By shedding light on this intricate set of drivers behind the top-and bottom-performing ethnic groups, the study is expected to inform the ongoing revision of development policies and programmes for ethnic minorities, which are estimated to account for 84 per cent of the remaining poor population by 2020. The poverty rate among Vietnamese ethnic minority groups was 23 per cent in 2016, three times higher than the national average. According to the study, the pathway out of poverty for top-performing ethnic groups, which in this case were the Mường and Sán Dìu ethnic groups, depended partly on the good connection between where they live and basic infrastructure and economic clusters. The study suggests a number of policy recommendations, including refocusing future ethic minority development agenda and enhancing existing policies and mechanisms. Meanwhile, current mechanisms should go beyond physical connectivity improvements towards strengthening market institutions and actors to support doing business in ethnic minority areas.

Source: Viet Nam News May 22, 2019 01:07 UTC