Topic: rural areas

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved two programs on rural development in August, including the Digital Transformation Program on building new rural areas towards a “smart new countryside” in the 2021-2025 period, and a program to strengthen environmental protection, food safety, and clean water supply in new rural area construction in the 2021-2025 period.

The development of industrial clusters of craft villages is expected to be the nucleus of innovation in rural areas. With over 2,000 that are 100 years old or older, Vietnamese craft villages have made a significant contribution to exports. However, their development also reveals many shortcomings. A number of solutions were recommended at the “Strengthening linkages and developing industrial clusters in craft villages in Vietnam” seminar.

Despite improving over recent years, the qualifications and skills of Vietnamese workers are still low compared to requirements in other countries. This continues to be a “bottleneck” for the development of productive jobs. According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the proportion of Vietnamese workers with degrees and certificates stands at just 26 per cent, with major disparities seen between urban and rural areas and between male and female workers.

After more than four years of implementing the “One commune, One product” (OCOP) program, there are nearly 8,500 products ranked 3 stars or more. The program in the 2021-2025 period will focus on developing specialties and traditional products, and promoting cultural values, especially products from craft villages, traditional crafts, and rural tourism services.

In moving towards the goal of “leaving no one behind” and as part of efforts in financial inclusion, banks are now looking at a range of solutions that include promoting the development of domestic credit cards in rural areas. Agribank has been implementing its “Agribank Digital” program in many localities, which allows customers to conduct transactions without going to a counter.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a dialogue with farmers in late May. Given the many difficulties and problems now facing farmers, he asked that ministries and agencies focus on perfecting institutions, policies, and administrative reform in agriculture and rural areas, improve the efficiency of land management and use, create favorable conditions for land accumulation, increase State investment in agriculture and rural areas, and provide preferential credit.