Development journey of Dien Bien

Returning to Dien Bien after many years away, To Hoang Hoi (daughter of To Quang Khoan, who was assigned by General Vo Nguyen Giap to prepare and pack explosives to attack Hill A1 during the Dien Bien Phu Campaign) was moved and proud to see with her own eyes the new look and new vitality of Dien Bien. In her story with us, Hoi sometimes had to stop to suppress her emotions as memories of the past came flooding back.

Back then, in the 1980s, when she was a 10-year-old girl, Hoi often followed her father on small trails in C1 field, C2 sugarcane field and the vast corn fields along the Nam Rom River.

Her father was from Cao Bang, participating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign from the first day until the day of total victory with many fierce battles. After the campaign, he volunteered to stay with his comrades and enter a new battle - the equally difficult “battle for economic development”.

Hoi remembered the times she went with her father to visit the fields and farm workers, and to listen to her father recount the battles. The stories her father told, day by day, month by month, but the 10-year-old girl's memory only clearly remembered the detail that Uncle Ta Quoc Luat was the one who led a shock force of 5 soldiers into the French command post to capture General De Castries and the French Command at Dien Bien Phu Base.

“Every time he told the story of Uncle Ta Quoc Luat planting the flag on the roof of De Castries bunker at 5:30 p.m. on May 7, 1954, my father’s eyes sparkled with joy, not filled with tears like the stories about his comrades’ sacrifices”, Hoi recalled.

Returning to Dien Bien this time, Hoi was surprised by the changes. Dien Bien Phu Airport is still in the middle of the field, but now more modern, bigger and more beautiful. And here, Muong Thanh Bridge still quietly connects the two banks of Nam Rom, but at night it is brilliantly sparkling with hundreds of modern yellow, green, red, and purple lights.

Hoi was moved: “Seeing with my own eyes the new constructions, seeing each relic meticulously cared for, helps me understand more about the efforts and dedication of each person on the land of Dien Bien”.

Sharing the same emotions and pride when witnessing the changes every day on the land where 71 years ago he fought with his comrades, the historic days of May, although his strength is weaker, every afternoon, Bui Kim Dieu (former soldier of the 312th Division) still asks his children and grandchildren to help him walk to Him Lam Relic Site to light incense for his comrades who died in the opening battle of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign (March 13, 1954).

Unlike previous years, on this occasion, Dieu secretly reported to his comrades: “The province has paid attention to investing in preserving and embellishing the relic sites worthy of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. In Him Lam alone, a project of nearly 100 billion VND invested in making reliefs, incense houses, squares, incense trees at bunkers, and stone steles introducing the relics. On the campus, there is also a system of flower gardens, trees, and outdoor electricity, so that day and night, the place where Hero Phan Dinh Giot and his comrades rest is always bright and sparkling”.

I met the Dien Bien soldier of the past sitting silently next to the stele recording the history of the battle. Looking at the crowd moving away in front of him, Dieu shared: “Every time May comes, I miss my friend so much. The place where you lie down, the rice is now always full of grain and heavy with flowers. The fields, gardens, and fruit trees are green all year round, surrounding the roofs and schools. Dien Bien today has changed, with flowers blooming all year round. Dien Bien people always remember the dedication and sacrifice of those who heroically fell for this land!”

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dien Bien Province Le Thanh Do once shared: Under the leadership of the Party, the Government, Uncle Ho and the spirit of solidarity to overcome difficulties, in 2024, Dien Bien has risen to become a province with a fairly high economic growth rate (GRDP reached 8.51%) compared to other provinces in the region (ranked 6th out of 14 provinces in the region and ranked 18th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide).

In 2024, with the successful organisation of national and regional political, cultural, sports and tourism events, Dien Bien tourism industry welcomed 1.85 million domestic and international visitors; total revenue from tourism activities of Dien Bien reached 3.3 trillion VND for the first time.

Along with persistently implementing the goal of economic development, through different historical periods, Dien Bien has always paid attention to job creation and vocational training for workers, thanks to which the lives of ethnic people in the province have been constantly improved.

In the 2021-2024 period, Dien Bien has supported the construction of new houses for more than 6,000 poor households and policy families. In 2024 alone, Dien Bien completed 5,000 houses for poor households in a rapid campaign called “A million hearts for the poor in Dien Bien”.

Thanks to the support and cooperation of all levels, sectors, philanthropists and the efforts of poor households, each year Dien Bien reduces the rate of multidimensional poverty by about 4.06%. Currently, the rate of poor households in the province is 21.66%.

National target programmes such as: The new-styled rural construction programme has achieved positive results, with a total of 26/115 communes recognised as meeting standards; the socio-economic development program for ethnic minority and mountainous areas has completed 12/17 main targets, with the outstanding result being the poverty reduction rate in ethnic minority areas reaching 5.83% every year.

Military work, national defence, border protection, landmarks, maintaining territorial sovereignty, national border security and security and order assurance work have always been well implemented, creating a favourable environment to attract investment, promote socio-economic development and foreign affairs.

On the occasion of the 71st Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 2025), at the flag-raising ceremony and inauguration of the A Pa Chai Flagpole in the Sin Thau Border Commune, Muong Nhe District (where there is a landmark bordering the three countries of Vietnam-Laos-China), officers and soldiers of the armed forces and people of all ethnic groups in Dien Bien Province were honoured to report that Dien Bien has overcome many difficulties and obstacles; overcome geographical distance and overcome time to build the locality to develop more and more, becoming a solid “stronghold” to protect the two wide and long borders.