Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What is the poverty rate in Vietnam?
Based on a report from the Asian Development Bank, Vietnam has a total population of 91.70 million as of 2015, about one million people more compared to the previous year.[5] 8.4% of the population lived below the national poverty line. There were 76.2% of the population aged 15 years and above who were employed in 2013.[6]
A series of projects have been implemented to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of the poor in Vietnam, which contributed to the Vietnam's transition to a middle-income country. The First Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project (launched in 2001), which aimed at improving infrastructure and rural services and covered broad sectors such as rural roads, irrigation systems, water supply, education and health systems, coupled with the Second project launched in 2010 with similar but further goal of building up the local capacity of project managing, resulted in an at least increase of 15 percent in per capita income among project beneficiaries in the poorest region of the country. Other series of projects, including 10 Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) projects starting from 2001 and 3 Rural Financial Projects and so on, also had benefited rural private enterprises and households through increasing their access to finance. The population in Vietnam living under the national policy line decreased from nearly 60% in 1993 to 13.5% in 2014. But during the implementation of PRSC 10, problems such as a lack of strong local knowledge and inefficient cooperation, were also seen to cause a delay of the project operation and raise concern about program quality, and the borrower performance of the project was rated as unsatisfactory.
As in many other developing countries, hunger and poverty in Vietnam has existed for a significant amount of time. Until the 1980s, most of the Vietnamese population still lived under the poverty line. However, thanks to the political and economic reform in 1986 and the government's commitment, the status of poverty and hunger in Vietnam has been significantly improved. From one of the poorest countries in the World with per capita income below US$100 per year, Vietnam is now a lower-middle income country with per capita income of US$1,910 by the end of 2013.[1] Thereby, the poverty rate decreases gradually from 58 percent in 1993 to 28.9 percent in 2002, 14.5 percent in 2008 and 12 percent in 2011. About 28 million people are estimated to have been lifted out of poverty over approximately two decades.[2] The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report ranked Vietnam 15th amongst 81 nations suffering from hunger, with a GHI of 7.5 compared with 27.7 in 1990 (country with extremely alarming (GHI ≥ 30), alarming (GHI between 20.0 and 29.9) or serious (GHI between 10.0 and 19.9) hunger situation.[3] Achievements in poverty reduction and hunger eradication have been highly appreciated by the international community and viewed overall as successful in furthering economic development. However, Vietnam still has many tasks ahead in fighting against poverty and hunger, particularly for vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities, and the disabled.[4]
On 8 November 2007, Dion released a policy plan, that he compared to the United Kingdom's Labour Party under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Dion mentioned that his party will tackle poverty in Canada in order to create a "greener", "richer" and "fairer" Canada. He set up targets to reduce general poverty by 30 percent and child poverty by 50 percent as well as helping working families with work rewards as well as increasing the Canada Child Tax benefit, increasing guaranteed revenues for seniors. In an editorial in the "National Post", economist Alex MacMillan notes that the poverty targets Dion has set are based on a Statistics Canada measure that the statistical agency has stated is not a poverty measure (LICO), and that by using what is in effect a relative income measure rather than an absolute poverty measure, Dion is essentially aiming to flatten the income distribution of Canadians. However, there is no official poverty rate for Canada that Dion could otherwise use, and some other political parties also quote LICO figures as poverty rates.
The decrease in poverty has been rapid and continuous, compared with broadly similar numbers in the 1980s, such as People's Republic of China (PRC), Thailand, Indonesia or Vietnam. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) deputy director general Rosemarie Edillon attributed this to a generally low and stable inflation, improved incomes and higher employment rates during the period.
Throughout the history of Vietnam, its economy has been largely on agriculture based on wet rice cultivation. There is also an industry for bauxite mining in central Vietnam, an important material for the production of aluminium. Since reunification, the country economy is shaped primarily by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) through the Five Year Plans which are being decided from the plenary sessions of the Central Committee and national congresses. The collectivisation of farms, factories and capital goods was carried out as components in establishing central planning, with millions of people working in state enterprises. Despite strict state control, Vietnam's economy continued to be plagued with inefficiency and corruption in state-owned enterprises, poor quality and underproduction. With the decrease of Soviet economic aid as the main trading partners for Vietnam following the erosion of the Eastern bloc in the late 1980s and subsequent Soviet Union collapse in addition to the negative impacts from the post-war trade embargo imposed by the United States, Vietnam began to liberalise its trade by devaluing its exchange rate to increase exports and embark on a policy of economic development.
In 1986, the Sixth National Congress of the CPV introduced socialist-oriented market economic reforms as part of the "Đổi Mới" reform program with private ownership began to be encouraged in industries, commerce and agriculture and state enterprises were restructured to operate under market constraints, resulting the old-fashioned five-year economic plans are being replaced with socialist market mechanism. As a result of these reforms, Vietnam achieved around 8% annual Gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 1990 and 1997, with the United States also ended its economic embargo against Vietnam in early 1994. Despite the 1997 Asian financial crisis affecting Vietnam and causing economic slow down to 4-5% growth "per annum", its economy began to recover in 1999, with growth at an annual rate of around 7% from 2000 to 2005 and making the country as one of the world's fastest growing economies. According to General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), growth remained strong even in the face of the late-2000s global recession, holding at 6.8% in 2010, although Vietnam's year-on-year inflation rate hit 11.8% in December 2010 with the country currency, the Vietnamese đồng are being devalued three times.
Deep poverty which defined as the percentage of the population living on less than $1 per day has declined significantly in Vietnam and the relative poverty rate is now less than that of China, India and the Philippines. This decline in the poverty rate can be attributed to equitable economic policies aimed at improving living standards and preventing the rise of inequality; these policies have included egalitarian land distribution during the initial stages of the "Đổi Mới" program, investment in poorer remote areas, and subsidising of education and healthcare. Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has applied sequenced trade liberalisation, a two-track approach opening some sectors of the economy to international markets. Manufacturing, information technology and high-tech industries now form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy. Though Vietnam is a relative newcomer to the oil industry, it is currently the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia with a total 2011 output of . In 2010, Vietnam was ranked as the 8th largest crude petroleum producers in the Asia and Pacific region. The United States was the country that purchased the highest amount of Vietnam's exports, while goods from China were the most popular Vietnamese import.
There are broad regional variations in the distribution of poverty. The regions with the highest relative poverty rates include the north-west, north-central, central highlands, central coast and north-east. But in terms of absolute numbers, more poor people live in the north-central and north-east regions, in the Mekong Delta and central coastal regions, which are home to seven out of 10 of Vietnam's poor people.
Although poverty initially declined under Chávez, Venezuela's poverty rate increased to 28% by 2013, with extreme poverty rates increasing 4.4% to 10% according to the Venezuelan government's INE. Estimates of poverty by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Luis Pedro España, a sociologist at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, showed an increase of poverty in Venezuela. ECLAC showed a 2013 poverty rate of 32% while Pedro España calculated a 2015 rate of 48%. The Venezuelan government estimated that 33% were in poverty in the first half of 2015 and then stopped producing statistics. According to Venezuelan NGO PROVEA, by the end of 2015 there would be the same number of Venezuelans living in poverty as there was in 2000, reversing the advancements against poverty by Chávez. The ENCOVI annual survey by three universities estimated poverty at 48% in 2014, 82% in 2016 and 87% in 2017.
OECD and UNICEF rate Canada's poverty rate much higher using a relative poverty threshold. Statistics Canada's LICO, which Sarlo also rejects, also result in higher poverty rates. According to a 2008 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the rate of poverty in Canada, is among the highest of the OECD member nations, the world's wealthiest industrialized nations. There is no official government definition and therefore, measure, for poverty in Canada. However, Dennis Raphael, author of "Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life" reported that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Canadian poverty researchers find that relative poverty is the "most useful measure for ascertaining poverty rates in wealthy developed nations such as Canada." In its report released the Conference Board 
The government and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) developed a multidimensional approach to tackle child poverty. “If children grow up in poverty, they are more likely to be poor in adulthood as well. Reducing child poverty will, therefore, not only improve children’s lives today, but also contribute to reducing adult poverty in the long run”. stated Jesper Morch, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam.
Some achievements regarding poverty reduction in Vietnam are summarized below.
Rank, Yoon and Hirschl point to the minimal amount of social safety nets found within the U.S. as a social structural failure and a major contributor to poverty in the U.S. Other industrialized nations devote more resources to assisting the poor than the U.S. As a result of this difference poverty is reduced in nations which devote more to poverty reduction measure and programs. Rank et al. use a table to drive this point home. The table shows that in 1994, the actual rate of poverty (what the rate would be without government interventions) in the U.S. was 29%. When compared to actual rates in Canada (29%), Finland (33%), France (39%), Germany (29%), the Netherlands (30%), Norway (27%), Sweden (36%) and the United Kingdom (38%), the United States rate is low. But when government measures and programs are included, the rate of reduction in poverty in the United States is low (38%). Canada and the United Kingdom had the lowest reduction rates outside of the U.S. at 66%, while Sweden, Finland and Norway had reduction rates greater than 80% (All percentages taken from ).
The party leaders, having fought for 30 years to achieve power, now had to confront the question of what "socialism" meant in a country such as Laos, and how it was to be achieved in circumstances of poverty and isolation, when most administrative and professional personnel had fled the country. Out of public sight, the policy of the party was generally determined by Vietnam. The policies of Vietnam led to the economic isolation of Laos from all its neighbours which in turn led to its total dependence on Vietnam.
The extreme poverty rate of a population is the percentage of families earning less than half of the poverty threshold. For a family of four in 2010, the extreme poverty threshold was approximately $11,000 or less than $3,000 per person. On large reservations, the extreme poverty rate is as much as six times the national rate. On average, the extreme poverty rate on the largest reservations is almost four times the national rate. A breakdown is provided in the following table.
In 2001, Vietnam sent a letter of intent to the IMF to receive a loan to fund the Poverty Reductions and Growth Funds arrangement. In order to create a greater macroeconomic stability for Vietnam they would rely on the monetary policy while under shock scenarios as it has proven to lift off interest rates. According to IMF records, Vietnam is still paying that loan and continues their membership with the IMF.
The child poverty rate is estimated at 0.13 (under 17 years of age) according to OECD statistics (using the median income) from 2013 - 2017. According to ACOSS, children under the age of 15 have a poverty rate of 17.3%, and young people aged 15 to 24 have a rate of 13.9%. They suggest the high poverty rate is related to the high poverty rate among single adults (estimated 25%). This is high compared to the total national poverty rate of 12.8% according to OECD statistics. National Centre For Social And Economic Modeling (NATSEM) suggests another reason for high child poverty rates could be the unavailability of affordable housing for low income adults. They found that 39% of families with children under the age of 15 were presented with unaffordable mortgages, which suggests rising mortgage prices in Australia may be increasing the child poverty rate.
With the new poverty line, Vietnam's percentage of households was estimated 12 percent at the end of 2011.
The Philippines has a slow poverty declination rate in comparison to countries such as China, Vietnam and Indonesia. While China is declining at a rate of 2.4 percent per year, the Philippines is declining at 0.9 percent per year. Impacts of natural disasters, the gap of income and wealth, and slow growth and pace are just some of the factors that have contributed to that statistic. Declination of poverty is slower in the Philippines because urbanization and industrialization is progressing faster elsewhere. This advancement allows people to leave their agricultural-based work to a factory job with a higher paying income. The country has made movement out of the labor-intensive work in populous regions, such as Manila, however the country as a whole has made slower improvements. In addition to slow progress, natural disasters in the Philippines, like stated previously, is one of the biggest conductors of poverty. While other countries are able to develop without consistent disturbances, the Philippines is forced to start from the ground up after every single occurrence. The Economist, state that low growth of annual GDP is one of the main reasons for persistent poverty compared to Vietnam, China, and Thailand. Because the growth is concentrated in Manila, other provinces in the country are forgotten and hardly progress.
Since 2012, the Vietnamese dong closely tied to the U.S. dollar. Every year or two Vietnam undergoes a cycle staff report based off Article IV Consultation and hold discussions of their economic developments. As of July 2016, Vietnam has found some promising progress as they have decreased their poverty rate by one percent and managed to lower their inflation. Their main source of exports are crude oil, electronics, coffee, rice, and rubber, while their key export buyers are the US, Japan, and the developing members of ASEAN.
Vietnamese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Vietnam. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade estimated that there were 3,950 Australian citizens resident in Vietnam. It is not clear what proportion of this number are returned emigrants with Australian citizenship or their Vietnamese Australian children, and what number is simply other Australians in Vietnam for business or other reasons. The greater proportion (3,000) were recorded in the south of the country.
In 1986, Vietnam launched a political and economic renewal campaign ("Đổi Mới") that introduced reforms to facilitate the transition from a centralized economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy". "Đổi Mới" combined government planning with free-market incentives and encouraged the establishment of private businesses and foreign investment, including foreign-owned enterprises. Furthermore, the Vietnam government stressed the necessity to lower birth rates when developing the economic and social rights of the population by implementing a policy that restricted the number of children per household to two, called the two-child policy. By the late 1990s, the success of the business and agricultural reforms ushered in under "Đổi Mới" was evident. More than 30,000 private businesses had been created, the economy was growing at an annual rate of more than 7%, and poverty was nearly halved.
An assessment of the poverty situation in Cambodia reveals patterns of regional variations. Some of the provinces record a high poverty rate compared to others. Areas with high poverty rates include Ratanak Kiri, Kampong Thom, and Preah Vihear. According to a study conducted in 2009, Ratanak Kiri had a poverty rate of 55.2 percent, Preah Vihear had a poverty rate of 72.3 percent, and Kampong Thom had a poverty rate of 75.8 percent. The inequality in the regional distribution of wealth is attributable to low literacy levels.
In 2018, the organisation changed its legal name to Action on Poverty Limited, trading as Action on Poverty (AOP), resulting in the name change of its Vietnam Representative Office to Action on Poverty (AOP) in Vietnam.
Vietnam's rapid growth from the extreme poverty of 1986 has given rise to western consumerist habits, especially among the new rich of Vietnam, opening the gap of social inequality and bringing inflation up to 12%, after it had recovered to 4%. However, Communist Party leaders are optimistic of maintaining the growth rate so that in 2020 it will be considered a newly industrialized country.
Child poverty declined from 65.2% in the 1993 to 26.7% in 2004. The Survey on Household Living Standards data set from 2008 showed that 1 in 3 children in Vietnam is poor. Despite the drop, child poverty remains much higher than the national poverty rate. Many children lack access to the basic necessities of food, water, education and sanitation. This is especially so in rural areas.