Quảng Ninh to complete new-style rural areas this year

This year, the province has focused on prioritising to implement the National Target Programme on New Rural Development and the Programme on Sustainable Socio-economic Development in association with firmly ensuring national defense and security in communes, villages and hamlets of ethnic minorities in mountainous, border and islands areas.

The province of Quảng Ninh will complete a programme of new rural development this year.

It is expected that by the end this year the province will have all its communes basically meeting the criteria of new-style rural communes, and all 13 districts will complete the task of building new rural areas in the 2021-25 period.

According to the provincial Party Secretary Nguyễn Xuân Ký, this will be a good premise to create favourable conditions for Quảng Ninh to implement the advanced new-style rural areas and model new rural areas in the next period.

A new set of criteria for new-style rural communes and another for advanced new-style rural communes for the 2021-25 period were issued on March 8 following Decision No.318/QĐ-TTg.

A new-style rural commune has to meet 19 criteria in many fields, including planning, socio-economic infrastructure, economy and production, socio-culture and the environment.

The criteria are specified for different regions.

Specifically, a new-style commune must have 80 percent of its farming area using active irrigation systems. In general, per-capita income must be VNĐ48 million (US$2,100) per year on average in 2022.

In particular, the annual per-capita income is targeted at VNĐ39 million ($1,567) for northern mountainous and north central regions, while it is VNĐ53 million ($2,127) for the Red River Delta and Mekong Delta regions, and VNĐ63 million ($2,529) for the south eastern region.

Under the criteria set, all communes and districts of Quảng Ninh Province that have completed the construction of new rural areas, and 54 out of 98 communes will meet the advanced new-style rural criteria and 26 out of 98 communes will meet the criteria set for new model rural areas by the end this year, said Ký.

Notably, Đầm Hà and Tiên Yên districts are two out of seven districts recognised as advanced new-style rural areas, Ký said.

The new rural development programme is carried out by all levels, branches and localities of Quảng Ninh Province in association with the implementation of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW dated May 17, 2021 of the provincial Party's Committee and Resolution No. 50/NQ-HĐND on January 13, 2021 of the provincial People's Council, the Party Secretary said.

This year, the province has focused on prioritising to implement the National Target Programme on New Rural Development and the Programme on Sustainable Socio-economic Development in association with firmly ensuring national defence and security in the communes, villages and hamlets of ethnic minorities in mountainous, border and island areas.

Specifically, the province has allocated VNĐ715 billion (US$28.5 million) from the State budget for the master programme for sustainable socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, of which VNĐ565 billion ($22.5 million) was used for infrastructure construction, and VNĐ150 billion ($6 million) was entrusted through the provincial branch of the Việt Nam Bank for Social Policies to provide loans for job creation in poor communes and villages.

The assistance has helped ethnic people improve their living standards, access loans for economic development, and step by step escape from poverty and hunger.

Earlier this month, the provincial People's Council passed a resolution to provide free legal support to ethnic minorities in communes, villages and hamlets in mountainous, border and island areas from now until the end of 2025.

Accordingly, ethnic people can receive free legal aid in cases occurring in the province for legal matters, except business and commerce.

Forms of legal aid include participation in legal proceedings, legal advice, and representation outside the proceedings.

In 2023, Quảng Ninh will accelerate targets to develop urban and rural areas, industry, construction, tourism and services in combination with agriculture, forestry and fishery development as well as promote regional and inter-regional linkages to complete the building of advanced new-style rural and model new rural areas.

In addition, the province will focus on effectively implementing Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW dated June 16, 2022 of the Party Central Committee on Agriculture, Farmers and Rural Areas to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the National Target on New Rural Development, Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, and Sustainable Poverty Reduction.

In order to make the programmes of new rural areas and model new rural development areas become more practical, more effective and towards the goal of people having better lives and prospering from the natural advantages of the locality, the Standing Committee of Quảng Ninh Province's Party's Committee has directed local governments based on their characteristics to set out goals and solutions for each year and each period.

Specifically, in the 2022-23 period, there will be solutions to develop production and infrastructure for production aimed at increasing incomes for the local people.

In the 2023-24 period, there will be solutions to prevent households from falling back into poverty and raise income levels for near-poor people.

Particularly in 2023, Quảng Ninh strives to have no more poor households according to the national multi-dimensional poverty line for the 2022-25 period, and develop and implement the province's new poverty line.

Additionally, the province will increase the proportion of people participating in health insurance to over 95 per cent of the provincial population and 98 per cent of people being supplied clean water.