Part 2 - Devoting passion to helping people

With the 'policy tool' of preferential credit programs, the strength from Directive No. 40-CT/TW, and the aspirations for innovation of the people, the Party committees and local authorities in Tra Vinh province have recognized opportunities amidst challenges and difficulties to achieve sustainable poverty reduction, economic development, and improved living standards for people.

VBSP staff and mass organizations always accompany the borrowers

Local Diligence

Efforts to support the poor and other policy beneficiaries, from individuals like teacher Son Ngoc Minh (Ham Giang B Primary School, Dai An Commune, Tra Cu District) to the monks and local authorities, have successfully brought policy credit into daily life. It has spread throughout every hamlet and village, reaching every poor, near-poor household and policy family.

In Dai An Commune, over the past 10 years, VBSP has disbursed VND 82.1 billion to 4,476 households, helping reduce the poverty rate from 11.37% to 2.09%. The average per capita income has reached VND 68 million per year. These achievements have helped Dai An achieve new rural status in 2019, advanced rural status in 2021, and set the goal of becoming a model new rural commune by 2024.

Dai An is a vivid example of how Directive No. 40-CT/TW has deeply penetrated life in Tra Vinh province. Along with leadership, direction and organization of propaganda, the dissemination of social policy credit has fostered a shift in awareness, enhanced responsibility, and improved the quality of policy credit implementation. The Provincial Party Committee has led and directed the integration of policy credit into the regular tasks of the annual and five-year (2021–2025) socio-economic development plans. These efforts have not only integrated policy credit with national target programs but also with local socio-economic development plans and party congress resolutions.

The Provincial Party Committee has directed local authorities to issue mechanisms and policies and a series of documents focusing on transferring State budget funds to VBSP. It has prioritized allocating local budget funds entrusted to VBSP to supplement lending programs and social policy credit projects aimed at rural and agricultural development, education, vocational training, job creation, social security and sustainable poverty reduction as part of the province's socio-economic development plan for 2021–2030.

Notably, from 2014 to 2024, the Provincial People's Committee, districts, towns and cities have allocated VND 546.7 billion from local budgets entrusted to VBSP, a 13.4-fold increase compared to before Directive No. 40-CT/TW. This has raised the total entrusted local budget funds to VND 587.42 billion, accounting for 12.9% of total funds. Of this, VND 485.91 billion comes from the provincial budget, and VND 101.51 billion from district budgets.

Bank Efforts

Mr. Truong Quang Vinh, Deputy Director of VBSP Tra Vinh branch, shared that over the 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW, the branch has provided loans to nearly 414,000 poor households and policy beneficiaries with a total loan amount exceeding VND 8.7 trillion. The total outstanding loans of policy credit programs has reached nearly VND 4.57 trillion, an increase of nearly VND 3 trillion, tripling the amount in 2014. Currently, the total central and local budget entrusted to the VBSP branch for management is VND 4.558 trillion, with an average annual growth rate of 18.6%.

The credit programs have created jobs for over 61,000 workers, of which nearly 3,500 have taken out loans for temporary work abroad. More than 10,500 disadvantaged students have received loans for education. The programs have supported the construction and renovation of nearly 162,000 rural clean water and sanitation projects and built over 10,500 houses for poor and near-poor households, as well as policy families. Additionally, 141 households have borrowed to build and purchase social housing under Decree No. 100/2015/ND-CP on the development and management of social housing. Furthermore, 11 businesses have borrowed to pay wages for nearly 1,500 workers.

Over the past 10 years, policy credit in the province has helped reduce poverty for 53,000 households (a decrease from 10.66% to 1.19%). The preferential credit policies, along with local socio-economic development programs, have significantly contributed to poverty reduction, job creation, social security, narrowing the wealth gap, reducing unemployment, and completing the criteria for new rural development. These policies have played an essential role in stabilizing and developing the local economy.

To date, 100% of the communes in the province have met new rural standards, 48 communes have achieved advanced new rural standards, 11 have met the model new rural standard, and all 9 districts, towns, and cities have fulfilled their new rural development tasks. The material and spiritual lives of the people have improved, with average per capita income reaching VND 81.75 million.

In the future, the branch will continue advising the Party and local authorities to allocate more entrusted funds to VBSP to lend to poor, near-poor households and other policy beneficiaries. At the same time, the branch will focus resources on implementing social policy credit programs to further boost socio-economic development, especially in rural areas and areas with a large Khmer population.

Duc Kien