Mr Anh gave the instruction during the committee's conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on February 26 to review its work in 2006 and discuss tasks for 2007.

"The region should strive to create breakthroughs in socio-economic development in ethnic minorities-inhabited areas, narrowing the gap between these areas and the economically-developed ones," the minister said.

He added that ministries and agencies should work with the locality to solve issues related to land, housing, water, job creation and land and forest allocation for poor ethnic minority people. Relevant agencies are required to help the region reduce the rate of poor households to below 45 percent from the current 52 percent.

Last year, the region reported a nearly 14 percent growth in GDP and a nearly 23.5 percent year-on-year increase in per-capita income. The rate of poor households dropped by 4.8 percent for the entire region and by 5.98 percent for the ethnic minorities-inhabited areas.

During the year, 80,000 local households were provided with loans valued at VND140 billion and 970 houses were built for poor people.