Delivering the proposal, Minister-Chairman of the Government Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Hau A Lenh noted that the disbursement of capital for the programme has yet to meet expectations.
Lenh cited a report by the Ministry of Finance showing that as of the end of March, about 2.11 trillion VND (82.85 million USD) of capital for the programme had been disbursed, reaching 14% of the plan. However, the amount of non-business capital disbursed for the programme was estimated at 38.38 trillion VND, fulfilling only 1% of the plan, he noted.
The official said that the approval of adjustments to the programme’s investment policy is expected to create positive impacts on the socio-economic development of ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas, contributing to settling difficulties and obstacles facing the programme, thus facilitating the disbursement of capital for projects. The total cost for the adjustments is about 4.14 trillion VND, he said.
Delivering a verification report on the Government’s proposal, Chairman of the NA Ethnic Council Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam said that the Government needs to further clarify the necessity of the adjustments as well as the list of specific investment items, along with the situation of investment beneficiaries that play an important role in education, training, health care and traditional culture conservation in ethnic regions.
The council proposed that the NA agree on the principle for adjusting a number of contents related to the investment policy for the programme in the 2021-2030 period and assign the Government to review and issue a specific investment list for public non-business units operating in ethnic affairs, boarding schools for ethnic students, district-level health stations and hospitals, relics and projects on conservation of ethnic minority groups that are inside or outside the current recognised ethnic minority and mountainous areas.
The council asked the Government to direct ministries, sectors and agencies to review and amend relevant legal documents, with priority given to the classification of ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas./.
