Vice President Hoa made the remarks yesterday at a reception for International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) Chairman Ivano Barberini. Barberini is in Ha Noi to join in an ICA regional conference on the role of co-operatives in poverty alleviation in Asia.

Hoa told the ICA chairman that poverty reduction has been given special attention by the Vietnamese government, and the State has set a target to reduce the poverty rate to 10 per cent in the near future.

Hoa thanked the ICA for its support in carrying out poverty reduction activities and personnel training in Viet Nam. She also expressed hope that Viet Nam would continue to receive assistance from the ICA in the future so as to continue its fight to eliminate poverty.

Chairman’s support

Chairman Ivano Barberini thanked Hoa for the reception and emphasised that the ICA works to support poverty reduction programme in all countries. He pledged to continue supporting Viet Nam.

The Viet Nam Co-operative Alliance (VNCA) would certainly play its role in poverty reduction as part of the Government’s commitment to development, he said.

The ICA chairman spoke to Viet Nam News at the international conference to discuss the role of co-operatives in alleviating poverty in Asia.

The ICA had helped its member, Viet Nam, with personnel training, technical assistance and the building of models, including the successful project for Micro Financial Management Improvement in Credit Co-operatives, he said.

Future ICA help would include building a model for housing and health co-operatives and organising a seminar to discuss consumer co-operatives.

Barberini said that he hoped the international conference would provide Viet Nam with more knowledge about implementing hunger-elimination programmes.

Rich countries had a responsibility to build a fairer system for international trade, he told the two-day meeting that has drawn almost 100 participants from a number of Asian countries and international organisations.

Sacrifices were also needed to promote more effective ways to fight poverty and create conditions for a widespread economic development, he said.

But there was the difficulty of sensibility.

An estimated 50 million people, including children, were dying of hunger and infectious diseases every year but because they were faceless, they rarely stimulated an emotional and concrete commitment from the majority of States.

Poverty and hunger were long-term phenomena while emotion and solidarity were short-term and usually devoted to the alleviation of suffering caused by natural disasters.

Only fair globalisation would ensure global stability and only an active recognition of the fundamental right to food, health and a decent job would achieve effective and coherent joint action promoted by the world’s governments.

A fair chance to access knowledge and decent, productive employment for both men and women was the major way to eradicate poverty; create social inclusion and a better future for hundreds of million of humans, he said.

ICA had 800 million members in more than 100 countries, he added.

The VNCA is a self-help organisation that is assisting and promoting economic development among 10.5 million members and 3.5 million co-operatives.