Criteria for determining ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Vietnam

Criteria for determining ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Vietnam (Illustrative image)

According to Decision 33/2020/QD-TTg, specific criteria have been defined to determine area III (extremely disadvantaged communes), area II (disadvantaged communes), and area I (initially developing communes) belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas according to development levels for the period 2021 – 2025 as follows:

1. Criteria for determining area III (extremely disadvantaged communes)

According to Article 3 of Decision 33/2020/QD-TTg, area III communes belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas are those where the percentage of ethnic minority households among the total population living stably as a community is 15% or more (communes, wards, commune-level towns, etc.), have not been recognized as meeting the new rural standards, and meet one of the following two criteria:

Firstly, the poverty rate is 20% or higher (for the Mekong Delta region, the poverty rate is 15% or higher, or there are more than 150 poor ethnic minority households).

Secondly, the poverty rate is between 15% and below 20% (for the Mekong Delta region, the poverty rate is between 12% and below 15%) and meets one of the following criteria:

- More than 60% of poor households are ethnic minority households within the total number of poor households in the commune;- 20% or more of the ethnic minority population aged between 15 and 60 are illiterate in the national language;- Over 80% of the labor force with employment but without training for three months or more;- The road from the district center to the commune center is longer than 20 km, with more than 50% of the length unpaved or unsealed.

2. Criteria for determining area I (initially developing communes)

According to Article 4 of Decision 33/2020/QD-TTg, area I communes belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas are those where the percentage of ethnic minority households among the total population living stably as a community is 15% or more (communes, wards, commune-level towns, etc.) and meet one of the following two criteria:

- Firstly: The poverty rate is below 10%.- Secondly: Recognized as meeting the new rural standards.

3. Criteria for determining area II (disadvantaged communes)

Specifically, according to Article 5 of Decision 33/2020/QD-TTg, area II communes belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas are the remaining communes after having determined area III and area I communes.

In addition to the criteria for determining area III communes (extremely disadvantaged communes), area II communes (disadvantaged communes), and area I communes (initially developing communes) belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas, Decision 33/2020/QD-TTg also defines the criteria for determining specially difficult hamlets belonging to the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Specially difficult hamlets are those where the percentage of ethnic minority households among the total population living stably as a community is 15% or more (hamlets, villages, hamlets, residential areas, residential quarter) and meet one of the following two criteria:

Firstly, the poverty rate is 20% or higher (for the Mekong Delta region, the poverty rate is 15% or higher, or there are more than 30 poor ethnic minority households).

Secondly, the poverty rate is between 15% and below 20% (for the Mekong Delta region, the poverty rate is between 12% and below 15%) and meets one of the following criteria:

- More than 60% of poor households are ethnic minority households within the total number of poor households in the hamlet;- No road, or the existing road is difficult to travel, especially in the rainy season, from the hamlet to the commune center;- No national grid electricity or more than 30% of households do not have access to national grid electricity.

Ty Na

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE