Vietnam has reduced its poverty rate from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 9.45 percent in 2010, successfully achieving the United Nations Millenium Development Goals, said Vietnam’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN.
Ambassador Bui The Giang made the remark at the UN Social Development Committee’s 49th session in New York on February 10 concerning poverty reduction, interaction between social integration and employment and benefits for all.
He emphasised that Vietnam’s poverty reduction policy is aimed at increasing incomes for the poor and help them better access social services, such as health care, education and social integration.
Over the past year, Vietnam has made remarkable progress in generating jobs, promoting vocational training, providing loans with low interest rates and implementing healthcare insurance programmes.
The country has built more houses for poor families, granted preferential loans for poor students, achieved a GDP growth rate of 6.78 percent, and quickly recovered from the global financial crisis.
The Vietnamese diplomat raised concerns about the growing number of poor people in the world. By 2015, hundreds of millions of people may still live in poor conditions even though many countries have achieved their poverty reduction goals.
He agreed with UN Secretary General on the need to access the results of implementing poverty reduction programmes, dealing with the unequal allocation of natural and human resources in society and coping with climate change.