Part 3 - Building sustainable new countryside

Tra Vinh has been promoting the strength of great solidarity; mobilizing all resources to sustainably reduce poverty, develop the socio-economy, improve the material and spiritual life of the people, aiming to bring the goal of "New Rural Province" before 2025... On that journey, Directive No. 40/CT-TW has brought a new breakthrough to the Party Committee and the government and is an important policy pillar for the ethnic people in the area to rise up.

Panoramic view of Giong Lon Pagoda - a place for religious activities of the people of Dai An commune and propaganda of the Party and State's policies

Everyone Joining In

Mr. Sơn Quang Minh (Cay Da hamlet, Dai An commune, Tra Cu district) shared: "Thanks to the local authorities and VBSP supporting us with a loan of VND 8 million VND, and later VND 25 million from the poverty alleviation program, my family invested in raising cattle and gradually escaped hardship. We were able to support our children’s education, build a more solid home and buy means of transportation”.

"The VBSP's loan policy helped us a lot. We didn’t need to mortgage property for the loan, and the interest rates were favorable, unlike outside where rates are very high. Many members of my savings and loan group have risen out of poverty thanks to the VBSP loans, with 70-80% now well-off. Now, with state-supported capital for farming and livestock raising, every household is diligent and hardworking", Mr. Minh confided.

The impact of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW continues to spread as each citizen can become a “torchbearer” for policy credit. An example is Ms. Diep Thi Trang from Giong Dinh hamlet, Dai An commune. Facing competition from plastic products, she pioneered transforming traditional bamboo agricultural tools into souvenirs for tourists. At the same time, she opened training classes to teach locals in her hamlet how to craft these items.

Additionally, as the leader of the Savings and Credit Group, Ms. Trang encouraged women to take policy loans to increase production and engage in weaving during their free time from farming. Today, her weaving facility employs 87 women, 52 of whom have taken loans from VBSP. The average income ranges from VND 4 to 6 million per person per month.

Ms. Nhan Thi Ne, a member of Ms. Trang’s production facility, shared: “Before, without capital, it was hard to start anything. When Ms. Trang introduced me to the Savings and Credit Group, I became more confident and proactive in production and weaving. I can even stay at home, and someone brings bamboo materials to me, making the work more convenient. Each month, I earn VND 5-6 million”.

And it is indeed gratifying that Ms. Trang’s efforts, along with those of the women in her hamlet, have yielded encouraging results. In 2020, her household’s miniature rural household product line won second place in the fifth Provincial Outstanding Rural Industrial Products competition of Tra Vinh and was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product of the province.

Determined to Reach the Goal Ahead of Schedule

The New Rural Development Program has brought prosperity to the people of Đại An commune

Mr. Le Van Han - Chairman of the Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee shared: The efforts of every officer, party member and citizen in the province have gradually overcome difficulties, bringing Tra Vinh closer to becoming a fully developed new rural province. To date, all 9 districts, towns, and cities in the province have been recognized as meeting the standards and completing the tasks of building new rural areas. All 85 communes have met the new rural standards, 44 of which have reached advanced rural standards, accounting for 51.76%. Additionally, 7 communes have been recognized as model new rural communes, and 639 out of 640 hamlets have been recognized as cultural and new rural hamlets. The province itself has completed 7 out of 8 criteria. With these results, the entire political system and the people of Tra Vinh, especially the Khmer community, are focusing on completing the new rural province goal before 2025.

The goal of building new rural areas is to improve the material and spiritual lives of the people. As a result, the rural development movement has garnered strong support and active participation from all levels of government, mass organizations, and the united response of all citizens, including the Khmer community. With about 32% of the population being Khmer, the Khmer people have actively contributed to meeting the new rural criteria in their localities. By the end of 2023, the poverty rate among Khmer households in Tra Vinh province had dropped to 1,827 households, accounting for 2.03% of the total number of Khmer households, while the near-poor households totaled 2,926, accounting for 3.25%.

In remote Khmer villages, the community has played a key role in developing and promoting the movement to build new rural areas through concrete actions such as donating land, contributing labor to build roads and bridges, participating in environmental sanitation activities, planting flowers and trees, shifting crop and livestock structures, and focusing on productive labor, thereby contributing to household economic development.

More importantly, with the support of the Party’s and State’s policies, along with local government resources, including preferential credit funds, each Khmer household still facing difficulties has realized their responsibility to escape poverty and increase income to help build a prosperous homeland alongside the government.

Thanks to the efforts and responsibility of each citizen, the poverty rate has significantly decreased. By the end of 2023, the province had only 3,416 poor households, accounting for 1.19% of the total population.

Speaking about the transformation of the homeland, Venerable Truong Van Bien, the abbot of Giong Lon Pagoda, joyfully shared that the new rural development program has greatly improved the appearance of rural areas in Khmer communities, and people are benefiting from many good things. Therefore, it is essential for everyone to join hands with the State in spreading awareness, encouraging people to participate, and creating opportunities for the continued development of the people's lives.

"Tra Cu has met the standards for a new rural district, and I, along with other respected individuals and the Khmer people, am very happy and hopeful that the locality will continue to develop, contributing to the overall progress of Tra Vinh province and achieving the goal of becoming a fully developed new rural province", Venerable Truong Van Bien affirmed.

Duc Kien