Harnessing the intellectual resources of Nghe An's children living away from home.

(Baonghean) - Nghe An province has been united; if it knows how to connect with central ministries and agencies, and knows how to utilize the intellectual resources of Nghe An's people outside the province, then Nghe An will develop sustainably.

Nghe An province possesses three unique natural strengths that not every province has. Firstly, it has vast and fertile land. It's incorrect to say that Nghe An's land is barren. For example, comparing it to Israel and Taiwan, Nghe An's land is exceptionally good. With an area of ​​16,480 square kilometers...²Our province's area is almost equal to that of Israel and nearly nine times the size of Singapore.

TH Milk Factory in Nghia Dan. (Image from the Internet)

Regarding the land in western Nghe An province, the French agricultural records referred to this region as the "milk bank" of the western part of the province. If we travel abroad, we will clearly see that we are suffering from poverty on land with immense potential. For example, Israel has an area of ​​23,000 square kilometers.²However, only 10% of their land is arable, yet their fruit production alone equals that of the entire country of Vietnam; their potato yield is 3 tons/hectare, cucumbers and tomatoes 500 tons/hectare, and cow's milk production is 12,000 liters/cow/year. In terms of productivity, we only achieve 10% of Israel's output. Israel's agricultural land requires them to filter saltwater from the sea to produce freshwater for irrigation, yet they remain one of the world's leading agricultural producers. Meanwhile, Nghe An has a four-season climate and many plants that thrive with just a little rain... very favorable conditions, yet it still suffers from poverty and hardship!

Secondly, Nghe An's natural environment is diverse and abundant, encompassing the sea, islands, midland and mountainous regions, and border areas...; as Prime Minister Pham Van Dong once said, Nghe An is a microcosm of the entire country.

Thirdly, Nghe An is a province that boasts a rare array of infrastructure, including an airport, seaport, railway, road, waterway, and air transport... Whether traveling south or north, one always passes through Nghe An.

These three advantages demonstrate that nature has been very kind to Nghe An, creating favorable conditions for the province's development.

Rubber forest in Nghia Dan. Archival photo.

Regarding its human resources, Nghe An possesses three strengths: It is a homeland rich in cultural and revolutionary traditions. In particular, the Nghe Tinh folk songs (Vi Dam) have been recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Speaking of Nghe An is speaking of a revolutionary homeland. Nghe An is known as the birthplace of many prominent figures in various fields and across eras. Notably, three of the country's most influential reformers were from Nghe An: Nguyen Truong To, Ho Chi Minh, and Phan Boi Chau. According to statistics, Nghe An has 109 people who have been promoted to the rank of general (from brigadier general to general).

Another notable characteristic is that Nghe An has the largest number of successful people living outside the province who always look towards their homeland. Many provinces in Vietnam and many countries around the world have Nghe An hometown associations, and in the Czech Republic, there are even Nghe An villages… It can be said that there are thousands of successful and responsible people from Nghe An living outside the province and abroad who always look towards their homeland.

Through my research and investigation, I've come to the following conclusion: Nghe An province has strong unity; if we can connect with central ministries and agencies, and leverage the intellectual resources of Nghe An's people outside the province, Nghe An can achieve sustainable development. Our slow progress is due to our failure to capitalize on this factor. However, the key point is that we must leverage this resource from an expert perspective, not through rallies, applause, and then simply back to square one. The crucial thing is for the province to actively seek and receive input and contributions from Nghe An experts in various fields...

Regarding the character of the people of Nghe An, firstly, they are honest, which some describe as upright; a characteristic of the people of Nghe An is their thriftiness and love of learning; many successful and talented students come from Nghe An, accounting for one-third of the country's PhDs and professors. Then there is their respect for principles and strong bonds within villages, clans, and families.

However, alongside that tradition, we must frankly acknowledge the clear shortcomings in the general character of the people of Nghe An. That is, very few people in Nghe An are right-leaning; almost all are left-leaning. We Nghe An people endure hardship but lack diligence; we still heavily rely on the mentality of preferring hardship and ease to comfort and toil; most people in Nghe An are creative but not bold; they are thrifty to the point of being stingy and causing themselves suffering; they are straightforward to the point of being crude, courageous to the point of being reckless, and concerned to the point of being interfering; they are united to the point of being parochial, conservative to the point of being stubborn; the rich are arrogant, the poor are inferior. These are limitations that we must change.

Furthermore, Nghe An is home to many ethnic groups. These ethnic groups share characteristics such as: honesty, simple living, lack of foresight, practical thinking, limited abstract thinking, sensitive and easily hurt feelings, a willingness to give their all if they believe something, and a lack of cooperation if they don't, preferring poverty and comfort to wealth and hardship, a leisurely and hesitant lifestyle, high national pride, a strong sense of inferiority, reluctance to travel or read, and a reluctance to embrace the old and the new. Understanding these characteristics is crucial for effective personnel management and focused efforts to develop and improve the mountainous regions. Nghe An's potential lies in its mountainous areas; if left undeveloped, these areas will not thrive.

A view of Cua Lo town. (Image from the Internet)

Today's era is an era of science and technology with rapid development. Science and technology are both opening up and shrinking the world; they are lengthening and shortening time. Science and technology glorify and transform each individual, rapidly changing the order of nations, both culturally and materially. In such an era, if we cling to conservative ideas, it will be very difficult to develop.

We are vigorously implementing Directive 05 of the Politburo on "Studying and following the thoughts, ethics, and style of Ho Chi Minh." Uncle Ho was a world-class cultural figure, the epitome of the most exemplary culture of the people of Nghe An. In studying Uncle Ho, we must learn his thoughts and style while simultaneously promoting the core values ​​of the people of Nghe An. This requires us to promote the positive values ​​of the character of the people of Nghe An, but at the same time, we must "rectify" the existing shortcomings and limitations in the thoughts and culture of the people of Nghe An, so that we can develop in accordance with the times.

Le Doan Hop

(Former Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, former Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee)

(former Minister of Information and Communications)