The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho plans to help over 3,000 householdsrise out of poverty in 2015, bringing the local poverty rate from 2.84percent in 2014 to 1.84 percent this year, the lowest in the region.

To achieve this goal, Director of the municipalDepartment of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Xuan saidthe city will foster economic development with the aim of generatingapproximately 202.5 trillion VND (9.47 billion USD) from trade andindustrial and agricultural production in 2015, an 11.5 percent increasefrom 2014.

The city also plans to create 50,000employment opportunities alongside vocational training courses for40,000 local residents, raising the city’s rate of trained workers to50.7 percent, the highest in the region.

Besides,Can Tho city will raise funds to build houses and clean water supplysystems for the poor, in addition to extending health care, education,and bill payment support.

In 2014, the localityinvested some 38 trillion VND (1.78 billion USD) in and granted another48 trillion VND (2.24 billion USD) as loans to industrial andagricultural development. The capital flow, in turn, helped the citygenerate over 181 trillion VND (8.48 billion USD), up 12.5 percent fromthe previous year.

It also provided 5,500 localpoor households with 30 billion VND (1.4 million USD) worth of loans andoffered vocational training to 38,000 people.

Last year, more than 50,000 jobs were created, helping nearly 3,250 families escape poverty.-VNA