Quảng Nam’s poverty rate is slightly high, with 41 percent of the population living below the poverty line. This is lower than the national average but lowest rate in nation-wide and average level in the region, of which Quảng Ngã stands at 45 percent, Phú Yên 41 percent, Bình Định 38 percent, Khánh Hòa 33 percent and Đà Nẵng 16 percent. More than one billion USD of ODA has been invested into Quảng Nam and neighboring provinces since 1991 in the form of nonrefundable aid and preferential loans for large infrastructure projects and healthcare and education projects. Some projects have focused on improving people’s livelihood and poverty reduction in the central area. Most have promoted sustainable use of forests and coastal natural resources. A large proportion of ODA resources for Quảng Nam and neighboring provinces also concentrated on infrastructure development and improvement. The following projects focused on Quảng Nam:   1. World Bank funded Forestry Development Project:   The project focuses on sustainable development and the management of forest areas and the preservation of ecological diversification. The project shall: I) strengthen the forest management activities and preservation of ecological diversification through the policy support and capacity for forest managers, ii) with the participation of people and dialogue with the local community, different seed cultivations and tree plantings will be established including fast growing plants, agricultural and forestry plants, fruit trees, and accelerating small scale planting by rural households, iii) preservation and sustainable use of diversified ecological natural shall be funded by the Vietnam Preservation Fund in order to manage a small financial support programmed.   2. Rural Infrastructure Project funded by the World Bank: The project objectives are to reduce poverty in rural areas, including the 600 poorest communes in 13 provinces in the central region. The project includes: I) strengthening decentralized planning and implementation capabilities, ii) providing aid to communes for infrastructure development .   3. Livelihood Improvement in Coastal Central areas funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB): The initial work of the project is to (i) formulate an integrated coastal zone management (ICZM); (ii) build investment plans and feasibility plans for the ICZM; and (iii) develop training programs for capacity strengthening.   4. Poverty Reduction in the Central area funded by ADB: The project aims to reduce poverty by improving food security, income and employment opportunities for poor households and less advantaged groups in project areas. Initial actions are to (i) increase income in rural areas through the improvement on agriculture production activities (foodstuff production, livestock, aquaculture and forestry) and employment in the non-agricultural sector; (ii) designing a suitable mechanism to help farmers and rural businesses access rural financial services; (iii) support small infrastructure at village and commune levels; (iv) design a capacity improvement component for local officials and authorities  who are project implementation units.   5. GTZ SME Development Program: The GTZ – MPI SME Development Program is implemented by the German Technical Cooperation in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The Program aims to improve the competitiveness of private small and medium enterprises (SME) in Vietnam. The Program contributes to a favorable private sector policy framework. It also supports the creation of an enabling business and investment climate at provincial level, helps producing and processing enterprises to integrate into domestic and international markets, and supports the upgrading of specialized business services.  In Quảng Nam, the program focuses on improved economic governance and competitiveness at the provincial level. Public sector departments in the provinces are supported to enhance cooperation among each other and with the local business community. This helps provincial authorities to make better use of existing resources and advantages, to develop a competitiveness profile and to design targeted promotion strategies, business start-ups and tourism development. Public reform and one-stop-shop initiatives make investing and doing business in the province easier for domestic as well as foreign investors. Successful pilot activities of this kind will deliver important inputs for national policy making.    6. Vietnam’s Legal Support System project funded by SDC: The project will support the government in revising laws and improving the outreach of legal services to the community, such as the legal support system. It will also improve the quality of the legal support services to satisfy the needs of poor and target groups. 7. Agriculture and Forestry Development Project: The project aims to support market orientated agriculture and forestry development and introduce best management practices to the agriculture and forestry system as well as the establishment of forest gardens.   8. DFID funded Rural Infrastructure II The World Bank and DFID are providing financial support to help upgrade rural roads in four provinces in the Central region and strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Transportation and other departments involved in rural road management and maintenance.