With approximately 70% of its cultivated land being on slopes and the terrain fragmented, making mechanization difficult and driving up labor and logistics costs, Dien Bien province faces several "bottlenecks" that technology can help overcome.
Recognizing this opportunity, Dien Bien is one of the pioneering localities to register with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) to implement a controlled pilot model (sandbox) on low-level and low-level space economy. The focus of this mechanism is the application of UAVs in agriculture, healthcare, logistics, and serving the needs of people in remote areas.
Speaking at the "Dien Bien Province Investment Promotion Conference 2026," Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Hoang Phuong stated that building a suitable management mechanism for new technologies not only helps control risks but also overcomes limitations in terrain and infrastructure, creating a foundation to attract large technology enterprises to invest. This is also an important policy test contributing to the completion of the national institutional framework for science and technology.
Practical trials conducted by companies like FPT and Truong Thinh Drone in Dien Bien have yielded positive results, transforming UAVs from mere "flying devices" into a comprehensive production and logistics infrastructure.
In agriculture, the application of UAVs helps shorten the spraying time from 4 hours to just 10 minutes per hectare, while increasing fertilizer application productivity to 40-64 hectares/day and reducing agricultural product transportation costs by 40%.
According to calculations by FPT Group on over 51,000 hectares of the province's key crops (including rice, coffee, macadamia nuts, and Shan Tuyet tea), this model can help reduce cultivation costs by 15-20%, labor costs by 30%, and save up to 62 million cubic meters of water annually. These calculations suggest the model could increase farmers' income by 9-18 million VND/hectare/year, while contributing approximately 2,630 billion VND to Dien Bien province's GRDP.
The breakthrough of Dien Bien's low-level economy bears the strong imprint of large technology corporations. The core difference is that these businesses not only sell individual devices but also act as "architects," building a comprehensive ecosystem including operating software, data, logistics operations, and policy testing, for an economic model based on UAVs, data, and automation.
Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa, CEO of FPT and Chairman of the Lower Economic Alliance of Vietnam (LEAP), stated that the alliance aims to connect research, design, production, testing, and practical application capabilities, thereby building lower-level economic models suitable for highland, mountainous, and border provinces such as Dien Bien.
Alongside the application of technology, a strategy has been proposed to integrate training programs on UAVs, automation, and data into the curriculum from the secondary school level onwards, in order to prepare human resources for the local area's future digital economy.
Deputy Minister Bui Hoang Phuong emphasized that, if implemented effectively, Dien Bien could completely become a model nationwide for the application of technology in socio-economic development. Furthermore, this pioneering step will create a sufficiently large domestic market, promoting the development, research, and successful commercialization of a "Make in Vietnam" branded unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology ecosystem in the future.
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/cong-nghe/dien-bien-tien-phong-phat-trien-kinh-te-tam-thap/20260514100024107
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