This was announced at a weekend meeting in Yen Bai Province with representatives from 40 major national enterprises involved in supporting 43 poor districts in the northwest. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong told them that more than half of the district’s households remain poor or even below the poverty level.

Lo Quan Hiep, chairman of the Sop Cop District People’s Committee in Son La Province said that his district has received VND30 billion from the Bank of Investment and Development and a number of other investors.

The bank will help Sop Cop repair 1,100 dilapidated houses, build 76 schools and introduce programmes to ensure social welfare.

While the northwest region’s poor account for more than half of its population, its GDP per head rose to VND7.8 million last year, three times more than in 2000.