Khe Mo village, Huc Dong commune currently has 104 households, 98% of whom are San Chi people. This used to be one of the poorest and most disadvantaged villages in the mountainous commune of Huc Dong. People's lives were still full of deprivation and backward production methods were "deeply rooted".

As a prestigious person of the village from 2018 to present, Ms. La Thi Thau excitedly said that in the past few years, the muddy and steep roads have gradually been 100% concreted, and spacious houses have gradually sprung up... From the poverty rate of 40% 5 years ago, by the end of 2022, Khe Mo no longer has poor or near-poor households according to the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2021 - 2025.

“In fact, over the past 5 years, people's lives have stabilized and improved a lot. Not only are there no poor households in the village, but there are also many well-off households. The villagers are very excited and grateful for the attention, leadership and direction of the Party, the State and the local government. As a prestigious person, I myself am very excited about the daily changes in the village,” said Ms. Thau.

Ngan Vang Duoi Hamlet, Dong Tam Commune has 44 households, mainly Tay and San Chi ethnic groups. Households mainly live on agriculture and forestry. Also due to the high mountainous terrain, difficult transportation, and scattered people, the economy is slow to develop. But up to now, investment resources from ethnic policies in recent years, and the formation of large, inter-village and inter-hamlet roads have made dreams come true.

Mr. Be Sinh Nghiep - A prestigious person in Ngan Vang Duoi village confided: "I still remember 5 years ago, when I was an honored delegate to participate in the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities in 2019 of the district, I and the delegates were listened to and expressed our opinions to the Party and State in paying attention to building and implementing practical ethnic policies so that our compatriots have the opportunity to rise up. Also at this Congress, we voted on the goals set out by the Congress in the Resolution Letter; at the same time, we also expressed our determination to overcome difficulties to rise up to develop the economy and build life in the village".

"Today, I am very happy because all the set targets have been completed, the lives of our people have changed a lot, from the village to the commune, from the commune to the district. In general, I am very excited. I am looking forward to the new goals and new solutions of the upcoming 4th District Ethnic Minority Congress", said Mr. Be Sinh Nghiep.

Implementing the New Rural Development (NTM) and Poverty Reduction Program, Huc Dong commune is a commune that meets advanced NTM standards and is one of the localities with many outstanding achievements in economic, cultural and social development of the mountainous district of Binh Lieu.

Sharing about the changes that the locality has achieved, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Huc Dong commune said that in recent times, the rural appearance of the commune has had many innovations, with investments from electricity, roads, schools, stations to irrigation works, clean water... In particular, the commune has restored the traditional craft village of dong vermicelli with an output of more than 400 tons/year, developed community tourism with the preservation of Soong Co singing... Basically, the criteria at the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities of Binh Lieu district for ethnic minority and mountainous communes have all been achieved.

“The lives of people in Huc Dong commune have changed a lot, the poverty rate has decreased over the years, currently there are 10 poor households and 80 near-poor households. The commune is striving to have no more poor households by the end of 2024 and only 50% of near-poor households,” Mr. Dung emphasized.

According to information from the Ethnic Minorities Department of Binh Lieu district, from investment resources through the Central's ethnic policy programs and projects, the province's specific policies; along with the efforts of the people, after 5 years, the district has completed 8/8 basic targets in the Resolution Letter of the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities of Binh Lieu district, 2019. Most notably, 7 communes met the new rural standards by the end of 2020 according to the set goals; the remaining communes were removed from the extremely difficult communes.

This result has contributed to the successful implementation of the socio-economic development task in Binh Lieu district. In particular, the economic sector has achieved a stable growth rate of over 13.7%/year; the work of preserving, maintaining and promoting the cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities associated with the development of community tourism has been promoted...; Binh Lieu is the first mountainous and border district of ethnic minorities nationwide to meet the new rural standards in 2023.

Although the results are very encouraging, in reality, Binh Lieu is still one of the localities with the lowest growth rate in Quang Ninh province. In particular, economic development is not sustainable, quality, efficiency and competitiveness are still low; trade and services have developed but are still not commensurate with the potential of the area with the Border Gate Economic Zone; poverty reduction work, although exceeding the set target, is not sustainable in quality.

Up to now, although Binh Lieu no longer has poor households (according to the Central's multidimensional poverty criteria), it is still the locality with the highest number of poor and near-poor households in the province (according to the target set by Quang Ninh province); vocational training and job creation have had many changes, but the transformation of the labor structure in the district is still slow, the resources and quality of labor are not high... These are the issues that need to be resolved in the 2024 - 2029 term of the Party Committee and the government of Binh Lieu district.

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Vinh - Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Binh Lieu district, the draft Resolution of the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Binh Lieu district in 2024, which is about to take place, has also set out many goals and targets, along with many solutions towards sustainable development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In particular: Striving for the average economic growth rate of the district to reach over 13.5%/year; the average income per capita of the district to be at least half of the average income of the province; no more poor households, minimizing near-poor households according to the poverty standards of the province; Striving for the district to have 100% of communes meeting advanced NTM standards, 50% of villages meeting model NTM standards; 95% of villages meeting NTM standards; the district meeting advanced and model NTM standards.

"One of the important solutions to achieve the goals is to continue to mobilize investment resources from the National Target Programs: New Rural Development; Sustainable Poverty Reduction and the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period to deploy investment, support, and solve urgent problems in ethnic minority areas...", Ms. Hoang Thi Vinh said.