Efforts to stick to the original

Mr. Vo Trung Dung - Head of the Credit Team, Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies in Tay Giang District has been involved in policy credit in this border area for more than 20 years. However, each of Mr. Dung's regular business trips to remote communes such as Tr'Hy, Axan, Ch'om, Gari is always full of enthusiasm. Those were the days when policy credit was brought closer to the Co Tu people.

“Many years ago, each business trip to these border communes was extremely difficult, taking half a day. The mountain pass was steep, dusty in the sun, and muddy in the rain. During months of heavy rain, rocks and soil were prone to landslides, and sometimes we had to walk for kilometers. But those hardships were nothing compared to the effort to persuade people to understand the policies of the Party and State and boldly borrow capital to do business,” Mr. Dung shared.

To help people overcome the mentality of waiting and relying, Mr. Dung and his colleagues persistently stay in the village, stay close, listen to their thoughts and promote preferential credit policies.

“Many people need to borrow money but are afraid they won’t be able to repay it. We have to patiently explain and encourage them to confidently borrow money, have the motivation to develop the economy, and gradually escape poverty,” said Mr. Dung.

In charge of policy credit in 4 border communes, Ms. Ho Thi Huong also faces a lot of pressure when the rate of overdue debt is still high, the debt repayment awareness of a part of the people is not clear, while the local government is not close.

“I spend time learning about customs and practices, listening to people and coordinating with local associations, organizations and prestigious people to mobilize. At the same time, I work closely with entrusted organizations and savings and loan groups to support people to complete procedures quickly. Over the past few years, when I see people proactively doing business and paying debts on time, I am really happy,” Ms. Huong shared.

Promoting the effectiveness of policy capital

Once hesitant to access loans, but after being guided by the staff of the Tay Giang District Social Policy Bank, in 2022, Mr. Poloong Ech (Dam 1 village, Tr'Hy commune) boldly borrowed 100 million VND to raise cows. After two years of diligent care, his herd of cows increased to 12, helping his family officially escape poverty in 2024.

“In the mountains, it is difficult to escape poverty if you only rely on farming. If you want to do business, you don’t know where to get the capital. Luckily, we have access to preferential loans with low interest rates, so we can confidently invest and pay back gradually each year,” said Mr. Ech.

Similarly, Mr. Polong Côi’s household (Ating village, Gari commune) was supported with a loan of 100 million VND in 2022 to plant 2 hectares of native oranges and buy 3 breeding cows. Thanks to technical guidance from local officials, the orange garden developed well, and the herd of cows gave birth to up to 12 cows. In 2024, Mr. Côi’s family also escaped poverty.

“Policy capital is the motivation for me to invest in economic development and repay debts on time. More importantly, I know how to take advantage of local climate and land conditions to do business; use loans, accumulated capital to invest and reinvest effectively. I will share this experience with other households so that we can grow together,” Mr. Coi shared.

According to Mr. Vu Dinh - Director of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Tay Giang District, the total outstanding debt in the district has reached more than 290 billion VND, with nearly 4,320 households accessing loans. In the first three months of 2025 alone, more than 25 billion VND has been disbursed.

“The awareness of the Co Tu people in using loans effectively is clearly demonstrated through the debt collection and annual interest collection rate always reaching over 99%. Policy capital has made an important contribution to reducing the poverty rate of the whole district from 50.6% (in 2023) to 43.5% by the end of 2024,” said Mr. Dinh.

Mr. Arat Blui - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, Head of the Board of Directors of the Tay Giang District Social Policy Bank said that the locality currently has 10 extremely disadvantaged communes with a high rate of poor households. To raise awareness and encourage people to proactively borrow capital for economic development, credit officers have not been afraid of difficulties, diligently staying in the villages and propagating policies.

In addition, entrusted organizations and savings and loan groups are also trained in professional skills, helping to bring capital closer to people, shortening time and procedures. For poor households, policy capital has truly become a "support" in the journey to escape poverty.