The PM assigned Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung as Chairman of the council, while its deputy head is also assigned to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Trung.

The council members include leaders from the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Industry and Trade, Transport, Health, Culture Sports and Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment, Education and Training, Information and Communications, Construction, Science and Technology, Defence, Agriculture and Rural Development and Public security, as well as the State Bank of Vietnam, the Government Office, and the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, who are responsible for evaluation of the national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction during the 2016-2020 term.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is responsible for evaluating the national target programme on modern rural area construction over the next five years.

The council is responsible for organising the evaluation on the feasible study report for the two programmes and then reporting to the PM for consideration and decision.

It has the right to order the assigned agencies responsible for preparations for the programmes to provide materials and information related to the programmes to serve for the evaluation, while asking such agencies to fix and amend records to meet the assessment requirements if necessary.

The council also has to consider and decide on the evaluation plans and other relevant issues in the process of evaluating the programmes.

According to Resolution No. 100/2015/QH13 dated November 12, 2015 by the National Assembly, the minimum total capital from the State budget for the national target programme on constructing modern rural areas sits at over VND193 trillion (US$8.7 billion) and more than VND46 trillion (US$2 billion) for the national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction.