Attending the Congress were: Former member of the Party Central Committee, former Secretary of the Dien Bien Provincial Party Committee Lo Mai Trinh; Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Nong Thi Ha; Standing Deputy Secretary of the Dien Bien Provincial Party Committee Mua A Son; Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Thanh Do; Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Lo Van Phuong; members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee; leaders of the Provincial People's Committee; Steering Committee of the 4th Provincial Congress of Ethnic Minorities; former leaders of the province through the periods; leaders of departments, branches, sectors, and localities; delegation of the Son La Provincial Ethnic Committee and 246 official delegates representing over 536,000 ethnic minorities in the province.

Speaking at the opening of the Congress, Mr. Mua A Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Dien Bien Provincial Party Committee affirmed: The 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Dien Bien province demonstrates great political and social significance; is an opportunity to evaluate the implementation of the Party and State's guidelines and policies on ethnic affairs in the locality; affirm, honor, recognize, commend and reward outstanding collectives and individuals in patriotic emulation movements, achieving outstanding achievements in implementing the Resolution of the 3rd Provincial Congress of Ethnic Minorities, period 2019 - 2024.

At the same time, set out goals, targets, directions and tasks for the 2024-2029 period; continue to affirm the consistent policy of the Party and State on ethnic issues and the Great National Unity bloc.

The Congress assessed the achievements and results in implementing the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws on ethnic affairs and national unity; in the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2019-2024 period; at the same time, drawing lessons, proposing tasks and solutions to continue effectively implementing ethnic affairs, ethnic policies, and patriotic emulation movements in the province's ethnic minority areas in the 2024-2029 period.

Accordingly, the socio-economic situation of Dien Bien has had positive changes, achieving important and comprehensive achievements in all fields. The average growth rate of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in the province is about 9.3%/year (ranked 3rd/14 provinces in the Northern Midlands and Mountains, ranked 5th/63 provinces and cities); 54 communes have met and basically met new rural standards, the average number of criteria is 14.12 criteria/commune; 650 villages and hamlets have been recognized as new rural and model new rural villages; recognition and certification of recognition for 8 traditional occupations, 1 craft village and 1 traditional craft village; the forest coverage rate is estimated at 44.01%, an increase of 4.26% compared to 2018; 2 intangible cultural heritages have been listed by UNESCO in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity...

In particular, the implementation of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas of the province has achieved quite comprehensive results, notably: infrastructure is increasingly developed; the lives of ethnic minorities are constantly improved, the poverty rate is reduced by over 5%/year, exceeding the Program's target; the Great Unity of Ethnic Groups continues to be promoted. Among ethnic minorities, there have appeared more and more typical models and examples of emulation movements for socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and new rural construction.

At the Congress, delegates focused on discussing and exchanging good experiences and valuable lessons, agreeing on goals, tasks and key solutions to continue promoting and improving the effectiveness of ethnic work and ethnic policies in the province.

The Congress set out a number of key targets by 2029, which are: The average income of ethnic minorities is half of the national average, reaching 113 million VND/person/year; 35% of communes meet new rural standards, of which 15% of communes meet advanced new rural standards. The province has at least 3 district-level units meeting new rural standards; support to solve 80-100% of difficult households lacking residential land and production land. The rate of trained workers reaches 70% and those with certificates reaches 40%; job creation reaches 75-80% of trained workers...

The province aims to reduce the poverty rate to below 10%, basically eliminating extremely disadvantaged communes and villages. The rate of people participating in health insurance reaches over 98% of the population. Dien Bien strives for 80% of ethnic minority farming households to shift their economic structure towards commodity production, promoting local strengths, and adapting to the culture and customs of each ethnic group.

Speaking at the Congress, Deputy Minister and Vice Chairwoman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Nong Thi Ha expressed her joy at the impressive results that Dien Bien province has achieved. The theme of the Congress is a call to action, expressing the determination of ethnic minorities on the eve of the Party Congresses at all levels for the 2025-2030 term. With this determination, the Deputy Minister believes that the goals set by the Congress in the coming period will soon be realized.

Deputy Minister, Vice Chairwoman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Nong Thi Ha suggested that Party committees at all levels, authorities and the whole society should have a deeper awareness of ethnic issues and national solidarity; focus on taking care of the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities. Localities should pay attention to building a contingent of core cadres and party members in ethnic minority areas with qualifications, capacity and prestige with an increasing number, meeting the requirements and tasks in the new situation.