Dong Nai continues to achieve impressive results in new-style rural development

On September 21, a delegation led by Tran Nhat Lam, Deputy Chief of the Central Coordination Office for New-Style Rural Development, held a working session in Dinh Quan commune to discuss the results of Dong Nai City's new-style rural development and sustainable poverty reduction efforts in recent years.

Tran Nhat Lam, Deputy Chief of the Central Coordination Office for New-Style Rural Development, speaks at the working session. Photo: B. Nguyen

To date, six communes in Dong Nai have basically met the targets for attaining new-style rural standards under the criteria for the 2026-2030 period. Regarding the disbursement of state budget funds in 2026, as of September 11, the overall disbursement rate stood at 33.55%, including 43.9% for central government funding and nearly 13.6% for local government funding.

Chau Thanh An, Head of the Sub-Department of Rural Development under the Department of Agriculture and Environment, reports on Dong Nai's progress in new-style rural development. Photo: B. Nguyen

The delayed issuance by ministries and sectors of guidelines for assessing and implementing new-style rural development criteria has created difficulties for localities in carrying out the program. Disbursement of funding under the National Target Programs for the 2021-2025 period, which has been extended into 2026, also remains low for a number of reasons. These include a lack of consistency in coordination, accounting, reconciliation, and data updates among project owners before and after the merger; inconsistent information and reporting requirements, which have affected the consolidation of data, allocation of funds, and monitoring of implementation results; and limited capacity for investment preparation and project implementation at some agencies and units.

To Thuy Nga, Head of the New-Style Rural Development Division of the Central Coordination Office for the National Target Program, speaks at the working session. Photo: B. Nguyen

Dong Nai has set a target of having six communes meet new-style rural development standards in 2026. By 2030, all communes are expected to meet the new-style rural development standards, with 10% meeting the modern new-style rural development standards. The city also aims to have no poor households by 2030 under the multidimensional poverty standards applicable for the 2027-2030 period.

On this occasion, Dong Nai asked the Central Coordination Office for National Target Programs to consider recommending several measures to the competent authorities. These include asking the Ministry of Health to soon issue the national health criteria; asking the Ministry of Home Affairs to advise on launching an emulation campaign to mobilize joint efforts in implementing the program for 2026-2030; and modernizing the process for assessing and recognizing communes that meet the new-style and modern new-style rural development standards under the national criteria for the 2026-2030 period. Dong Nai proposed shifting the assessment and recognition process from manual, in-person procedures to digital and AI-based platforms in order to save time, reduce errors, improve transparency and build a data foundation for modern rural management.

The delegation from the Central Coordination Office for National Target Programs visits a model road in Dinh Quan commune. Photo: B. Nguyen

Dinh Quan is one of six communes in Dong Nai striving to meet new-style rural standards under the 2026-2030 criteria in 2026. To date, the commune has completed supporting documentation for 42 of 47 indicators and submitted its proposal to relevant city departments and agencies for appraisal, while supporting documentation for the remaining five indicators is being finalized.

Tran Nhat Lam, Deputy Chief of the Central Coordination Office for New-Style Rural Development, said Dong Nai continued to achieve impressive results in new-style rural development, far above the national average. Experience from previous periods showed that many programs required the involvement of the entire administrative system, rather than being regarded solely as the responsibility of the agriculture sector. He expressed hope that the locality would pay special attention to implementation. He also hoped that some communes would initially meet the standards, providing a basis for drawing lessons from implementation and direction so that successful approaches could subsequently be replicated more widely.

He stressed that budget disbursement was particularly important and urged the locality to accelerate the pace of disbursement while ensuring the effective use of funds. It was also necessary to review any obstacles related to mechanisms and policies so that solutions could be promptly proposed to address them.

By B.Nguyen – Translated by M.Nguyet, Minho