Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc on March 27 asked the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to diversify capital sources and expand methods of receiving entrusted capital to best serve the poor and policy beneficiaries.

Chairing a working session with the VBSP to assess its previous work as well as its future orientation and solutions, the Deputy PM said that the VBSP is one of the pillars of the poverty reduction policies and social security system in Vietnam, noting that the agency serves the poor, leaving no one behind.

He added that with its creative ways of working, the VBSP continues to improve and has effectively served the people in a professional way.

Suggesting a direction for the future, Deputy PM Phoc emphasised that the VBSP must be stable and that the reorganisation of its apparatus must be consistent with the current process in other administrative units.

He asked the VBSP to focus on developing a professional and modern workforce, managing personnel reasonably and effectively.

"Each officer of the VBSP must consider the agency as his or her own home, and work for the VBSP as if it were his or her own business," he said.

The deputy PM asked the VBSP to research and promote information technology applications, digital transformation and big data to improve the efficiency of the entire system.

He also requested that the VBSP strengthen its governance and capital management closely and effectively, as well as review, research and rebuild to optimise loan approval, disbursement and debt collection processes in line with the Party General Secretary To Lam's directions to reduce at least 30% of administrative procedures.

Aside from these tasks, Phoc also directed the bank and relevant agencies to study and advise the Government on issues related to lending to people, especially young people, to buy or rent houses and social housing.

These tasks should be done with a spirit of innovation and creative approaches, creating conditions for the disadvantaged to rise up, he said.

Achievements

At the meeting, VBSP General Director and board member Duong Quyet Thang said that thus far, social policy credit has reached a total of over 416 trillion VND (16.2 billion USD), an increase of over 409 trillion VND (16 billion USD) compared to 2002, with an average annual growth rate of 21.4%.

Over the past 23 years, nearly 47.9 million poor households and other policy beneficiaries have received preferential loans, helping more than seven million households overcome poverty.

The VBSP has created jobs for more than 7.6 million workers, helped more than four million disadvantaged students get loans for their studies, built nearly 20.4 million clean water and environmental sanitation projects in rural areas, and built, purchased and leased nearly 784,000 houses for poor households.

It has also provided loans to 1,548 businesses and employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic totalling 4.8 trillion VND (188.1 million USD) to pay salaries for over 1.2 million workers.

Speaking at the conference, representatives said they appreciated the results that the VBSP has achieved over the past 23 years, especially in developing a modern management model to effectively serve beneficiaries.

At the same time, experts also discussed solutions for the VBSP to grow sustainablಞy in the future, especially to promote poverty reduction and rural sanitation programmes, job creation❀ and housing for poor households in rural, flood-hit or urban areas, as well as housing for workers in industrial zones./.