Dien Bien accelerates new-style rural area building

Dien Bien city and Muong Lay town are hoped to qualify as district-level new-style rural areas while all communes in the province will meet at least five criteria of the programme in the period.

The province’s annual income per capita is expected to reach VND18.9 million US$831.6) in 2020, and the poor rural household rate will fall 3-4% annually to 37% according to the 2016 – 2020 poverty standards.

Around 54.6 percent of the local workforce will receive training, and 76.99% of rural households will have access to hygiene water.

The province estimates that over VND1.5 trillion (US$66 million) will be needed for the 35 communes to become new-style rural areas, or an average of 45 billion (US$1.98 million) for each commune. 

In order to realise the targets, Dien Bien will increase guidance and help to the target communes, while improving the efficiency in capital use.

Currently, Dien Bien has only one commune among its 116 to have fulfilled all the criteria on new-style rural area in 2015. 

The national target programme’s criteria cover infrastructure, production, living standards, income and culture, among others, aiming to boost rural regions in Vietnam. A district must have at least 75 percent of its communes meeting all the 19 criteria in order to receive the title of new rural district. 

During the 2011-2015 period, more than VND850 trillion (US$38.25 billion) was mobilised for the programme, of which only 11.6% came from the State budget. The programme is expected to need over VND193 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in the next five years. 

As of September this year, 2,045 communes, accounting for 23%, were recognised as new-style rural areas, along with 24 district-level localities. The figure is expected to hit 50% by 2020.