Nguyen Thi Duyen (residing in Tam Binh Ward) has been working in the scrap trade for many years. This job helps feed her family. Recently, her means of earning a living broke down and needed further investment, so she went to the savings and credit team under the Thu Duc Office of the Social Policy Bank (HCMC Branch) for advice. A few days later, just as HCMC’s new policy on preferential loans for poverty reduction and job creation took effect on January 10, Mrs. Duyen was disbursed a loan of VND100 million (US$3,800).
Mrs. Duyen is one of the first to receive a loan under Resolution No.71/2025/NQ-HDND of the HCMC People’s Council, which stipulates the mechanism and lending policies for the poor and policy beneficiaries from the city budget.
Director Giang Manh Hung of the Thu Duc Office of the Social Policy Bank stated that the new and welcoming feature in Resolution No.71/2025/NQ-HDND is to raise the support loan limit to VND200 million ($7,600) for a poor household or worker. Additionally, children of poor and near-poor households can borrow funds for university tuition, and people who have completed prison sentences can borrow capital for job creation and vocational training.
The policy reflects the city’s timely concern amidst gradually rising living standards. It’s expected that in 2026, with this new policy, the Thu Duc Office of the Social Policy Bank will disburse about VND378 billion ($14.5 million).
Meanwhile, in a 52-square-meter apartment in the Becamex social housing area located in the Viet – Sing residential area of An Phu Ward, laughter is present every day. This is the home of 49-year-old Nguyen Thu Ky and her husband, acquired through the preferential social housing policy, a practical settlement opportunity for middle-income workers. The apartment was purchased via a multi-stage payment method, helping Mrs. Ky’s family step-by-step realize their dream of owning a home in the city.
The greatest happiness for her is having a stable roof for her children to grow up under. “Although life still has many obstacles ahead, we feel secure living in a safe environment full of amenities. The longer I stay, the more I love and feel attached to this city,” Mrs. Ky shared.
Another heart-warming story comes from 45-year-old Phan Thi Thuy Linh from Dong Thap Province. She has worked in an electronics manufacturing enterprise in the Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park I (VSIP 1) since 2010. After nearly 16 years of attachment to the city, she and her husband have built a peaceful small home in Thu Dau Mot Ward. The house is not only a shelter from the hardship of life but also marks the family’s “rooting” process in the land that Mrs. Linh considers her second hometown.
One of the important reasons she’s determined to stick with HCMC is the social welfare policies for workers. In addition to enterprises fully implementing social and health insurance regimes, the grassroots trade union regularly cares for the spiritual life of workers. On holidays and Tet, workers are given meaningful gifts.
The Resolution of the 1st HCMC Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term also sets the target to strive for zero poor households by 2030 according to the city’s poverty standards, which is always higher than the national average.
The city also set a goal for 2026 to have over 95 percent of the population participating in health insurance and achieve universal coverage by 2030. To realize this goal, HCMC has deployed a humane policy, allocating a budget of nearly VND2 trillion ($76.7 million) annually to subsidize 100 percent of health insurance purchase costs for over 530,000 elderly people and more than 2 million students after the half subsidized by the Central budget, aiming to expand the insurance “shield” to the most vulnerable residents.
With a population of over 14 million people, HCMC’s welfare needs, from health protection to income security and living conditions, increasingly require deeper and more comprehensive policies. During its development, HCMC always determines that social welfare goes hand in hand with economic growth, leaving no one behind.
The city is strongly shifting from mere support to building a multi-tier welfare system to more effectively reach vulnerable groups, such as workers, migrant laborers, the elderly without pensions, and children in difficult circumstances.
In meetings on socio-economic status of the city, Chairman Nguyen Van Duoc of the HCMC People’s Committee has repeatedly emphasized that HCMC persistently implements social welfare policies, caring for people with meritorious services, policy families, disadvantaged people, and vulnerable groups, with the motto that all citizens should enjoy the fruits of development.
Additionally, the city always demonstrates its pioneering and leading role in accompanying and sharing with compatriots in remote and isolated areas, especially those affected by natural disasters, storms, and floods.
