The President said that the province has a particularly important strategic position in terms of economy, society, national defence and security, ecological environment and foreign affairs, adding that it should take advantage of historical and cultural strengths of many local ethnic groups to boost socio-economic development.
Dien Bien is a mountainous province with ethnic minorities accounting for over 80 percent of its population and its economy relies heavily on forest economic development.
The province's economy in the first quarter grew by 6.7 percent, reaching 2.7 trillion VND. However, the rate of poor households still makes up over 35 percent.
While praising the province’s effort in implementing socio-economic and defence tasks, the President asked the provincial administration to study and propose a linkage mechanism, aiming to create a corridor to foster socio-economic development in border provinces, including Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son and Quang Ninh.
He said Dien Bien should focus resources on economic development based on three economic pillars, including tourism, smart agriculture and processing industry associated with local raw material areas.
Regarding tourism development, it is necessary to attract investment to a number of clusters and industries in which the province has potential and advantages as well as linking historical sites in the locality.
As for the agriculture sector, the province needs to develop smart agricultural models, exploit strengths from indigenous trees, promote the development of macadamia trees associated with the processing industry, and create linkage chains in agriculture.
The President also asked the province to promote digital transformation in public services, encourage e-commerce and digital economy activities.
