It will also aim to lower the rate by 4-4.5 percent in 62 districts which are listed as the poorest in the country.

VAVN Vice President Lieut. Gen. Do Cong Mui announced the targets at a third national conference in Hanoi on October 4 to honour war veterans who have excelled in poverty reduction and economic development from 2007-2011.

Mr Mui said that the association will continue to classify poor war veteran households, especially those in the mountain, remote and border regions, and provide necessary assistance to help them escape poverty.

Notably, he said, it will speed up economic restructuring by developing farm models in the agro-forestry and fishery fields, and establish business associations in cities and provinces. 

Exemplary role models will be replicated across the country to encourage poor war veterans to perform well in economic development, said the vice president.

By the end of June 2011, war veterans owned 11,000 more farms, cooperatives and businesses as compared to 2007, generating about 480,000 jobs. During the past five years, nearly 133,000 poor households of war veterans have escaped poverty.