The central province of Thua Thien – Hue plans to spend nearly VND1.79 trillion ($78.5 million) on its new rural area development scheme in 2018. Of the amount, around 124 billion will come from the central budget, VND350 billion from the province’s own coffer, VND200 billion from other programs, VND75 billion from local communities’ contribution and the remaining from loans, businesses’ investment and other economic organizations. The locality will strive to have ten additional communes meeting the standards of the national program on new-style rural areas during this year. Priority will be given to reducing poverty rate among households, improving incomes for locals, protecting the environment and ensuring food safety. Policies will be reviewed and adjusted towards supporting production development and attracting investment into rural areas and agriculture. Since 2011, the provincial authority has mobilized over VND5.1 trillion ($223.8 million) for the new rural area program, nearly half of which (VND2.17 trillion) sourced from credit. Thua Thien - Hue has 104 communes joining the scheme. By the end of 2017, the rate of communes recognized as new-style rural areas stood at 22.1%. However, many communes could lose the title after the new criterion on poverty line was applied, which set the line at VND700,000 per capita per month in rural area. According to latest statistics of the province’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the average poverty rate among rural households rose to 12.05% under the new criterion, almost double the rate under the old one.
