Policy credit for sustainable livelihoods for ethnic minority people in Gia Lai province

(VBSP News) The 10-year review conference (2007 - 2017) on policy credit for ethnic minority people in Gia Lai province took place in May 11^th in Pleiku city chaired by Provincial People's Committee. Policy credit was appreciated as creating a sustainable livelihood for ethnic minority people. It is proposed that the Government and Prime Minister should maintain state investment on policy credit and transfer funds timely to VBSP to actively lend under credit program of the Government. At the same time, Ministries and agencies are requested to review formulation of preferential credit policies and credit policies for particular regions and localities in order to prioritize and encourage ethnic minority people to cultivate and settle down, thus, ensure sustainable economic development and preservation of national culture.

The conference

Attending the meeting were Mr. Nguyen Van Ly - Deputy General Director of VBSP; Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, Deputy Director of Ethnic Minorities Policy Department - Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs; Mr. Chau Ngoc Tuan - Secretary of Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Ayun H'Put - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoang - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee cum Chief Representative of the Board of Directors of VBSP; Mr. Dinh Duy Vuot - Deputy Chairman of the Provincial Delegation to National Assembly; managers of local government agencies, mass organizations, and typical ethnic minority borrowers who use loans effectively.

Vice Chairman of Gia Lai People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Hoang delivered opening speech

Opening the conference, Vice Chairman of Gia Lai People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Hoang said that being a poor mountainous province in the Northwest Highlands, Gia Lai had a low starting point, mainly unskilled labor with low productivity. Living of a part of the people is difficult, especially ethnic minority people in remote and isolated areas. Agricultural production of rural people and ethnic minority people is backward.

Despite many difficulties and challenges, with the efforts of the provincial Party Committee, the People's Council, the People's Committee and participation of all levels, sectors, the Fatherland Front and mass organizations, preferential policy credit has been effectively implemented, helping ethnic minority people to access policy credit to invest in production development and strive to escape poverty. As a result, economy of the province has achieved good growth rate; economic structure shifted positively; average income per capita is VND 38.2 million/year in 2016, 2.58 times higher than 2010; material and spiritual life of the majority of people, especially ethnic minorities, has gradually improved, contributing to local goal of poverty reduction and building new rural areas.

However, besides achieved results, credit policy activities still has limitation which the conference has evaluated and discussed solutions for following phases. 

Delegates to the conference

Reported at the conference, director of the VBSP Gia Lai branch - Le Van Chi said that over the past 10 years (from 2007 to present), credit policy loans in the province reached VND 8,639.9 billion, with 458,609 turns of household borrowers, in which loans to ethnic minorities is VND 3,455.6 billion, with 203,216 households. Total loan oustandings reached VND 4,046.6 billion, up VND3,311.6 billion compared to 2007, which is 5.5 times. Ethnic minority households are beneficiaries of most credit programs at VBSP with 80,105 active clients accounting for 50.12% of households with outstanding loans at VBSP, with outstanding debt of VND 1,890.6 billion, accounting for 46.72% of the total loan oustandings, average outstanding loan per ethnic minority household is over 26.66 million.

Director of VBSP Gia Lai province Le Van Chi reports results of policy credit implementation for ethnic minority people in the province over the past time

Policy credit has helped more than 203,000 ethnic minority households develop their production, improve their livelihoods and escape poverty, in which over 95,000 households escape poverty; attracting and creating jobs for 20,578 laborers, including 591 laborers working abroad for a definite term; helping more than 4,856  disadvantaged to get loans for study; building 9,258 houses for poor households; 29,446 clean water supply and sanitation works in remote, disadvantaged areas contributing to implementation of the national target program on poverty reduction and building new rural areas.

Vice Chairwoman of Gia Lai Women's Union Rchăm H'Hồng presented at the Conference

Speaking at the meeting, Rcham H'Hong, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial Women's Union, emphasized: Thanks to preferential credit policies, the ethnic minority women members had access to capital sources to do business, receive business instruction, science and technology transfer to develop family economy, getting out of poverty and get rich. In the area, there are more and more members of the ethnic minorities who are borrowing from VBSP having overcomed difficulties and gain annual income of VND 100-200 million. Policy credit has initially changed perception of labor production, family economic development, job creation, contributing to poverty reduction, socio-economic development of the locality.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Krong Pa district, Kpă Ngun presented at the conference

Mr. Kpă Ngun - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Krong Pa district affirmed that policy credit has been implemented in the district over the past time along with results of implementation of new rural construction programs, other objectives have impacted comprehensively on all aspects of socio-economic life, the face of rural areas has changed significantly, life of majority of people have been improved step by step, thus, have favorable conditions to develop, rise to stabilize life.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of Son Lang Commune People's Committee - Le Quy Truyen said that policy credits have helped to reverse usury in ethnic minority areas.

On behalf of the Commune People's Committee, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Lang Commune, Kbang District, Le Quy Truyen, said: Thanks to policy credit, socio-economic situation in the area has been developed step by step, plant structure has been shifted, productivity of each crop has been raised on each unit of land, thus, annual per capita income has been increased every year, rural face has been renovated. In particular, policy credit has helped ethnic minorities change their minds, ways of doing to apply technological advances to production to improved living, reverse ursury in rural areas, promoting socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas.

Ksor H’ Ayet share experiences of loan utilization

Borrower Ksor H’ Ayet at the village of Klah 2, Ia De commune, Ia Grai district said: “..with small family budget and a VND 10 million loan from VBSP in 2013 and VND 30 million in 2016 under the loan program for the just escaped from poverty, my family now has 800 business coffee tres, 3 arce of paddy, 1 sow and 12 pigs for meat. Total annual income of my family up to this point minus the cost is VND 100 million per year and many facilities for the house has been bought. I would like to express my deep gratitude to authorities, mass organizations, Savings and Credit group and VBSP who have had excellent policies for us as ethnic minorities, giving us a better life, equal with everyone in the society.

Deputy General Director of VBSP Nguyen Van Ly at the Conference

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy General Director of VBSP Nguyen Van Ly highly appreciated practical effectiveness of credit policy for ethnic minority people in Gia Lai province in particular, the country in general, which has multi-dimensional effect, creating a dual effect for the people, i.e, contributing to poverty reduction and socio-economic development, especially ensuring social welfare.

Deputy General Director emphasized that policy credit has contributed positively to the National goal of sustainable poverty reduction, helping ethnic minorities to solve basic issues of life, get used to borrowing loans for business. Moreover, policy credit has indeed been a bridge between local authorities at all levels and the people, especially ethnic minority people.

However, there are still difficulties in implementing policy credit for Gia Lai province, i.e educational level is uneven and low; some communes have no land for production to provide loans to households that need loans to improve production land. Transportation is very difficult especially in rainy season, extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, floods, cold weather, disease outbreaks in livestock and agricultural production often occur every year; local capital budget transferred to VBSP for policy credit is not timely and sufficient to demand of the people.

Therefore, in order to apply credit policies, especially credit for ethnic minority households, VBSP should focus on advising the Party Committees and the local authorities on implementation of Directive 40-CT/TW, specifically advising the party's committees, local authorities in transferring local budget funds to VBSP to extend lending to poor households and other policy beneficiaries at locality. To concentrate on lending to remote and ethnic minority areas to ensure 100% of the demand for loans for poor households, near-poor households and policy beneficiaries having funding to develop production, step by step escape from poverty sustainably; To intensify management, monitoring and urging of debt recovery and implementation of the loan program under Prime Minister's Decision No. 2085 / QD-TTg dated 31/10/2016; At the same time, to strengthen Savings and Credit groups and improve efficiency commune transaction points; Strive to bring all lending activities, debt collection, interest collection to Commune transaction points to better serve ethnic minority households living in disadvantaged areas.

Vice Chairman of Gia Lai People's Committee Nguyen Duc Hoang exchanged with borrower Ksor HPlo to borrow money in Hil 1 village, Ia Mron commune, Ia Pa district on effective use of policy loans.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Vice Chairman of Gia Lai People's Committee Nguyen Duc Hoang appreciated achievement of credit policy at locality and confirmed that local authorities will always accompany with VBSP, give priority to use available resources to help ethnic minority people to improve quality of life and escape poverty in a sustainable manner. Besides, the Provincial People's Committee will direct subordinate agencies to drastically handle and prevent "black credit" in ethnic minority areas; To actively delegate members of VBSP’s BOD Board of Representatives to strengthen inspection and supervision of loans at the grassroots, avoid raising of overdue debt. The Vice chairman of the province also asked the local leaders of districts and towns to priotize budgets transfer to local VBSP to provide loans to ethnic minority people in the area, contributing to reducing poverty rate of the whole province.

On this occasion, People's Committee of Gia Lai province announced reward decision of the Chairman of the province to 15 collectives and 15 individuals who have outstanding achievements in the management and effective use of preferential loans for ethnic minorities in the province area.

Individuals and groups rewarded by the Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee

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