Hanoi (VNA) – Seventy years after Dien Bien Phu Victory, Dien ꧑Bien has achieved unprecedented achievements in various fields, Le Thanh Do, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said in an interview with VietnamPlus e-newspaper.

One of the most notable developments is in the economy. Over the past few years, the locality's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) has always been high, averaging 11.6% in 2005-2010, 5.93% in 2010-2015 and 6.83% in 2016-2022. The province’s GRDP reached 7.1% last year, higher than the country’s average growth rate, ranking fourth out of 14 provinces in the northern midland and mountainous region and 27th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide. The economic structure continues to shift in the right direction with agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector declined by 1.05% and the industry-construction rose by 1.1% in 2021-2023. GRDP per capita reached 42.98 million VND per person in 2023, up 8.6% compared to 2022. The restructuring the agricultural sector associated with new-style rural building has reaped many important results, exploiting the land potential in line with sustainable production development for local residents through production models such as macadamia cultivation. Due attention has been paid to socio-economic infrastructure in the locality, aiming to bring about facelift to many urban and rural areas. To date, all communes in Dien Bien have roads accessible by car to the centre, mobile phone coverage, internet access and post offices, and medical facilities, with over 90% of the population having access to electricity, the official noted. Dien Bien Airport is officially re-operating after the upgrade of several items, meeting technical standards for modern aircraft such as A320 and A321 to resume operation since December 2, 2023. The airport is a key project of major significance to national defence and security. It creates a breakthrough in infrastructure, expected to help attract investment and boost regional economic development.

Dien Bien province has mobilised and integrated resources from national target programmes and socialised resources to realise the goal of sustainable poverty reduction and ensuring social security. Thus, the average annual poverty rate decreased by over 4% a year to the current 25.68%, and the lives of ethnic people have gradually improved. This year, the province aims to achieve GRDP of 10.5%, Do said. To this end, Dien Bien province will continue to synchronously implement three strategic breakthroughs as well as tasks relating to economic, socio-cultural development, defence-security, foreign affairs that were approved by the Executive Committee at the mid-term summary of the 14th provincial Party Congress. They focus on some key tasks such as agricultural restructuring and reviewing the general planning of new-style rural areas, he added. According to the provincial leader, to promote the development potential of the fields of agriculture-forestry, energy, urban areas and tourism, Dien Bien province has sped up enhancing national competitiveness, creating an attractive, convenient, open, transparent and friendly business environment for investors to explore and do business.. It also directed relevant agencies to review and select lists of project lists to call for investment, accelerate investment promotion and popularise Dien Bien's image to domestic and foreign investors, he said, elaborating that priority will be given to mobilising resources for synchronous and modern socio-economic infrastructure system. The province will hasten the progress of completing infrastructure in some industrial zones and clusters, create a land fund to attract large capital and environmentally friendly investment projects and promulgate regulations on investment incentive policies in the locality. Regarding the 70th Anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, Do said that this is an event that has a particularly important meaning of this year. The province has drastically directed agencies to accelerate the implementation of projects on urban embellishment to serve the commemorative activities such as lighting system at D1 and A1 projects and those on upgrading streets on Dien Bien Phu city. It has also poured investment in upgrading tourism infrastructure, creating new tourism products and preparing the best conditions to welcome visitors to Dien Bien on the occasion of the National Tourism Year-Dien Bien 2024./.