Western Nghe An has many favorable conditions to implement development cooperation. First of all, the Western part of the province borders Laos, which has always had a friendly and good relationship, which is a driving force to promote the development of both countries. Ethnic communities in Western Nghe An and communities on the other side of the border with Laos also have many close relationships related to ethnic origin as well as culture.
People from both sides still maintain brotherly relations, share and support each other, visit and help each other when there is an opportunity.
Western Nghe An is also a transit area where high mountain ranges from the North meet with the Truong Son mountain ranges, a region with diverse nature and culture. Migration flows of ethnic minority communities from the North to the South all pass through here and many of those migrant groups have chosen to stay in this area. This is also a residential area with many connections to the western mountainous region of Thanh Hoa or the mountainous regions of other provinces such as Ha Tinh and further away Quang Binh, Quang Tri. Ethnic communities in Western Nghe An also have relationships with ethnic groups in the region, which is an important premise for regional development linkage.
Not only are there many advantages in inter-national and inter-regional linkages, but within the province, the western mountainous region also has close relationships with each other and with lowland regions. The natural and cultural resources of the western Nghe An region are very diverse. The natural ecosystem has high biodiversity and is considered an important biosphere. In addition, there is diversity and richness in community culture. There are many ethnic groups living together with their own cultural characteristics. Even within the ethnic groups, there are many groups and sectors, with their own cultural beauty among common values. Community culture creates a multi-colored picture, an important resource in the development process.
The relationship between the mountainous and lowland regions is also increasingly tightened thanks to the increasingly modern development of transportation. The migration between the mountainous and lowland regions makes the human factor connected with each other. Tens of thousands of young people from the mountainous regions coming to work in lowland cities always maintain good relationships with their workplaces as well as their hometowns, being a bridge between the mountainous and lowland regions, an important factor for reinvestment in the development of the mountainous regions as well as spreading the cultural values of the mountainous communities to the lowland cities.
Along with the population flow are the continuous flows of trade and commodity chains between the mountainous and lowland regions. Forestry products, agricultural products, specialties and many unique cultural products of mountainous communities have appeared and increasingly dominated the market in the lowland regions. Conversely, the flows of goods of modern society from urban areas also rushed to the mountainous regions, helping people to have more access to modern life.
Western Nghe An has a favorable geographical location, so linking development spaces is necessary. First of all, it is the spatial connection at the international level, specifically the connection with Laos, which shares the border. Vietnam and Laos have always maintained good diplomatic relations, which is a favorable condition for localities of the two countries to promote cooperative development relationships. With a border length of up to 419 km, Nghe An is the province with the longest border with Laos in Vietnam.
Nghe An borders 3 provinces of Laos including Hua Phan, Xieng Khouang and Bolikhamxay. Nghe An has 6 districts that share a border with Laos, namely Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Ky Son and Que Phong. In fact, Nghe An and the border provinces of Laos have had cooperative relations with each other for many years. At the district level, the districts sharing the border also have friendly and cooperative relations for development. Even at the commune and village levels sharing the border, they have built cooperative relations with each other. Thus, Nghe An has built a good system of relations from the provincial level, district level and village-to-village relations with the other side of the border of Laos, which is a resource for development linkage.
However, it must also be said that the current exchange relations are still mainly friendly, sharing and supporting each other in special conditions. The issue is the need to build more specific economic development linkages between localities in important fields, from agriculture, forestry, handicrafts, and commerce; especially, to cooperate in developing the border economy, which is an untapped strength in areas sharing common border gates. If the economic development linkages can be built, it can be said that the two sides have expanded their resources to a new level, both creating motivation for each other to develop and strengthening cooperation in protecting national security in a more positive way.
The second development link is at the provincial level between Nghe An and other provinces in the region such as Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, etc. Especially the relationship with the two neighboring provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh. The western region of Thanh - Nghe - Tinh is a large space and has relationships with each other. However, for a long time, the relationships between localities have only been created within the framework of foreign affairs, and the development link is still limited. The general development direction of the provinces is mainly in the West - East direction, that is, creating a connection between the mountainous and lowland regions within the province is the main direction, while the North - South direction between the mountainous regions of the provinces is not clear... In the current context, to increase potential, there needs to be stronger development links between the mountainous regions of the localities, especially in the development of agriculture, forestry, and tourism, creating a larger and more dynamic mountainous region, as the Northwestern provinces have done in recent years.
Finally, there is the development linkage within the province, in which there are two important levels. In which, there is the issue of linking localities in the western mountainous region for development. After all, the western mountainous region of Nghe An is a large cultural area, so the administrative division is only relative. To develop strongly and sustainably, it is necessary to create development linkages between localities, from the district to the commune level. Although the province has had general development orientation policies and localities have paid much attention to development cooperation with each other, that is the viewpoint, the guideline, and the specific development linkages between localities in the fields are still limited. To link development, it is necessary to take trade networks and important commodity chains as the goal and driving force to build linkages, not just by attitude or by discourse. To link trade networks and commodity chains, it is necessary to identify the relationships between localities through those commodity chains and trade networks to build a foundation for linkage and create necessary investment.
Another issue is the development linkage between the mountainous and lowland regions. This is a direction that has been exploited for many years now when the two-way flow of goods has been strongly developed in recent years. However, that has not yet fully utilized the resources and strengths of both sides, especially the proactive linkage between the subjects is still limited, so the linkage networks are not yet tight. It is necessary to create conditions for businesses, individuals or groups in the regions to link together to develop, in order to expand resources and create development motivation for each other.
Development today is not simply a story of subjects. And the development of Western Nghe An is not only a story of ethnic minorities living here, but it involves many parties, many sides, many different objects. In the development process, it is necessary to link many "houses" together to build projects and implement development projects. That is to link houses, such as managers - farmers - businessmen - scientists and social activists to the common goal of development.
In which, managers are state agency officials, responsible for managing and planning development policies. Managers play a decisive role in development policies, so they are the factors that guide and control the development process and make changes when necessary. Farmers are mainly the main people living in the mountainous areas of Western Nghe An. They are Thai, Kho Mu, Mong, Tho, O Du, Kinh and other small groups. They are the subjects, the targets and also the driving force of the development linkage in the mountainous areas. Farmers in Western Nghe An have diverse and rich cultural capital, many traditional products from agriculture, unique handicrafts and have a traditional social network with its own identity. However, they face many difficulties in the development process due to difficulties in accessing information, markets and resources. Therefore, linkage is necessary to supplement their shortcomings.
Entrepreneurs are partners and also subjects of the development process. Entrepreneurs are often the important link connecting managers, farmers and scientists together for development. Scientists are the ones who conduct in-depth research to propose policies, solutions or strengthen the connection between stakeholders. Scientists need to go ahead with research to propose, go along with research to evaluate projects and go after research to synthesize, draw experience and propose changes when necessary.
Previously, the above mentioned “four houses” linkage was necessary for development. But now, there needs to be one more “house” which is social activists. Ethnic minority areas are still poor, the poverty rate is still high, and they are also areas that are often affected by natural disasters, so they need the support and assistance of social activists. They are the ones who support and help the people besides political organizations and local authorities. And social activists are also an important factor in development linkage, in order to limit the negative impacts of the market economy on the lives of ethnic minorities.
Linking development subjects has been implemented in Western Nghe An. For example, TH Group has linked local authorities, people, economic experts and many businesses to exploit the advantages of agricultural development in the mountainous areas of Nghe An. That link has brought many jobs and increased income for people, created a large source of budget revenue for the locality and also better exploited the local resources of the province.
Or on a smaller scale but with many suggestive values are the activities of the Western Nghe An Tourism Coordination Center TNT in recent years. This center was established to carry out tourism development linkages and they have achieved many positive results when linking managers, entrepreneurs, scientists and local people to develop tourism together. They rely on the specific strengths of each locality to build suitable tourism products and promote propaganda, advertising, and create tourism activities to attract tourists and increase revenue for related parties. When the subjects participate proactively and positively, the results are shown in many aspects, not just economically.
In short, Western Nghe An is still a "rare land" with many untapped potentials for development. However, in the process of exploiting development resources, there must be the right orientations, and especially the need to create connections for development. Linking with indigenous people as the center of cooperation with relevant parties to seek common interests is a process of training, improving development capacity, helping people to better master their lives and helping the State to better manage society, ensuring national security and human security in a more positive way. It also creates conditions for localities and relevant parties to closely connect with each other in the development process. These are extremely important values and also the wishes of generations of leaders and people of Nghe An over the past years./.
