The dissertation clarifies theoretical issues about the role of provincial authorities; Overview of experiences of some provinces in the country on the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province.
1 THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY Reasons to choose the topic Poverty is one of the pressing socio-economic issues that many countries around the world are facing In Vietnam, the Party and the State have been soon aware of the risk of poverty and invested much effort and money to implement the poverty reduction program THAI THANH QUY throughout the country However, the results of poverty reduction in Vietnam in the past have not been stable and there are still many challenges THE ROLE OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN NGHE AN PROVINCE Nghe An is one of the poor provinces Recently, Nghe An provincial government has achieved many achievements in leadership of socio-economic development in the locality, people's lives have been gradually improved both physically and spiritually However, the results of poverty reduction are not sustainable, with high risk of re-poverty (about 10%), concentrated in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province Major: Political Economy Code: 9310102 The mountainous area of Nghe An province is a strategically important area in terms of socio-economics, national defense, security and foreign affairs of the province and North Central region, including 10 district-level administrative units, and town Due to unfavorable natural conditions and poor economic development, people's lives, especially ethnic minorities, face many difficulties, with low per capita income, which is equal to 63.3% of the whole province's average The poverty rate in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province is still high compared to the average of the province One of the main reasons is that the provincial government has not fully played its SUMMARY OF THE PHD THESIS IN ECONOMICS role in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province Therefore, the study of the topic “The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous area of Nghe An province” will contribute to further clarifying the theoretical and practical issues of the role of the provincial government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, thereby proposing solutions to improve the role of provincial authorities in HANOI - 2019 sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the coming time 2 Research purpose and tasks areas; 2.1 Research purpose: The thesis aims to propose views and solutions to improve the role of provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the coming time 2.2 Research tasks Thirdly, organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas In this content, the thesis only studies: - Developing a apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction; - Implementing laws and policies of the Central State and policies promulgated by To achieve this goal, the thesis sets out the following tasks: - Overview research of study works related to the thesis, then pointing out "gaps" that needs to continue the research; the province on sustainable poverty reduction; - Coordinating with relevant organizations on sustainable poverty reduction Fourthly, checking and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty - Clarifying theoretical issues about the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas; - Analyzing the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province from 2014 to 2017 From that, to point out reduction in mountainous areas 3.2.2 Regarding the geographical space The thesis conducts sustainable poverty reduction research in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, including 11 districts and towns which are: Thai Hoa town, Anh Son achievements, limitations and causes of restrictions on the role of the provincial level district, Con Cuong district, Quy Chau district, Ky Son district, Nghia Dan district, government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province - On the theoretical basis, carrying out analysis and evaluation of the role of the district Que Phong, Quy Hop district, Tan Ky district, Thanh Chuong district, Tuong Duong district provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An 3.2.3 Regarding the time province, the thesis proposes views and solutions to enhance the role of the provincial government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Firstly, the thesis studies the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - till 2025, with a vision to 2030 Research objects and scope 2017 The secondary data used by the thesis for the study are mainly in this period Particularly, for the data of the poor, poor households and poverty reduction, the thesis 3.1 Research objects The research object of the thesis: the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas only used the data for the period of 2015 - 2017, because: Firstly, from 2011 to 2015, the poverty criteria in Vietnam only consider the income perspective In November 2015, Vietnam introduced a new criterion and poverty 3.2 Research scope standard according to the multi-dimensional approach and the income level criteria also 3.2.1 Regarding the content 3.2.1 Regarding the content increased (from 400,000 VND per person to 700,000 VND per person for rural and mountainous areas The thesis studies in the direction of implementing the functions of the provincial Secondly, despite only until 2016 when the new criteria and poverty standard government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas under the perspective of political economy Therefore, the thesis focuses on the study of: Firstly, identifying strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction in started to be implemented, at the end of 2015, Nghe An province had investigated the poor and poor households according to this new poverty standard and criteria Therefore, the data published about the poor and poor households in early 2016 are actually the data mountainous areas; Secondly, promulgating sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous of 2015 according to new poverty criteria and standards Therefore, the number of poor and poor households in 2014 is less than that in 2015 and poverty reduction in 2014 is more than in 2015 Based on this data, the analysis on the role of provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in Nghe An province will be inacurrate Secondly, the thesis proposes views and solutions to improve the role of provincial governments in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province to 2025, with a vision to 2030 Research method 4.1 Research questions The thesis is implemented from the following research questions: - What is sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas? - In which contents does the provincial authorities play a role in sustainable poverty reduction? Which factors influence the role of provincial government? Figure 1.1 The research framework of the thesis Source : The author 4.3 Methodology The thesis studies the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province approaches under the perspective of the economic science, majoring in political economy Therefore, the thesis takes the perspective of dialectical materialism and historical materialism as the methodology 4.4 Specific research methods and information collection methods Firstly, the thesis uses the methods of analysis and synthesis, historical and logical methods, comparison methods, descriptive statistical methods to be specific - What are the achievements and limitations of the provincial government role in methods to study and explain the role of the Provincial level government for sustainable sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - 2017 and causes of limitations? poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province under the perspective of - What solutions are needed to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province? 4.2 Research framework of the thesis The thesis proposes a research framework in the direction of proposing functions of the provincial governmental role in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas as follows: The necessity of the study political economy The thesis also inherits the existing research results, supplements and develops new arguments and practices in accordance with the research purpose of the thesis Secondly, the methods of information collection include: Firstly, the secondary information is collected from the database system of the Department of Statistics, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Department of Planning and Investment, Social Insurance of Nghe An province, Nghe An Bank for The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: - Developing strategies and plans for poverty reduction; - Issuing sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas; Factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: - The policy of the State and the locality; - Effectiveness of the apparatus Social Policies Secondly, the primary information is collected through: (i) Investigating and surveying with questionnaires to collect primary information needed to analyze and assess the role of the provincial The reality of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province: - Developing investment planning and plan - Issuing sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas - Organizing the implementation of poverty Solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province: - Completing the building of planning and plan - Completing policies - Completing implementation organization - Strengthening inspection and supervision; - Improving the quality of civil servants in the government apparatus on poverty reduction - Strengthening coordination of authorities at all levels - Promoting local economic development - Strengthening facilities authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province (ii) (ii) Interview: In order to better understand the poverty situation in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, the thesis interviewed experts and managers on poverty reduction in Nghe An province in accordance with the characteristics of mountainous areas of Nghe An province In each Contributions of the thesis solution, the thesis creates new proposals For example, for the policy of capital support, 5.1 In terms of theory the thesis said that the poor should be divided into: the poor due to objective reasons and Firstly, the thesis builds the concept of sustainable poverty reduction in the poor due to subjective causes For the poor due to objective reasons, they themselves mountainous areas, identifies the basic criteria to assess sustainable poverty reduction and can overcome poverty, so it is needed to provide them with resources to overcome clarifies the relationship between poverty reduction, multi-dimensional poverty reduction poverty; For the poor with subjective reasons, they themselves cannot overcome poverty, and sustainable poverty reduction so we should not sponsor them both materially (thanks to material support they will Secondly, the thesis has developed the theory of the role of the provincial become dependent and not work) and resources In order to reduce poverty, the local authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in accordance with the characteristics of government has to create jobs for them, by sponsoring better-off households who know mountainous areas Specifically: how to good business in the locality and regulate that in order to receive such funds, - The thesis has built the notion of the provincial government role in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas It is the provincial government that uses the better-off households must have the poor people work under the introduction of the local authority administrative and economic measures to influence the natural, socio-economic The thesis has proposed to the National Assembly to strengthen the supervision in conditions, socio-economic organizations and the poor themselves to implement the goal accordance with the Resolution No 76/2014/QH13 on promoting the implementation of of sustainable poverty reduction and contribute to solving socio-economic problems in sustainable poverty reduction goals; to the Government on perfecting policies to reduce mountainous areas poverty in mountainous areas, first of which is to reduce direct support policies, increase The thesis also clarifies the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas - The thesis not only inherits but also develops the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the context of mountainous areas and has conditional support policies and mountainous development policies Structure of the thesis In addition to the introduction, table of contents, conclusion, list of references and appendices, the thesis is structured into chapters: found the factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities for with sustainable Chapter Overview of the thesis-related research situation poverty reduction in mountainous areas Chapter Theoretical and experience issues about the role of the provincial 5.2 In terms of practice - The thesis has found limitations and causes of limitations on the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An in the period of 2014 - 2017 - In order to overcome these limitations, the thesis has proposed a system of solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas Chapter Actual situation of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Chapter Views and solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Chapter feasible solutions to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS-RELATED RESEARCH SITUATION reduction in the mountainous areas in the future The thesis has reviewed the situation of domestic and foreign research on poverty, Thirdly, the thesis makes recommendations to the National Assembly and the poverty reduction, sustainable poverty reduction and the role of the State and authorities Government to enhance the role of the provincial governments in sustainable poverty at all levels in sustainable poverty reduction Thanks to that, the thesis has argued that reduction in mountainous areas although there have been some studies on the role of the authorities at all levels in poverty reduction, there has been no research on the role of the provincial authorities in Chapter sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in general and mountainous areas of THEORETICAL AND EXPERIENCE ISSUES ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN SUSTAINABLE IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS Nghe An province in particular in any form This is a "gap" for the thesis to carry out its research The selection of the thesis topic is consistent with the objective reality, helping 2.1 Some issues of poverty and sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas to solve and provide practical solutions for Nghe An provincial authorities to enhance the 2.1.1 Some issues of poverty in mountainous areas role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the province's Firstly, the concept of poverty in mountainous areas mountainous areas in the future The thesis has generalized the different concepts of poverty Based on that, in The thesis investigates the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty terms of theory, the thesis said that poverty in mountainous areas is the low income status reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the perspective of political of a part of the mountainous population, who fails to meet the basic needs at the economy in the direction of explaining the functions of the provincial authorities on minimum level of life and lacks of or does not have the opportunity to choose to sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas Therefore, the thesis focuses on participate in the development process of the mountainous community clarifying: Secondly, poor characteristics in mountainous areas Firstly, the role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in The thesis said that poverty in mountainous areas has common characteristics of mountainous areas such as strategic planning and sustainable poverty reduction plans; poverty The thesis also points out that in addition to the general characteristics, poverty promulgating policies to implement sustainable poverty reduction in accordance with in mountainous areas has its own characteristics These include, (i) due to natural specific conditions of mountainous areas; organizing sustainable poverty reduction in conditions, difficult socio-economic conditions and low qualifications, the efforts of mountainous areas; inspecting and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty poverty reduction of the poor in mountainous areas themselves are sometimes not as reduction in mountainous areas Since then, to develop a theoretical framework on the expected; (ii) the poor in mountainous areas have less opportunity to get good and stable role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas jobs; (iii) poor household size in mountainous areas is often crowded while the fertility Secondly, through the study of the current status of the provincial government's role in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An, the thesis assesses this role of the provincial government in Nghe An province, thereby proposing rate of poor households is often very high Thirdly, causes of poverty in mountainous areas 10 11 The thesis has pointed out the following reasons: (i) the poor's awareness and Thus, it can be said that unidirectional poverty reduction is one content of multi- awareness of self-rising to get out of poverty in mountainous areas remain limited, (ii) dimensional poverty reduction Multi-dimensional poverty reduction is a condition of due to unfavorable natural and economic conditions; iii) due to lack of business sustainable poverty reduction, for example sustainable poverty reduction experience and lack of capital; (iv) due to unreasonable customs, spending habits, being lazy in working, families with people suffering from social diseases; (v) due to infrastructure constraints and affected by isolation of residence areas In summary, through poor studies in mountainous areas, it can be affirmed that Secondly, regarding the criteria for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas The thesis has pointed out the criteria for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas is very difficult due to poor Criterion 1: Increasing per capita income; development of infrastructure, low intellectual standards, crowded households with many Criterion 2: The rate of the poor households decreases annually; children, customs and lack of resources Therefore, to reduce poverty sustainably in Criterion 3: Annual poverty rate; mountainous areas, it is necessary to persevere to it in a long time, which may Criterion 4: Criterion for the level of lack of basic social service access, consume many resources 2.1.2 Sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: concepts, criteria and roles Thirdly, regarding the role of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas The thesis explains the role of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas, namely: (i) sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas provides opportunities for Firstly, regarding the concept of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous the poor to participate in the process of socio-economic development in mountainous areas The thesis has outlined the concepts of poverty reduction and sustainable poverty areas; (ii) sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas contributes to the widening reduction Based on that, the thesis argues that sustainable poverty reduction in of opportunities for the poor people to improve their personal capacity to effectively mountainous areas is to increase income to be higher than the poverty line set in implement job choices, increase income and improve the quality of life; (iii) sustainable mountainous areas and ensure that the poor people in mountainous areas have access to poverty reduction contributes to ensuring social order and safety and is a basis for basic needs of commune services of health, education and culture to fight against protecting ecological environment in mountainous areas; (iv) sustainable poverty poverty reduction in mountainous areas plays a major role in the field of security and defense in On that basis, the thesis points out that poverty reduction and multi-dimensional border areas poverty reduction and sustainable poverty reduction are different, but there is a 2.2 The role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in relationship between each other That is, poverty reduction is to increase income to mountainous areas ensure the life for the poor at the minimum level, also called unidirectional poverty 2.2.1 Concepts, characteristics and necessity of the role of the provincial authorities in reduction; Multi-dimensional poverty reduction is to improve living standards, to sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas increase the enjoyment of education, health, culture, housing, information and create the necessary conditions to increase the position of the poor in the community Firstly, on the concept of the provincial government's role in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas, in the perspective of political economics, the thesis states 12 13 that: the role of the provincial governments in sustainable poverty reduction in the the provincial government plays the role of managing the coordination of sectors in mountainous areas is that the provincial governments use administrative and economic organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in measures to influence natural, socio-economic conditions, economic and social the province 2.2.2 The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in organizations and the poor themselves to implement the purpose of sustainable poverty reduction and contributing to solving socio-economic issues in mountainous areas mountainous areas Secondly, the thesis analyzed the role of the provincial government in sustainable The thesis focuses on studying the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas The thesis points out that the role of the poverty reduction in mountainous areas from the perspective of political economy with provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas also has the the following roles: characteristics of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in general However, the role of provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in Firstly, identifying strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas; mountainous areas also has its own characteristics These are: (i) due to low intellectual standards, the capacity of local authorities is limited, so the strategies, plans developed by the provincial government and policies on sustainable poverty reduction issued by the provincial government shall be suitable with the mountainous conditions and very clear and specific, (ii) the provincial government must direct the grassroots administrations directly and really deeply observe the implementation of poverty reduction; (iii) in directing poverty reduction in mountainous areas, the provincial government shall work towards helping the specific poor households and mainstreaming programs and resources to implement poverty reduction Thirdly, the thesis also points out the necessity of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas These are: (i) the provincial government plays the role of the subject in redistribution of income among the social classes, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, thereby reducing poverty Secondly, promulgating sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas; Thirdly, organizing the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas In this content, the thesis only studies: - Developing a apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction; - Implementing laws and policies of the Central State and policies promulgated by the province on sustainable poverty reduction; - Coordinating authorities at all levels in implementing sustainable poverty reduction Fourthly, checking and supervising the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas 2.2.3 Factors affecting the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas sustainably in the province, including mountainous areas; (ii) the provincial government The thesis analyzes the following factors: (i) Principles and policies of the central plays the role of providing basic social services to mountainous areas in the province, government on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas; (ii) the effectiveness thereby enabling the poor to access these services; (iii) the provincial authority is the of the provincial government apparatus on sustainable poverty reduction (iii) local socio- agency implementing major policies on poverty reduction of the State and is the place to economic development; (iv) quality of civil servants in the provincial government issue policies on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the province; (iv) apparatus related to sustainable poverty reduction; (v) facilities to implement the role of 14 the locality's provincial-level governments in sustainable poverty reduction 2.3 Experience of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty 15 than 1%/year Table 3.1: Situation of population and average income/person in mountainous areas reduction in mountainous areas of some localities and lessons learned for Nghe An province in the period of 2014-2017 Content Calculation Unit Population People The thesis has studied the experiences of Yen Bai province, Thua Thien Hue province and the Central Highlands provinces On that basis, lessons for the provincial government of Nghe An are learned as follows: (i) creating favorable conditions for the poor to escape poverty; (ii) when promulgating policies on poverty reduction in mountainous areas it should be based on the poverty situation of mountainous areas and must be synchronized in the implementation process; (iii) creating favorable conditions for the poor people in mountainous areas to access capital sources associated with consultancy and support to develop production and increase incomes; (iv) strengthening coordination of agencies involved in sustainable poverty reduction Chapter 3: CURRENT STATUS IN THE ROLE OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN NGHE AN PROVINCE 3.1 Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions and sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province 3.1.1 Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions in mountainous areas of Nghe An province affect sustainable poverty reduction The mountainous areas of Nghe An province has a natural area of up to 13,747.69 km2, accounting for 83.36% of the total area of Nghe An province, with administrative boundaries including 11 districts and towns, among which there are highly mountainous districts and lowly mountainous districts and towns The population in the mountainous region of Nghe An province reaches 1,144,794 people (in 2017) with more than 44,000 ethnic minority people, accounting for more than 40% of the region's population, with a low educational level and many out of date customs (Statistical Office of Nghe An Province in 2018), the average population growth rate is more Natural increase rate Labor force Average income/person In 2014 In 2015 In 2016 In 2017 1,110,052 1,128,947 1,136,383 1,144,794 % 1.181 1.202 1.176 1.154 People 690,502 704,311 712,618 717,893 Million dong 20.69 21.90 23.75 25.71 Source: Summary from Statistics Office and the Department of Planning and Investment of Nghe An province In terms of economic structure, the economic structure is moving slowly but firmly In the mountainous areas, a commodity production agriculture has been formed The industries have been developed, mainly concentrated in a number of areas such as hydropower, mineral exploitation and processing, agro-forestry processing Trade and services have been expanded to better meet the demand for life and production, cultural and social exchanges, local tourism development However, in general, the economy in the mountainous region of Nghe An province is still very difficult, with small-scale economy, fragmented production while there remain many difficulties and limitations in traffic conditions, commercial infrastructure and production 3.1.2 Poor situation in mountainous areas of Nghe An province The rate of poor households in the whole mountainous region of Nghe An province has recently decreased However, compared to the average level of the whole province it is still high The rate of poor households in the whole mountainous region of Nghe An province in recent time in comparison with the average level of the whole province is still high In 2016, the poverty rate of the whole province was 9.55%, while that in most of the mountainous districts ranged from 11.06% to 65.57% (except for Thai Hoa town), in 2017, the general poverty rate of the whole province was 7.54% and the poverty rate of the mountainous districts was ranging from 9.21% to 56.03% (except for 16 17 Thai Hoa town, Nghia Dan district and Anh Son district) (Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province, 2018) The average income of mountainous areas in Nghe An province is low Although the per capita income increased rapidly, reaching 25.71 million VND/person/year (2017), increasing 1.4 times compared to that in 2014, accounting for 70% of the average per capita income of the whole Province (Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An Province, 2018), the average income of poor people in mountainous areas is still low 3.1.3 The situation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province In the period of 2015 - 2017, there witnessed many improvements in poverty reduction results in mountainous areas of Nghe An province while the rate of poor households has decreased over the years In 2016, the average poverty rate of the whole region decreased by 12% compared to 2015, in 2017 the average poverty rate Quỳ Hợp District 192 2,94 194 3,38 146 2,89 Quỳ Châu District 49 0,68 47 0,74 73 1,35 Quế Phong District 17 0,22 14 0,19 17 0,27 Con Cuông District 176 3,27 182 3,85 84 1,98 10 Tương Dương District 130 1,51 58 0,77 80 1,25 11 Kỳ Sơn District 375 3,76 173 1,86 83 0,95 Total number and re-poverty rates in the province 2.069 3,04 1.250 2,08 868 1,70 Source: Nghe An Province Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs The thesis argues that the causes of re-poverty result from (i) objective conditions; (ii) from guidelines and policies of the State and the authorities at all levels for those who have escaped from poverty; (iii) the awareness and wills of those who have newly escaped from poverty 3.2 The role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - 2017 3.2.1 Determining strategies and plans for sustainable poverty reduction First, regarding the determination of sustainable poverty reduction strategies "1 decreased by 15% compared to 2016 The districts in the areas with a high poverty Overall objectives: Focusing investment resources on creating more positive changes in income, living conditions and quality of life of the poor Promoting economic growth reduction rate include Anh Son (32 %), Thanh Chuong (23%), Nghia Dan (21%) associated with the goal of sustainable poverty reduction, training to improve the However, some districts have lower poverty reduction rates such as Ky Son (6%) and Con Cuong (10%) However, poverty reduction results in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - 2017 are still unsustainable when people still get poor again Table 3.6 The situation of re-poverty in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2015- 2017 STT Huyện/thị 2015 2016 2017 Number Rate (%) Number Rate (%) Number Rate (%) Thai Hoa Town 20 3,57 14 3,13 12 3,12 Thanh Chuong District 488 5,62 304 4,06 242 4,20 Anh Sơn District 94 2,06 89 2,76 57 2,60 Tân Kỳ District 187 3,53 124 2,61 55 1,36 341 10,01 51 1,57 19 0,74 Nghĩa Đàn District quality of human resources associated with job creation in order to create opportunities for poor people, poor households to have jobs and stable incomes, each steps to escape poverty Ensuring that all people have conditions to access and enjoy the achievements of infrastructure, culture, education, health, social welfare Specific objectives: i) Annual average poverty rate reduced by 2.5-3%, particularly for the poor districts under Resolution No 30a/2008/NQ-CP of the Government and communes with a poverty rate of 30% or higher according to Decision No 59/2010/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee on average reduction of 4-5%/year ii) Creating stable jobs and diversifying income-generating activities for the poor; increasing the per capita income of poor households by times compared to 2010 iii) Accelerating the implementation of policies to support poor households in housing according to the Prime Minister's Decision No 167/2008/QD-TTg to ensure 18 19 the basic completion in 2011 and completion in 2012 and summarizing housing support - 100% of households are allowed to watch television and listen to radio stations; for poor households in the province iv) Ensuring that 100% of poor people are granted with health insurance cards and free medical treatment; 70% of near-poor people are entitled to buy health insurance cards, 100% of poor household children, ethnic minority households and - 100% of communes have car roads in the center of the commune that can travel in seasons - 100% of communes have national electricity grid to commune center - Infrastructure of poor districts and communes is completed according to the children of policy beneficiaries are entitled to continue exemption from school fees and contributions ” (Excerpt from Decision 3946/QD-UBND) In order to realize these goals, the province advocates to implement the criteria of “new rural construction” (People's Committee of Nghe An Province, 2016) 3.2.2 Policies on sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the locality Firstly, infrastructure development and resource mobilization policies Recently, following measures: Firstly, to promote propaganda to raise awareness of all levels, sectors and people To clearly define the purpose and significance for poverty reduction and improvement of living standards for people in the Western region in the coming years; the province has issued and well implemented policies for infrastructure development for mountainous areas with special difficulties under Decision No 1489/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister The Provincial People's Committee and the directly responsible units have developed many implementation documents, and issued many decisions related to Secondly, to apply science and technology to production and economic infrastructure development in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province With these development in association with exploiting the potentials and strengths of each locality; Thirdly, to increase the attraction of enterprises and socio-economic policies, infrastructure for mountainous areas is growing more and more Table 3.7 Infrastructure in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Calculation unit: % organizations and adopt strong policies to attract large-scale enterprises to invest in the 2014 2015 2016 Traffic system (1) 94.1 94.1 95.8 95.8 Electricity system (2) 98.03 100.0 100.0 100.0 School (3) 46.5 51.1 55.10 60.20 Healthcare facilities and hospitals (4) 53.50 65.4 73.7 86.2 Western region; Fourthly, to mobilize all resources to gradually invest in perfecting the No infrastructure system such as electricity, roads, schools, medical stations, running water, cultural, sports and public works other infrastructure works for production and people's life; Fifthly, to develop vocational training associated with job creation and labor export for employees Secondly, about sustainable poverty reduction plans On the strategic basis, the province has proposed a poverty reduction plan for the 2016-2020 period for the mountainous region of Nghe An including: - “Nghe An sets a target to strive to reduce the poverty rate of the whole province by 2-3% per year on average according to the new poverty line for the 20162020 period; in particular, the poor districts and communes shall have the average poverty reduction of 4-5%/year - Ensuring 100% of households, especially poor households, have access to basic social, medical and educational services 2017 Note: (1): Percentage of communes with motorways to the center in four seasons (2): Percentage of communes with national electricity grid to commune center (3): Percentage of schools meeting national standards (4): Percentage of communes meeting national standards of health Source: Nghe An Province Department of Planning and Investment In order to develop infrastructure in mountainous areas, Nghe An province has focused on policies to mobilize resources In addition to the capital allocated by the state budget, the province has promoted various forms of capital mobilization, especially from the community, businesses and 20 21 other non-governmental organizations such as Canada's International Development Agency, Oxfam Hong Kong.… Calculation unit: People No Table 3.9 Capital for poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Calculation unit: Million dong No Content State budget Local budget 2014 2015 2,729,187 2,940,370 Socialization and Businesses 2,992,959 3,469,692 10,000 10,000 10,000 191,755 140,266 144,722 the provincial authorities have issued many policies on education and training for mountainous areas Therefore, vocational education and training in mountainous areas of 9,843 9,617 9,302 9,422 3,604 4,012 4,458 4,318 Total 13,447 13,629 13,760 13,740 Source: Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An Province Thirdly, policies on support and access to production, development capital for the poor The provincial government has issued many policies to create favorable conditions loans to poor households are constantly increasing Specifically, in 2014, loans to poor households were 462,121 million dong, 589,837 million dong in 2015, 675,788 million dong in 2016, 804,896 million dong in 2017 (Nghe An Bank for Social Policies, 2018) Fourthly, the policy on supporting science and technology for the poor Table 3.10 Vocational education and training in mountainous areas of Nghe An province This policy has focused on supporting production development, diversifying livelihoods and replicating poverty reduction models in the locality The provincial No Content 2014 2015 2016 2017 Percentage of students graduating from secondary schools (%) 99 98 98 98 Percentage of students graduating from high schools (%) Number of vocationally trained labors (People) Number of the poor labors with vocational training (People) government has developed an agricultural, forestry and fishery extension program in accordance with each mountainous area; implemented a management software system, tracked detailed information about the poor and near-poor households in the locality; 99 94 94 94 40,767 39,568 38,347 36,822 1,793 1,926 2,178 2,909 Source: Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An Province Secondly, in order to create jobs for the poor, the provincial government has issued many policies to help create jobs for the poor in mountainous areas Table 3.11: Employment settlement results in mountainous areas of Nghe An province 2017 Export labors Nghe An province has seen steps of developments 2016 for the poor people in mountainous areas to access loans and get loans The results of Secondly, regarding the policies on education, training and employment Recently, 2015 3,133,225 3,624,414 Source: Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, 2018 2014 2017 163,019 2,902,206 3,142,125 Total 2016 Content Number of people working inside the country strengthened technical and technological training for agricultural and forestry extension workers in mountainous areas Fifthly, health policy for the poor The provincial government has issued many policies to facilitate poor people to access health services and to participate in health insurance coverage in a convenient way Table 3.13 The number of poor people participating in health insurance and the amount of health insurance paid to the poor in mountainous areas of Nghe An 22 23 province No The provincial government has perfected and regularly strengthened the Steering District/Town Number of the poor participating health insurance (people) Amounts of health insurance paid to the poor (Million dong) Committee for poverty reduction from the province to the commune levels The province also regularly establishes interdisciplinary working groups, assigns tasks to departments 2014 2015 2016 2017 2014 2015 2016 2017 and agencies to implement In general, the activities of the above agencies are carried out 4.460 5.945 5.005 quite smoothly, in line with each other; the agencies in the province assess the 739 672 Anh Son District 10,118 7,238 9,407 7,444 6.256 Con Cuong District 47,861 1,445 1,054 994 29,447 892 Ky Son District 57,801 39,375 42,292 40,485 3,579 Nghia Dan District 35,253 12,985 10,097 7,772 20,986 8,042 Que Phong District 54,548 21,469 24,218 28,010 33,641 13,200 14,850 18,869 Quy Chau District 40,833 18,107 18,849 17,914 25,082 11,258 12,288 12,117 Quy Hop District 55,125 20,531 18,206 18,017 32,656 12,692 12,149 12,139 Tan Ky District 32,014 6,706 7,476 6,793 19,375 4,166 4,825 4,608 Thai Hoa Town 1,618 1,218 1,072 826 990 743 560 10 Thanh Chuong District 29,102 14,611 12,094 12,459 17,920 8,980 7,705 8,369 11 Tuong Duong District 56,659 31,548 32,081 25,004 34,376 19,605 20,690 17,085 24,374 25,913 27,665 745 7,141 5,218 Note: In 2014 the figures include ethnic minorities and especially difficult areas coordination of the relevant agencies in planning, promulgating policies and organizations, testing, monitoring and evaluation of performance results as effective (89% agree) (The author investigation source, 2018) Secondly, implementing sustainable poverty reduction laws and policies in mountainous areas In order to well implement the process of organizing the implementation of the policy, the thesis said that Nghe An provincial government has implemented the following steps: Firstly, developing an action plan Secondly, carrying out dissemination and propaganda on poverty reduction policies for people in mountainous areas Source: Nghe An Social Insurance, 2018 Sixthly, social security policies for the poor In this regard, in recent years, the Thirdly, implementing policies to reduce poverty in mountainous areas of the provincial government has issued policies on support for housing for poor households, central government and Nghe An province: (i) implementing policies for infrastructure supporting development and resource mobilization; policies on education, training and employment electricity fees for poor households and promoting information communication in mountainous areas 3.2.3 Organizing sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the locality Firstly, building the apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction The provincial government has organized the apparatus and assigned and coordinated to implement the policy of poverty reduction in mountainous areas The assignment and coordination in the sustainable poverty reduction apparatus in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province are carried out along following vertical sector and administrative boundaries for poor households; (iii) implementing policies on support and access to production development capital; (iv) implementing policies on scientific and technological support; (v) Implementing health policies for the poor (vi) implementing social security policies for the poor Thirdly, developing a coordination mechanism among relevant authorities and organizations on the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction 3.2.4 Implementing the checking and supervision of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas in the province The inspection and supervision of the implementation of poverty reduction will 24 25 give us the results and opinions compared to the strategies, goals, plans, policies as well Secondly, in recent years, the provincial authorities have directed the assignment as reality practices, that the implemented policy has the right object or not, it causes and coordination of the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction laws and waste or losses, the effectiveness of the policies given are the same as expected?… policies in mountainous areas of Nghe An province 3.3 Assessing the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the period of 2014 - 2017 Thirdly, the coordination and support for the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction has seen positive progress 3.3.1 Achievements Fourthly, the inspection and supervision of the implementation of sustainable Firstly, in the development of a sustainable poverty reduction strategy and plan, poverty reduction in mountainous areas, under the drastic direction and close attention, Nghe An provincial government has developed and issued many documents guiding and the inspection and supervision of the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction implementing the policy of poverty reduction for the mountainous areas of Nghe An policies in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province have been strictly and properly province implemented 3.3.2 Limitations and causes of limitations Secondly, on the promulgation of policies on sustainable poverty reduction, the Nghe An provincial government has also issued and brought many practical and 3.3.2.1 Limitations meaningful policies to provide sustainable livelihoods for poor households as well as to Firstly, the strategic planning and sustainable poverty reduction plan still reveal create conditions and resources to provide necessary public services, improve living some points that are not really suitable to the conditions of mountainous areas of Nghe standards and beneficiaries of the poor in the mountainous districts of the province An province due to not being close to the socio-economic conditions of mountainous Policies on infrastructure development have contributed to changing the areas appearance of mountainous areas Policies on human resource education and training Secondly, there remain many limitations in the promulgation of policies on have improved people's intellectual standards, created jobs or exported labor, increased sustainable poverty reduction Policies are not promulgated in a synchronous, coordinated incomes and reduced poverty; Policies on capital assistance have helped develop and interconnected way, in the construction, issuance and implementation, especially production; Scientific and technological policies have made active support for production missing feasible options in linking funding, counterpart funds for specific programs, development and human resource training; Health development policies allow poor projects The process of promulgating poverty reduction policies is lacking coordination people in mountainous areas to enjoy public services and strengthen poor people's health and participation of the concerned parties, especially the poor and socio-political care; Social security policies have created more justice for the poor, contributing to organizations, in order to enhance the diversification and practicality for the policies In solving social problems in the locality addition, the provincial government has not yet issued a procedure or manuals for Thirdly, the organization of implementing sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province has witnessed remarkable achievements Firstly, the apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas has been improved more and more, to become more suitable for mountainous conditions organizing the implementation of poverty reduction policies in general and poverty reduction policies in particular for mountainous areas in particular This can lead to the fact that the mountainous areas can feel confusing when organizing the implementation A phenomenon occurs when under the same policy, the different localities implement 26 27 different procedures, taking one issue too seriously and ignoring other problems in implementing regional poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Thirdly, the organization of implementing sustainable poverty reduction in Thirdly, the socio-economic of Nghe An province has not yet developed Nghe An province is still one of the 10 poorest provinces in the country Therefore, the resources, especially finance for implementing investment in mountainous areas, are limited mountainous areas remains inadequate Specifically: Firstly, the apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas is still cumbersome and with limited efficiency; Fourthly, the quality of civil servants related to sustainable poverty reduction is limited, especially the capacity in coordination and consulting of the permanent agency to reduce poverty Secondly, there remain some shortcomings in directing the assignment and Fifthly, the infrastructure facilities to implement the role of the provincial coordination of the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction laws and policies in government in sustainable poverty reduction are insufficient, failing to meet the the mountainous areas of Nghe An province That is, most of the implementation of laws requirements Chapter 4: and policies on poverty reduction have been carried out according to the top-down mechanism, leading to the lack of flexibility in the implementation of the program in VIEWS AND SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE THE ROLE OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IN practice MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN NGHE AN PROVINCE Thirdly, the coordination and support for the implementation of sustainable 4.1 International, domestic and local contexts affecting the role of the poverty reduction have seen positive progress, but still has not met the requirements Fourthly, in checking and monitoring the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province, despite being implemented provincial authorities and sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the coming time regularly, the effectiveness is not really high In order to have more bases to propose views and solutions, the thesis has 3.3.2.2 Reasons for limitations analyzed the international, domestic and local contexts that affect the role of the First, the sustainable poverty reduction policies in the mountainous areas of the provincial authorities and sustainable poverty reduction orientations in the mountainous central government are still limited That includes, the fact that the time to implement the areas in Nghe An Province until 2025, with a vision to 2030 Table 4.1 Forecast of criteria in mountainous areas of Nghe An province policy is short, lacks strategy; the building of some policies is unrealistic, not suitable for mountainous areas; The basic policies are social welfare, which usually just support, and Criteria Calculation Unit 2025 Average per capita income Million dong 50 69.5 Percentage of annual poverty reduction among poor households in mountainous areas % 5.0 3.0 Percentage of annual re-poverty % 1.2 0.85 Access level to basic social services % 100 100 No solve the temporary situation, but not a development investment to exploit the strengths of the mountainous areas Secondly, the provincial government apparatus for poverty reduction is cumbersome, so the effectiveness is not high 2030 Source: Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An Province 28 4.2 Perspective to enhance the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province On the theoretical and experience bases in chapter 2, the current situation in chapter and the bases in chapter 4, the thesis has proposed the following views: Firstly, it is necessary to change the thinking and vision in managing and operating and directing the sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Secondly, to promote the review, amendment and supplementation of poverty reduction policies that are appropriate to the characteristics of mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the direction of integrating all field policies to ensure uniformity, efficiency and ease of monitoring, and ease of implementation Thirdly, to focus on the pre-planning works and pre-planning works in implementing sustainable poverty reduction policies in accordance with the characteristics of mountainous areas of Nghe An province Fourthly, to attach importance to attracting investment resources, transferring science and technology into production, economic development in combination with making full use of the potentials and strengths of each district and region 29 the conditions of mountainous areas; (ii) good implementation of sustainable poverty reduction policies of the central and provincial levels; (iii) strengthening the coordination of authorities at all levels in implementing sustainable poverty reduction Fourthly, to strengthen the checking and monitoring of the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction Fifthly, to improve the quality of civil servants in the provincial government apparatus related to sustainable poverty reduction Sixth, to promote local economic development Seventh, to strengthen facilities to implement the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction 4.4 Some recommendations First, to make recommendations to the National Assembly The National Assembly should work towards prioritizing the fund allocation for sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas, ethnic minority areas, and mountainous areas in the direction of implementation of local government capacity, associated with specific poverty reduction goals and outputs Strengthening the oversight function of the National Assembly in the Fifth, to strengthen the leadership and direction of Party committees, State implementation of sustainable poverty reduction policies, especially the implementation management capacities at all levels and sectors in sustainable poverty reduction in of sustainable poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas, ethnic minority areas, and mountainous areas of Nghe An province 30a locality, and with other components providing essential public services for the poor 4.3 Solution to improve the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province such as production support policies, residential land, housing, medical services, insurance services, legal aid services Firstly, to improve strategic planning and sustainable poverty reduction plans Secondly, to make recommendations to the Government This solution focuses on explaining (i) perfecting strategic planning; (ii) perfecting The Government needs to quickly review, supplement, streamline, and integrate plan building legal documents related to poverty reduction and sustainable poverty reduction for Secondly, to improve policies to implement sustainable poverty reduction mountainous areas in the direction of reducing the number of documents, reducing Thirdly, to well implement sustainable poverty reduction This solution focuses on overlapping, duplication; the thesis: (i) building a apparatus for sustainable poverty reduction in accordance with For direct support policies, consideration should be given to the distribution of a 30 31 gradually reduced roadmap of these policies, to increase conditional support policies and LIST OF ALREADY PUBLISHED WORKS OF THE AUTHOR mountainous development policies Thai Thanh Quy, Dang Thanh Tung, Nghe An Province Tourism: Current status and CONCLUSION Firstly, through the learning of the domestic and foreign studies related to the role of the government (the provincial government) in sustainable poverty reduction and development orientations, Economics and Development Journal, edition 201 (II), March 2014 Thai Thanh Quy, Exploiting tourism potentials of some localities and lessons learnt for poverty reduction in the mountainous areas, the author has drawn a research gap for the Northern Central region provinces, Asia-Pacific Economic Journal, edition 422 - March thesis to solve the problem 2014 Secondly, the thesis has systematized the theoretical framework and practical Tran Viet Tien, Thai Thanh Quy, Implementing poverty reduction goals in Western experience on the role of the provincial governments in sustainable poverty reduction for region of Nghe An province, Economics and Development Journal, edition 255(II), mountainous areas That role is shown by: (i) Determining sustainable poverty reduction August 2018 strategies and plans; (ii) Issuing policies on sustainable poverty reduction; (iii) Thai Thanh Quy, Poverty reduction experience in mountainous areas of some Organizing sustainable poverty reduction; (iv) Checking and supervising the localities and experience for Nghe An province, implementation of sustainable poverty reduction development, Vol 8, edition 2, June 2018 Journal for regional sustainable Thirdly, the reality of sustainable poverty reduction for the mountainous areas of Thai Thanh Quy, Some thoughts about the poverty reduction policies in mountainous Nghe An province in the past shows that the efforts of Nghe An provincial government in areas of Nghe An province, Scientific workshop document “About employment, labor sustainable poverty reduction, however, there remain many limitations that need to export and poverty reduction after years of implementing the Resolution of the 18th overcome in each group of content mentioned above The pointing out of the limitation Provincial Party Committee, Resolution 26-NQ/TW of the Politburo regarding the causes in identifying strategies, developing sustainable poverty reduction plans; enacting direction, the task of developing Nghe An province to 2020,” organized by Nghe An policies; organizing implementation and inspection, supervision of sustainable poverty People's Committee, in August 2018 reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province in the past time is an important discovery in order to find solutions to overcome in the future Fourthly, based on the international, domestic and local contexts affecting sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province as well as the viewpoint of enhancing the role of Nghe An provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of the province, the thesis proposes solutions to enhance the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in the mountainous areas of the province in the coming time ... views and solutions to enhance the role of the provincial government for sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province Firstly, the thesis studies the role of the provincial. .. Investment, Social Insurance of Nghe An province, Nghe An Bank for The role of the provincial government in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas: - Developing strategies and plans... primary information needed to analyze and assess the role of the provincial The reality of the role of the provincial authorities in sustainable poverty reduction in mountainous areas of Nghe An province: