Administrator ofthe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Helen Clark has hailedthe progress that Ho Chi Minh City has made in poverty reduction.

Meeting Chairman of the municipal People’s CommitteeLe Hoang Quan on March 21, the visiting UNDP leader recognised theattempts of the city ensure immigrants’ access to healthcare andeducation services.

The city is one of the leadinglocalities in Vietnam in socio-economic development, with manyachievements made in cutting the poverty rate and improving livingconditions, said Clark .

She praised themultidimensional poverty reduction model applied in the city, whichincludes measures to not only raise locals’ income but also to ensurethe human rights.

The UNDP also appreciates thecity’s efforts in administrative reforms which have resulted in strongperformances in different indexes, she said.

Identifying challenges the city faces in its development progress, suchas issues related to the environment, transport and climate change,Clark suggested that it should design more effective measures to settleproblems at the local level.

For his part, Quanthanked the support from the UNDP over past years, especially throughits close coordination with the municipal authorities in theimplementation of many effective programmes, including theadministrative reform and multidimensional poverty reduction projectslaunched in the city in 2012.

Ho Chi Minh Cityalways considers poverty reduction and social welfares as importantpillars of its process, ensuring balance, stable growth andinternational integration, he added.

Quan notedthat the city reached its target of reducing the number of poorhouseholds in 2013, two years ahead of schedule.

Ithas decided to raised the poverty line to 16 million VND (752 USD) perhousehold annually instead of 12 million VND (564 USD), he said, addingthat the figure is much higher than the average standard of the countryand is getting closer to the global average.-VNA