Resilience for difficult areas

Fueling the desire to change one's life

Once a poor household in an extremely difficult area of ​​Ha Lau commune, Tien Yen district (now Dien Xa commune), Mr. Tran Van Hoan did not think that one day his family's economy would be as prosperous as it is now, with a solid flat-roofed house, a car and a sturdy "fishing rod" with an income of about 200 million VND per year. Going back many years ago, when policies to support ethnic minority and mountainous people to escape poverty were strongly implemented in all villages and hamlets, Mr. Hoan was supported by the local government with capital, breeds and techniques to develop the Tien Yen chicken farming model. With support, diligence and hard work, after a few years, Mr. Hoan gradually escaped poverty. From a few hundred chickens at first, Mr. Hoan now has a farm with a scale of nearly 10,000 chickens per year.

Mr. Hoan said: From escaping poverty to having a property like now, in addition to capital, I always receive attention from local authorities and organizations through training programs on livestock farming techniques, providing input breeds, building brands, and connecting outputs. Thanks to that, my family is confident in developing the economy.

Economic models with incomes of hundreds of millions to billions of dong are increasingly appearing in ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, border areas, and islands of the province. The cold-water sturgeon farming model of farmer Chac A Sap in Quang Lam commune, Dam Ha district (now Quang Tan commune) is a typical example. Realizing the potential of the cold-water fish farming model, with the encouragement and facilitation of the local government, in early 2024, Mr. Sap and a friend boldly invested in renovating hilly land, building a system of tarpaulin-covered earthen ponds to test-raise 3,000 sturgeon fry. After 1 year of testing, this model has shown its effectiveness with a fairly open output with a selling price of about 700,000-1 million VND/commercial fish and 10,000-15,000 VND/seed fish.

Continuing the favorable development momentum, in early 2025, Mr. Sap decided to invest an additional 3 billion VND, expanding the scale of the tank and the water supply and drainage system, forming a sturgeon farm with 80 tanks for both fingerlings and commercial fish. This farm is also creating jobs for nearly 10 workers with an income of 7-9 million VND/month. Mr. Sap said: Sturgeon breeds are suitable for places with cold water sources like Quang Lam commune, so they have potential for development. Currently, I am planning to expand the area for commercial fish farming to increase income and create more jobs for people.

With an income of 500-600 million VND/year from producing and processing vermicelli and growing cinnamon and star anise, Mr. La A Nong, San Chi ethnic group, Huc Dong commune, Binh Lieu district (now Binh Lieu commune) is also known as one of the typical examples of getting rich. In recent years, when policies for ethnic minority areas have been strongly implemented in the locality, it has created more opportunities for Mr. Nong as well as many households here to boldly get rich.

Mr. Nong said: "Ethnic minorities have access to loans, techniques, and guidance on developing key agricultural products, such as vermicelli in my locality. Thanks to that, people are confident in competing to get rich. Especially, the traffic routes have been invested, creating favorable conditions for people to trade agricultural products and connect with customers."

Stories about efforts to rise up in difficult areas are clear evidence of the province's correct policies. In particular, Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU dated May 17, 2021 of the Provincial Party Committee on sustainable socio-economic development associated with ensuring solid national defense and security in communes, villages, and hamlets in ethnic minority, mountainous, border, and island areas is the strongest lever. By the end of 2024, the average income per capita in ethnic minority, mountainous, border, and island areas will reach 83.79 million VND/person/year, nearly double that of 2020. Notably, Quang Ninh has completed the national target on sustainable poverty reduction 3 years ahead of schedule. To date, the whole province no longer has poor households according to the central standards; there are only 8 poor households according to the province's own poverty standards, all of which are ethnic minority households, the rate of near-poor ethnic minority households is 0.31%.

To bring the difficult areas closer to the plain areas

In addition to providing people with capital, science and technology, vocational training, and job creation, Quang Ninh also focuses on investing in rural infrastructure, considering it a "door" for people in disadvantaged areas to open up opportunities for trade, production development, and narrowing the gap between regions in the province.

At the end of 2024, the old provincial road 31 connecting Doan Ket commune with Van Yen commune, Van Don district (now Van Don special economic zone) through Khe Ngai village was invested in new construction. With a wide, asphalt-paved road surface and a high-pressure lighting system, the road when put into use brought much joy to the people of Khe Ngai village. Mr. Nguyen Duy Cong, Khe Ngai village said: Previously, this road was degraded, making it difficult to travel, causing many inconveniences for people's trade and daily life. Thanks to the state's investment resources, the spacious and airy road has been completed. People travel more conveniently, and transporting goods is also easier.

Sharing the same joy as Mr. Cong, dozens of households in Lam Nghiep hamlet, Tan Oc 1 village, Dong Son commune, Ha Long city (now Luong Minh commune) were very excited when at the end of 2024, the spillway and Lam Nghiep - Khe Lan inter-hamlet road project with a total investment of more than 7 billion VND was put into use. Because the long-standing dream of a road that is not muddy and not cut off during the rainy and flood season has become a reality. After completing the project, it has helped people on both sides to travel more conveniently, no longer in the situation of "no exit, no entry" when the rain and flood come. Convenient traffic also helps to transport agricultural products more easily, opening up many opportunities for socio-economic development for people. Ms. Ninh Thi Sinh, Tan Oc 1 village happily said: Before, traveling was very difficult, sometimes it rained and flooded for several days and people could not go to the other side to buy food. Now there is a concrete road, a spillway, people are very happy.

With the determination to leave no one behind, Quang Ninh has prioritized large resources from the state budget and mobilized all other resources to focus on investing in and developing strategic, synchronous, and modern transport infrastructure; promoting the connection between dynamic regions and disadvantaged areas; connecting with economic centers, urban centers, dynamic regions, economic zones, and industrial parks to promote rapid and sustainable development.

Along with transportation, other essential infrastructure such as telecommunications, electricity and water are increasingly consolidated and upgraded. In the 2019-2024 period, the province has implemented 842 essential infrastructure projects, with a total investment of more than VND 118,100 billion, contributing to changing the face of rural areas and improving people's lives. These efforts not only narrow the development gap between regions, but also create a solid foundation for the province's sustainable development. Up to now, the rate of population covered by 4G mobile network has reached 100%; 100% of households have access to safe electricity; and the rate of ethnic minority households using clean water has reached 100%.

The province has also issued a special policy to support 100% of health insurance cards for more than 70,000 ethnic minorities in communes that have just emerged from the extremely difficult situation by the end of 2025. The grassroots health system has been strengthened. Projects to care for maternal and child health and improve the physical condition and stature of ethnic minorities have been implemented synchronously and systematically.

In the field of education, Quang Ninh has invested heavily in schools in remote areas, ensuring that students can study in the best conditions. Policies on student orientation after secondary school, career counseling, and vocational training linked to labor market needs have opened up sustainable employment opportunities for ethnic minority youth. The province has also pioneered in attracting, training, and employing ethnic minority cadres, thereby improving management capacity at the grassroots level.

Along with that, the restoration and development of traditional cultural values ​​are given special attention. The province has approved projects to develop community tourism associated with preserving national cultural identity. Highland and border areas, ethnic minority areas have become attractive destinations with tourism products bearing strong indigenous imprints such as Soong Co Festival, highland markets, cultural villages of Dao, Tay, San Chi ethnic groups...

National defense and security work is closely linked to socio-economic development. Political security and social order and safety are stable, with no hot spots, firmly ensuring sovereignty over borders and islands.

Persistently pursuing the goal of narrowing the gap between rich and poor, and regional disparities in the province, in the 2026-2030 period, the province continues to implement Resolution 06-NQ/TU with key groups of solutions: Perfecting institutions, strengthening decentralization, improving the quality of grassroots cadres, effectively mobilizing social resources, strongly applying digital technology in governance and providing public services in ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas. The goal is for every Quang Ninh citizen to enjoy the fruits of development, live a prosperous and happy life.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/suc-bat-cho-vung-kho-3364897.html