Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, chaired a nationwide online conference on July 17, 2023 to review the three-year implementation of the National Target Program for the Development of New Rural Areas for 2021-2023, emphasizing “New Rural Development.” “In the years to come, we need to focus on practical and effective content that people can really enjoy, and not just pretty numbers reporting achievements.”

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REGIONS IS HUGE

Mr. Ngo Truong Son, head of the Central New Rural Coordination Office, reported at the conference that the total resources mobilized to implement the program for the period 2021-2023 (as of June 30, 2023) is about 1.752 billion dong amount .

Central budget capital plays the role of “priming capital” that directly supports the implementation of the program, about 1.2%, local budgets at all levels about 9.9%, integrated capital from other programs. National targets, other programs and projects Funds implemented in rural areas are about 8.1%, loan capital is about 74.1%, capital from enterprises, cooperatives and business organizations is about 4.0%, voluntary contributions from people and communities are around 2.8%.

So far across the country there are 6,022/8,177 municipalities (73.65%) reaching new rural standards (up 11.3% compared to the end of 2020). The national average reached 16.9 criteria/municipality.

There are 263 county-level units in 58 provinces and centrally-governed cities that have been recognized by the Prime Minister for fulfilling their missions or meeting new rural standards, an increase of 90 units compared to the end of 2020 (equivalent to about 40.8). , % of the total district-level units in the country).

There are currently 19 provinces and centrally administered cities where 100% of municipalities meet the new rural standards (an increase of 7 places compared to the end of 2020), including 5 provinces (Nam Dinh, Dong Nai, Ha Nam, Hung Yen) . . and Hai Duong) was awarded by the Prime Minister for completing the task of building new landscapes.

Assessing the unsatisfactory points of the new rural program, Mr. Ngo Truong Son said there was still a big gap between regions. Specifically, while 100% of communities in the Red River Delta meet the New Rural Standard, 91.4% of communities in the Southeast meet; But only 47.7% of communities in the northern mountainous region and 58.6% of communities in the central highlands meet the new rural standard.

It is worth noting that in the northern mountainous region, there are still four provinces (Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Dien Bien) where the percentage of municipalities that meet new rural standards is less than 30%.

PRIORITY RESOURCES FOR DIFFERENT LOCATIONS

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the new rural program sets a target for at least 80% of communities across the country to meet the new rural standards by 2025; We are aiming for at least 50% of counties and cities in the province to meet the new rural standards. We aim for the whole country to have about 17 to 19 provinces and centrally-governed cities recognized by the Prime Minister to carry out the task of building new rural areas.

By 2025, 60% of villages, hamlets, hamlets, villages, hamlets, phum and squirrels belonging to communities with special difficulties in border areas, mountain areas, coastal plains and islands will be recognized. They meet the new rural standards according to the new rural criteria established by the provincial people’s committee.

In 2026-2030, across the country, 90% of villages and hamlets belonging to extremely difficult communities in border areas, mountain areas, coastal areas and islands will be recognized as conforming to the new rural standards according to the following criteria. New rural areas at the village level are governed by the Provincial People’s Committee.

In order to achieve the set goal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said it will give priority to the concentration of central budget capital to advance the implementation of the program, along the following direction: “Increase government budget investment in 2021-2030 for agriculture and rural areas.” is at least twice as high as in the 2011-2020 period.

In particular, priority should be given to the allocation of state budget capital to focus on supporting disadvantaged areas, thus helping to bridge the gap in rural new construction between regions, especially poor counties, rural areas and communities in regions II and III in ethnic minority- and mountain areas, to reduce particularly difficult communities in lowland, coastal and island areas.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development continues to implement solutions to mobilize maximum resources for program implementation. Effectively manage and use the allocated state budget capital. At the same time, activities to mobilize international donors and NGOs to support resources are to be intensified and experiences in the implementation of content related to urgent issues of the program are to be exchanged. Submit.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also proposed that the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs consider and soon issue a document to guide municipalities in allocating funds for 02 national target programs (Chapter 2 , Chapter 3). . National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountain Areas, National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction) lead sub-projects towards prioritizing the fulfillment of criteria according to the set of national criteria for new rural areas for the period 2021-2025.

In his speech at the conference, Minister Le Minh Hoan wanted municipalities to actively learn from the experiences in many countries and create new rural building content adapted to local conditions, for example in many countries (Korea, Thailand…), which are also used in the program by “guinance”, “gui Huong”.

“Not all of them live in the countryside, but they regard the land as a valuable asset, heritage and property and engage in a lot of artisan village tourism, agricultural and rural tourism so that the land is really a place worth living in.” , Minister Le Minh Hoan said, while emphasizing that the construction of a new rural area in the coming years must be focused on practical and effective content, so that people can truly enjoy their lives. Benefits, not just the numbers that embellish the performance report.

As for environmental criteria, the program only deals with environmental treatment (waste treatment), but has not really addressed the issue of creating other habitats, such as planting trees to clean and beautify the environment. school in the country.

Minister Le Minh Hoan also pointed to some shortcomings of the National One Community, One Product (OCOP) program, which currently has limitations that need to be overcome. For example, there are many recognized products but no output and an unstable consumer market.

According to the minister, the new rural construction program is not just about investing in building electricity, roads, schools and railway stations, but also about changing production methods to give people a higher income; environmental protection, rural tourism development; Digital transformation towards building an intelligent landscape…