Other factors include the endowment of productive assets, access to education and healthcare, traditional institutions and local governance, gender roles, perception of ethnicity, and access to external support.
By shedding light on these drivers, the study, entitled “Drivers of Socio-Economic Development among Ethnic Minority Groups in Vietnam”, is expected to help with the revision of policies for ethnic minorities.
Speaking at the launch of the study on May 21, Do Van Chien, a government official in charge of ethnic affairs, stated that the research is a valuable source of reference for the government’s policy formulation process.
He added that a proposal is being drawn up to promote socio-economic development for ethnic and mountainous regions after 2020.
The study suggests that future policies should focus on soft investment in production support and capacity development, access to the labour market and women’s economic empowerment, while addressing misperceptions and social stigmas.
Meanwhile, the current mechanisms should go beyond physical connectivity improvements towards strengthening market institutions and actors to support doing business in ethnic minority areas.
