Views and solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
Trang 5Chapter 1
OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS-RELATED RESEARCH SITUATION
The thesis has reviewed the situation of domestic and foreign research on poverty,
poverty reduction, sustainable poverty reduction and the role of the State and authorities
at all levels in sustainable poverty reduction Thanks to that, the thesis has argued that
although there have been some studies on the role of the authorities at all levels in
poverty reduction, there has been no research on the role of the provincial authorities in
sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in general and mountainous areas of
Nghe An province in particular in any form This is a "gap" for the thesis to carry out its
research The selection of the thesis topic is consistent with the objective reality, helping
to solve and provide practical solutions for Nghe An provincial authorities to enhance the
role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the province's
mountainous areas in the future
The thesis investigates the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty
reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the perspective of political
economy in the direction of explaining the functions of the provincial authorities on
sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas Therefore, the thesis focuses on
clarifying:
Firstly, the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas such as strategic planning and sustainable poverty reduction plans;
promulgating policies to implement sustainable poverty reduction in accordance with
specific conditions of mountainous areas; organizing sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas; inspecting and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty
reduction in mountainous areas Since then, to develop a theoretical framework on the
role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
Secondly, through the study of the current status of the provincial government's
role in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An, the thesis
assesses this role of the provincial government in Nghe An province, thereby proposing
feasible solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas in the future
Thirdly, the thesis makes recommendations to the National Assembly and the Government to enhance the role of the provincial governments in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
Chapter 2 THEORETICAL AND EXPERIENCE ISSUES ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN SUSTAINABLE IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS
2.1 Some issues of poverty and sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
2.1.1 Some issues of poverty in mountainous areas
Firstly, the concept of poverty in mountainous areas
The thesis has generalized the different concepts of poverty Based on that, in terms of theory, the thesis said that poverty in mountainous areas is the low income status
of a part of the mountainous population, who fails to meet the basic needs at the minimum level of life and lacks of or does not have the opportunity to choose to participate in the development process of the mountainous community
Secondly, poor characteristics in mountainous areas
The thesis said that poverty in mountainous areas has common characteristics of poverty The thesis also points out that in addition to the general characteristics, poverty
in mountainous areas has its own characteristics These include, (i) due to natural conditions, difficult socio-economic conditions and low qualifications, the efforts of poverty reduction of the poor in mountainous areas themselves are sometimes not as expected; (ii) the poor in mountainous areas have less opportunity to get good and stable jobs; (iii) poor household size in mountainous areas is often crowded while the fertility rate of poor households is often very high
Thirdly, causes of poverty in mountainous areas
Trang 6The thesis has pointed out the following reasons: (i) the poor's awareness and
awareness of self-rising to get out of poverty in mountainous areas remain limited, (ii)
due to unfavorable natural and economic conditions; iii) due to lack of business
experience and lack of capital; (iv) due to unreasonable customs, spending habits, being
lazy in working, families with people suffering from social diseases; (v) due to
infrastructure constraints and affected by isolation of residence areas
In summary, through poor studies in mountainous areas, it can be affirmed that
sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas is very difficult due to poor
development of infrastructure, low intellectual standards, crowded households with many
children, customs and lack of resources Therefore, to reduce poverty sustainably in
mountainous areas, it is necessary to persevere to do it in a long time, which may
consume many resources
2.1.2 Sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: concepts, criteria
and roles
Firstly, regarding the concept of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous
areas The thesis has outlined the concepts of poverty reduction and sustainable poverty
reduction Based on that, the thesis argues that sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas is to increase income to be higher than the poverty line set in
mountainous areas and ensure that the poor people in mountainous areas have access to
basic needs of commune services of health, education and culture to fight against
poverty
On that basis, the thesis points out that poverty reduction and multi-dimensional
poverty reduction and sustainable poverty reduction are different, but there is a
relationship between each other That is, poverty reduction is to increase income to
ensure the life for the poor at the minimum level, also called unidirectional poverty
reduction; Multi-dimensional poverty reduction is to improve living standards, to
increase the enjoyment of education, health, culture, housing, information and create the
necessary conditions to increase the position of the poor in the community
Thus, it can be said that unidirectional poverty reduction is one content of multi-dimensional poverty reduction Multi-multi-dimensional poverty reduction is a condition of sustainable poverty reduction, for example sustainable poverty reduction
Secondly, regarding the criteria for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
The thesis has pointed out the criteria for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas:
Criterion 1: Increasing per capita income;
Criterion 2: The rate of the poor households decreases annually;
Criterion 3: Annual poverty rate;
Criterion 4: Criterion for the level of lack of basic social service access,
Thirdly, regarding the role of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas The thesis explains the role of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas, namely: (i) sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas provides opportunities for the poor to participate in the process of socio-economic development in mountainous areas; (ii) sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas contributes to the widening
of opportunities for the poor people to improve their personal capacity to effectively implement job choices, increase income and improve the quality of life; (iii) sustainable poverty reduction contributes to ensuring social order and safety and is a basis for protecting ecological environment in mountainous areas; (iv) sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas plays a major role in the field of security and defense in border areas
2.2 The role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
2.2.1 Concepts, characteristics and necessity of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
Firstly, on the concept of the provincial government's role in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas, in the perspective of political economics, the thesis states
Trang 7that: the role of the provincial governments in sustainable poverty reduction in the
mountainous areas is that the provincial governments use administrative and economic
measures to influence natural, socio-economic conditions, economic and social
organizations and the poor themselves to implement the purpose of sustainable poverty
reduction and contributing to solving socio-economic issues in mountainous areas
Secondly, the thesis analyzed the role of the provincial government in sustainable
poverty reduction in mountainous areas The thesis points out that the role of the
provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas also has the
characteristics of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in
general However, the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in
mountainous areas also has its own characteristics These are: (i) due to low intellectual
standards, the capacity of local authorities is limited, so the strategies, plans developed by
the provincial government and policies on sustainable poverty reduction issued by the
provincial government shall be suitable with the mountainous conditions and very clear
and specific, (ii) the provincial government must direct the grassroots administrations
directly and really deeply observe the implementation of poverty reduction; (iii) in
directing poverty reduction in mountainous areas, the provincial government shall work
towards helping the specific poor households and mainstreaming programs and resources
to implement poverty reduction
Thirdly, the thesis also points out the necessity of the role of the provincial
authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas These are: (i) the
provincial government plays the role of the subject in redistribution of income among the
social classes, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, thereby reducing poverty
sustainably in the province, including mountainous areas; (ii) the provincial government
plays the role of providing basic social services to mountainous areas in the province,
thereby enabling the poor to access these services; (iii) the provincial authority is the
agency implementing major policies on poverty reduction of the State and is the place to
issue policies on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the province; (iv)
the provincial government plays the role of managing the coordination of sectors in organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the province
2.2.2 The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
The thesis focuses on studying the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas from the perspective of political economy with the following roles:
Firstly, identifying strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas;
Secondly, promulgating sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas;
Thirdly, organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas In this content, the thesis only studies:
- Developing a apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction;
- Implementing laws and policies of the Central State and policies promulgated by the province on sustainable poverty reduction;
- Coordinating authorities at all levels in implementing sustainable poverty reduction
Fourthly, checking and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas
2.2.3 Factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty
reduction in mountainous areas
The thesis analyzes the following factors: (i) Principles and policies of the central government on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas; (ii) the effectiveness
of the provincial government apparatus on sustainable poverty reduction (iii) local socio-economic development; (iv) quality of civil servants in the provincial government apparatus related to sustainable poverty reduction; (v) facilities to implement the role of
Trang 8the locality's provincial-level governments in sustainable poverty reduction
2.3 Experience of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty
reduction in mountainous areas of some localities and lessons learned for Nghe An
province
The thesis has studied the experiences of Yen Bai province, Thua Thien Hue
province and the Central Highlands provinces On that basis, lessons for the provincial
government of Nghe An are learned as follows: (i) creating favorable conditions for the
poor to escape poverty; (ii) when promulgating policies on poverty reduction in
mountainous areas it should be based on the poverty situation of mountainous areas and
must be synchronized in the implementation process; (iii) creating favorable conditions for
the poor people in mountainous areas to access capital sources associated with consultancy
and support to develop production and increase incomes; (iv) strengthening coordination of
agencies involved in sustainable poverty reduction
Chapter 3: CURRENT STATUS IN THE ROLE OF THE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT IN SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IN
MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN NGHE AN PROVINCE
3.1 Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions and sustainable poverty
reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
3.1.1 Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions in mountainous areas of
Nghe An province affect sustainable poverty reduction
The mountainous areas of Nghe An province has a natural area of up to 13,747.69
km2, accounting for 83.36% of the total area of Nghe An province, with administrative
boundaries including 11 districts and towns, among which there are 5 highly mountainous
districts and 6 lowly mountainous districts and towns
The population in the mountainous region of Nghe An province reaches 1,144,794
people (in 2017) with more than 44,000 ethnic minority people, accounting for more than
40% of the region's population, with a low educational level and many out of date customs
(Statistical Office of Nghe An Province in 2018), the average population growth rate is more
than 1%/year
Table 3.1: Situation of population and average income/person in mountainous areas
in the period of 2014-2017
Unit In 2014 In 2015 In 2016 In 2017
Source: Summary from Statistics Office and the Department of Planning and
Investment of Nghe An province
In terms of economic structure, the economic structure is moving slowly but firmly In the mountainous areas, a commodity production agriculture has been formed The industries have been developed, mainly concentrated in a number of areas such as hydropower, mineral exploitation and processing, agro-forestry processing Trade and services have been expanded to better meet the demand for life and production, cultural and social exchanges, local tourism development However, in general, the economy in the mountainous region of Nghe An province is still very difficult, with small-scale economy, fragmented production while there remain many difficulties and limitations in traffic conditions, commercial infrastructure and production
3.1.2 Poor situation in mountainous areas of Nghe An province
The rate of poor households in the whole mountainous region of Nghe An province has recently decreased However, compared to the average level of the whole province it is still high The rate of poor households in the whole mountainous region of Nghe An province in recent time in comparison with the average level of the whole province is still high In 2016, the poverty rate of the whole province was 9.55%, while that in most of the mountainous districts ranged from 11.06% to 65.57% (except for Thai Hoa town), in 2017, the general poverty rate of the whole province was 7.54% and the poverty rate of the mountainous districts was ranging from 9.21% to 56.03% (except for
Trang 9Thai Hoa town, Nghia Dan district and Anh Son district) (Department of Labor, Invalids
and Social Affairs of Nghe An province, 2018)
The average income of mountainous areas in Nghe An province is low Although
the per capita income increased rapidly, reaching 25.71 million VND/person/year (2017),
increasing 1.4 times compared to that in 2014, accounting for 70% of the average per
capita income of the whole Province (Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of
Nghe An Province, 2018), the average income of poor people in mountainous areas is
still low
3.1.3 The situation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe
An province
In the period of 2015 - 2017, there witnessed many improvements in poverty
reduction results in mountainous areas of Nghe An province while the rate of poor
households has decreased over the years In 2016, the average poverty rate of the
whole region decreased by 12% compared to 2015, in 2017 the average poverty rate
decreased by 15% compared to 2016 The districts in the areas with a high poverty
reduction rate include Anh Son (32 %), Thanh Chuong (23%), Nghia Dan (21%)
However, some districts have lower poverty reduction rates such as Ky Son (6%)
and Con Cuong (10%)
However, poverty reduction results in the mountainous areas of Nghe An
province in the period of 2014 - 2017 are still unsustainable when people still get
poor again
Table 3.6 The situation of re-poverty in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province
in the period of 2015- 2017
3 Anh Sơn District 94 2,06 89 2,76 57 2,60
4 Tân Kỳ District 187 3,53 124 2,61 55 1,36
5 Nghĩa Đàn District 341 10,01 51 1,57 19 0,74
6 Quỳ Hợp District 192 2,94 194 3,38 146 2,89
7 Quỳ Châu District 49 0,68 47 0,74 73 1,35
8 Quế Phong District 17 0,22 14 0,19 17 0,27
9 Con Cuông District 176 3,27 182 3,85 84 1,98
10 Tương Dương District 130 1,51 58 0,77 80 1,25
11 Kỳ Sơn District 375 3,76 173 1,86 83 0,95
Total number and re-poverty rates in
Source: Nghe An Province Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
The thesis argues that the causes of re-poverty result from (i) objective conditions; (ii) from guidelines and policies of the State and the authorities at all levels for those who have escaped from poverty; (iii) the awareness and wills of those who have newly escaped from poverty
3.2 The role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - 2017
3.2.1 Determining strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction
First, regarding the determination of sustainable poverty reduction strategies "1 Overall objectives: Focusing investment resources on creating more positive changes in income, living conditions and quality of life of the poor Promoting economic growth associated with the goal of sustainable poverty reduction, training to improve the quality of human resources associated with job creation in order to create opportunities for poor people, poor households to have jobs and stable incomes, each steps to escape poverty Ensuring that all people have conditions to access and enjoy the achievements
of infrastructure, culture, education, health, social welfare
2 Specific objectives:
i) Annual average poverty rate reduced by 2.5-3%, particularly for the 3 poor districts under Resolution No 30a/2008/NQ-CP of the Government and communes with
a poverty rate of 30% or higher according to Decision No 59/2010/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee on average reduction of 4-5%/year
ii) Creating stable jobs and diversifying income-generating activities for the poor; increasing the per capita income of poor households by 3 times compared to
2010
iii) Accelerating the implementation of policies to support poor households in housing according to the Prime Minister's Decision No 167/2008/QD-TTg to ensure
Trang 10the basic completion in 2011 and completion in 2012 and summarizing housing support
for poor households in the province
iv) Ensuring that 100% of poor people are granted with health insurance cards
and free medical treatment; 70% of near-poor people are entitled to buy health
insurance cards, 100% of poor household children, ethnic minority households and
children of policy beneficiaries are entitled to continue exemption from school fees and
contributions ” (Excerpt from Decision 3946/QD-UBND)
In order to realize these goals, the province advocates to implement the
following measures:
Firstly, to promote propaganda to raise awareness of all levels, sectors and
people To clearly define the purpose and significance for poverty reduction and
improvement of living standards for people in the Western region in the coming years;
Secondly, to apply science and technology to production and economic
development in association with exploiting the potentials and strengths of each locality;
Thirdly, to increase the attraction of enterprises and socio-economic
organizations and adopt strong policies to attract large-scale enterprises to invest in the
Western region;
Fourthly, to mobilize all resources to gradually invest in perfecting the
infrastructure system such as electricity, roads, schools, medical stations, running water,
cultural, sports and public works other infrastructure works for production and people's
life;
Fifthly, to develop vocational training associated with job creation and labor
export for employees
Secondly, about sustainable poverty reduction plans
On the strategic basis, the province has proposed a poverty reduction plan for the
2016-2020 period for the mountainous region of Nghe An including:
- “Nghe An sets a target to strive to reduce the poverty rate of the whole
province by 2-3% per year on average according to the new poverty line for the
2016-2020 period; in particular, the poor districts and communes shall have the average
poverty reduction of 4-5%/year
- Ensuring 100% of households, especially poor households, have access to basic
social, medical and educational services
- 100% of households are allowed to watch television and listen to radio stations;
- 100% of communes have car roads in the center of the commune that can travel
in 4 seasons
- 100% of communes have national electricity grid to commune center
- Infrastructure of poor districts and communes is completed according to the criteria of “new rural construction” (People's Committee of Nghe An Province, 2016)
3.2.2 Policies on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the locality
Firstly, infrastructure development and resource mobilization policies Recently, the province has issued and well implemented policies for infrastructure development for mountainous areas with special difficulties under Decision No 1489/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister The Provincial People's Committee and the directly responsible units have developed many implementation documents, and issued many decisions related to infrastructure development in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province With these policies, infrastructure for mountainous areas is growing more and more
Table 3.7. Infrastructure in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Calculation unit: %
4 Healthcare facilities and
Note: (1): Percentage of communes with motorways to the center in four seasons (2): Percentage of communes with national electricity grid to commune center (3): Percentage of schools meeting national standards
(4): Percentage of communes meeting national standards of health
Source: Nghe An Province Department of Planning and Investment
In order to develop infrastructure in mountainous areas, Nghe An province has focused on policies to mobilize resources
In addition to the capital allocated by the state budget, the province has promoted various forms of capital mobilization, especially from the community, businesses and