A United Nations official said Vietnam has reduced poverty ahead of its 2015 target, according to Vietnam News Agency.

“Rapid economic growth combined with governmental aid to the poorest households and communities have significantly reduced poverty and hunger rates, enhancing the living standards of most Vietnamese people,” said the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Vietnam representative Andrew Speedy, as reported by the agency.

The poverty rate in Vietnam has decreased from 58 percent in 1993 to just over 18 percent in 2006, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The ministry also predicted that the ratio may decrease to as low as some 15 percent by the end of this year.

“There is still a need to address the poor and hungry in outlying areas, among ethnic minorities and the poorer sections of society,” Speedy stressed.

“Rice exports have contributed to economic growth. However, rural development should not be based on agriculture alone; opportunities for diversification, added value and small industry should be exploited to raise incomes,” he added.

The UN official continued to say that FAO has had a “special relationship” with Vietnam since the post-war years. FAO has implemented some 400 projects in sustainable agricultural development, nutrition, food security, forestry and fisheries.

FAO has joined forces with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and others assist with the control and prevention of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the recovery of natural disasters.

Speedy revealed that the FAO is currently developing a five-year priority framework together with Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other UN agencies to boost cooperation and bolster technical assistance in the fields of food safety and animal and plant health, as well as general agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The UN official also hailed Vietnam's assistance to Laos, Senegal, Benin, Madagascar, the Republic of Congo and Mali in poverty reduction, irrigation, cultivation and livestock breeding.

Source: VNA.