The National Assembly has approved over VND137.6 trillion (US$5.97 billion) in funding for the implementation of the first phase of the national target programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas from 2021-2030.

Under the recently-issued Resolution No 120/2020/QH14, the programme will be carried out in two phases, with the first being from 2021-2025 and the second from 2025-2030.

The first phase will receive more than VND137.6 trillion in funding, including over VND104.95 trillion from the State budget, VND10.01 trillion from the local budget, and close to VND19.73 trillion in policy credit.

Based on the results of the first phase, the NA will decide on the funding for the second phase.

The programme sets to narrow the income gap between  ethnic minority groups and the national average, and strives to reduce the number of extremely poor ethnic villages and hamlets by 50% by 2025 and to bring the number to zero by 2030.