HCM City to cut poor household rate to below 5%
HCM City authorities strive to bring the ratio of poverty-stricken families to below 5% in 2014 from 7.12% last year.
The city has raised the poverty benchmark to VND16 million (US$752) per person per year for the 2014-2015 period from the VND12 million (US$564) set for the previous period.
The Municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has underlined key tasks focusing on generating jobs for 265,000 workers, creating 120,000 new jobs, reducing the unemployment rate to 4.7%, and enhancing vocational training.
A number of social welfare programmes have been launched to help prostitutes and drug addicts who have undergone detoxification reintegrate into the community.
Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan said the city has fulfilled the set of targets outlined in the local programme on reducing the poverty rate thanks to its ceaseless efforts over the years.
The city presented gifts to nearly 120,000 poor households during the recently-ended traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, he noted.
Latest statistics showed the poverty rate in Vietnam, under the national poverty line, dropped from 58.1% in 1993 to 14.8% in 2007 and 7.8% in 2013.