The Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions had a working session with the Standing Committee of Son La Provincial Party Committee to evaluate the results of implementing ethnic and religious work - Photo: Anh Dung
Attending the meeting were Party Central Committee member, Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions Dao Ngoc Dung; Provincial Party Secretary, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Son La province Hoang Van Nghiem; leaders of units under the Ministry and representatives of departments and branches of the province.
Determination of the "5 best" province
As a mountainous border province with 274 km of border, Son La has the third largest area in the country and holds a strategic position in the Northwest region. The proportion of ethnic minorities accounts for 83.7% of the population; the terrain is fragmented, and the infrastructure is weak. Son La is ranked in the "5 best" group: most difficult, lowest human resources, highest poverty rate, most difficult to access services, and weakest infrastructure.
However, thanks to the strong participation of the entire system, the implementation of the National Target Program has created a clear change. Essential infrastructure has been greatly improved: 100% of communes have grid electricity, 96.7% of households use clean water; 98.5% of communes and 78.3% of villages have car roads to the center. Schools, health stations and cultural institutions continue to receive investment.
The poverty rate decreased by an average of 4.47% per year; the income of ethnic minorities reached 39.2 million VND per year, double that of 2020. Credit policy was expanded, supporting 112,000 poor households and policy beneficiaries, of which ethnic minorities accounted for 95% of outstanding loans.
Son La Provincial Party Secretary Hoang Van Nghiem speaks at the meeting - Photo: Anh Dung
Recommendations from practice
At the meeting, Son La Provincial Party Secretary Hoang Van Nghiem emphasized efforts to boost production, especially trade promotion to expand agricultural export markets - a field that is becoming a strength of the province. He said Son La is determined to complete the 8% growth target in 2025, despite the short time and many difficulties.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dang Ngoc Hau presented a number of important proposals. Firstly, Son La currently has 459 billion VND of undisbursed central capital and proposed to transfer it to the Social Policy Bank for lending to create jobs and support livelihoods in the spirit of the National Target Program.
Second, the province proposed to continue maintaining the 5% counterpart fund as in the 2021-2025 period, instead of the planned increase to over 7%. Due to the mountainous terrain, which causes high investment costs, a large counterpart fund will put pressure, especially on remote communes.
Third, Son La proposed to increase the investment level for hardening the road to the commune center, currently only 1.6 billion VND/km, a low level to be able to build asphalt or concrete roads.
In addition, the province also pointed out difficulties in applying Decree 255/2025/ND-CP on identifying ethnic groups facing many difficulties in the 2026-2030 period. "The La Ha people are a unique ethnic group of Son La with more than 10,000 people, and may be affected if the quota is strictly regulated. The province requests the Ministry to consider flexibly and within a certain range to ensure the policy rights of the people," said Mr. Hau.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung suggested that Son La province pilot the model of "eliminating temporary housing associated with sustainable livelihoods"; after supporting house construction, it is necessary to provide additional livelihoods for people to rise up on their own - Photo: Anh Dung
Investment in "hard and soft" infrastructure must be prioritized.
Concluding the meeting, Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions Dao Ngoc Dung acknowledged the "fundamental and comprehensive" changes in Son La in recent times. However, the Minister also frankly pointed out the shortcomings, such as: Son La is still a poor province, heavily affected by natural disasters; human resources have not met new requirements; the living standards of a part of people in remote and isolated areas are still low; infrastructure is not yet synchronized. From this reality, the Minister outlined 5 major orientations.
Firstly, growth must be sustainable and people-centered. Investment in “hard and soft” infrastructure must be prioritized. In particular, if the route connecting Son La – Hoa Binh and the Northwest routes becomes a strategic transit axis.
The second is to promote "soft infrastructure" and digital transformation. Son La needs to accelerate the application of information technology, standardize data and improve the quality of services to the people.
Third is to focus on national target programs in the direction of "full package - full authority". Programs must have clear segments, avoiding duplication. More authority needs to be given to localities, while the Ministry focuses on policy, supervision and model building.
Fourth is to pilot the model of "eliminating temporary housing associated with sustainable livelihoods". The Minister suggested that after supporting house construction, it is necessary to provide additional livelihoods for people to improve themselves.
Fifth is to strengthen human resource training, religious and border management. These are two key areas for a mountainous province with a large border like Son La.
Regarding the province's recommendations, the Minister said that the remaining VND459 billion of phase one will be left to the local authorities to decide, based on the spirit of Resolution 111/2024/QH15. The province needs to allocate flexibly or switch to entrusted borrowing if it is deemed more effective.
Regarding the matching rate, the Minister emphasized: "With the poverty reduction and new rural programs, matching can be requested; but for the component supporting poor ethnic minorities, matching cannot be requested, because they do not have the capacity. It is necessary to redesign this part in the direction of 100% State support."
Son La also needs to proactively review capital sources and adjust investment in infrastructure in the next 5 years.
Regarding Decree 255/2025/ND-CP, the Minister supports the view that "hard numbers" should not be applied, but there should be a fluctuation range of about 10% to suit the conditions of provinces with a high proportion of ethnic minorities or many population fluctuations.
Son Hao
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/chuyen-dong-manh-me-o-tinh-5-nhat-102251128195153266.htm
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