Vietnam aims to nearly triple rural incomes by 2030

The target was outlined at a government conference on July 6 to review the implementation of Vietnam’s national target programme on new-style rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development in ethnic inhabited areas and mountainous regions for 2026-2035. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung chaired the meeting with ministries and local authorities to discuss strategies for sustainable poverty reduction, new-style rural development and support for ethnic minority communities.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep, the programme seeks to increase average rural incomes to between 2.5 and three times their 2020 level by the end of the decade. Average incomes among ethnic minority communities are expected to reach about half of the national average.

The programme also sets a series of development targets, including reducing the multidimensional poverty rate by 1-1.5% annually, cutting the poverty rate among ethnic minority households to below 10%, and ensuring that 65% of communes meet Vietnam’s new-style rural standards by 2030. Of those, 10% are expected to achieve the higher-level modern rural designation, while at least five provinces are expected to complete their rural development plans.

The government plans to allocate about VND423 trillion (approximately US$16.2 billion) in state budget funding for the 2026-2030 period.

Officials said legal frameworks and implementation mechanisms had largely been completed during the first half of 2026, providing the foundation for nationwide implementation. Programmes covering One Commune One Product (OCOP), rural tourism, digital transformation and poverty databases have already been launched.

However, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment acknowledged that progress has so far been concentrated on planning and institutional preparation, with limited impact on rural infrastructure, livelihoods and household incomes. Implementation has also varied widely across localities, with delays reported in project planning, budget allocation and the adoption of new rural development criteria.

Officials identified several obstacles, including slow public investment disbursement carried over from previous phases, overlapping administrative procedures, rising construction costs and uneven administrative capacity at the grassroots level. The transition to Vietnam’s new two-tier local government system has also created coordination challenges in some areas.

Hiep said the priority for the remainder of the year is to accelerate implementation on the ground, particularly by speeding up budget allocation, disbursement and project execution.

Government agencies were instructed to resolve administrative bottlenecks within their authority rather than waiting for multiple layers of guidance, while local authorities were urged to reassess demand for housing, livelihoods and essential infrastructure, strengthen commune-level capacity and align resources with local needs.

Officials stressed that implementation progress must be closely linked to the accountability of local leaders, particularly in budget allocation, public investment disbursement and programme delivery, to ensure development targets translate into measurable improvements in rural communities.

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