Government Program 135 has provided thousands of communes with tailored assistance for over ten years.

Vietnam’s fight against poverty has helped 34 million people rise to better standards of living, according to the World Bank.

Thanks to these successes, the country is now hoping to push its annual per capita gross domestic product above US$950 this year, which means the nation would no longer be considered a “low income” country.

While we embrace anti-poverty achievements at the commune level, however, the fact is that many of the country’s 64 provinces are still considered poor.

Last year, 53 provincial governments spent more than they earned.

The Finance Ministry forecast that by the end of this year just 31 provinces would have per capita GDPs of over $950.

It would be too ambitious to seek a policy that could lift all the poor provinces to the mid-income level.

The government could, however, focus first on the 10 provinces at the bottom of the development ladder.

These provinces had annual per capita GDPs of less than $500 and total year revenues of under VND300 billion last year.

For comparison, the southern metro Ho Chi Minh City earned almost US$4.9 billion.

The poorest provinces should be considered “especially difficult” provinces, which require special government policies for development as did the “especially difficult communes” a decade ago.

These provinces are usually at a disadvantage in terms of development opportunities.

Without a suitable support policy, they may continue to lag and stymie the country’s growth.

They are, at the same time, located in positions that are important to national defense and environmental protection and possess many natural resources.

A tailored policy for these provinces is not one that provides them with preferential treatment but one that gives them a fair opportunity to grow.

So what do they need? First, they need the right to develop their own policies and reject those that don’t suit their specific needs.

Second, they need the government to help facilitate infrastructure development.

That will give them an equal footing to attract investment.

Additionally, the government should allow these provinces to decide for themselves how to best use their natural resources and create jobs for local residents.

Source: ThanhnienNews