The gap between rich and poor between regions and population groups is still large.

Scene of the 9th session, Provincial People's Council, term XVII, 2016 - 2021. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Discussing at the meeting hall on the morning of July 11 within the framework of the 9th session of the 17th Provincial People's Council, delegate Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Ethnic Committee of the Provincial People's Council said that in recent times, the mountainous and ethnic areas have always received the attention of the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee, which issued many policies and focused on leading and directing socio-economic development and strengthening national defense and security.

In reality, the socio-economic situation and the appearance of mountainous and ethnic areas are increasingly developing; the material and spiritual life of the people is constantly improving.

However, the issue that concerned delegate Luc Thi Lien was that although the mountainous and ethnic minority areas account for more than 80% of the natural area and 36% of the province's population, this is still the most difficult area. The socio-economic development is slow; access to basic services is the lowest; the poverty rate is high, accounting for 80.1% of the total number of poor households in the province (41,406/51,949 households).

Delegate Luc Thi Lien said that the gap between rich and poor between regions and population groups has not been narrowed. Photo: Thanh Cuong

One of the reasons, according to delegate Luc Thi Lien, is that although the capital for socio-economic development in the region is not small, averaging about 700 - 800 billion VND per year, most of it is being invested in transport infrastructure.

Capital for production development is still very limited, not creating a breakthrough in building an economic development model in the area; the majority of poor people and people in remote areas do not have a stable livelihood and income.

From this reality, delegate Lien proposed that the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee take action to direct, besides improving the quality of propaganda work to the people, changing the awareness and will to rise of the people themselves, it is also necessary to resolve the inadequacies in balancing and allocating investment capital between infrastructure construction and supporting the construction and replication of large-scale production development models, creating a basis for a real and stable source of income for the people.

Khmu village. Photo: Ho Phuong

Along with that, there are mechanisms and policies to coordinate regional linkages to strongly promote the role of mountainous economic regions, in which priority is given to investing in linkages that connect markets between major economic centers and remote, isolated, and particularly disadvantaged localities; attracting business investment, thereby forming product value chains for sub-regions and the entire region for key products of mountainous regions such as agriculture, forestry, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and services; at the same time, there are strong enough investment policies to encourage businesses to invest in technology, deep processing, and increase the added value and quality of agricultural and forestry products.

Delegate Luc Thi Lien said that when there are breakthrough solutions in investment resources and innovative regional approaches, socio-economic development programs and plans for mountainous and ethnic minority areas in the spirit of Resolution 26 of the Politburo, Project 2355 of the Government and Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress, term 2015 - 2020 will be effective.