Sustainable development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas

English 7 — Focus on economic development in ethnic minority areas

According to Mr. Bui Huy Thanh - Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, the implementation of national target programs, including Program 1719 Phase I, from 2021 - 2025 has achieved many results. The total budget allocated to implement the program in Lam Dong province after the merger is 3,100 billion VND. By the end of June 2025, the disbursement result was nearly 2,130 billion VND, reaching a rate of 69%.

The appearance of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province has changed quite comprehensively, essential infrastructure has been invested in and built and gradually met the requirements for economic - cultural - social development. The material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities is constantly improved and raised. Essential needs in life are fundamentally resolved. The level of access to basic social services is increasingly raised...

In particular, the spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement of ethnic minority and mountainous people is increasingly promoted, the great solidarity of ethnic groups continues to be consolidated. Political security and social order and safety continue to be maintained, creating a solid foundation for local socio-economic development.

After the merger, Lam Dong province also identified the remaining difficulties, which is that the legal framework for organizing the implementation of the program between the Central and local levels is not yet synchronous, complete and timely during the implementation process. The management and implementation mechanism is assigned to many ministries and branches for guidance, the volume of related legal documents is too large, leading to confusion and difficulties in researching and applying it locally. In addition, the mobilization of financial resources outside the budget is still limited.

In addition, each province before the merger had its own difficulties such as: problems with bauxite planning, implementation of support for production development according to the value chain, limited support for forest protection contracts due to the forest area not yet being organized for contract implementation or the forest area being in the area of forest environmental service payment... Currently, along with the organization of the consolidation of the 2-level local government apparatus, the province is reviewing, adjusting the budget, and transferring projects of the program after the merger.

According to Mr. Bui Huy Thanh, in the coming time, the economic - social and cultural infrastructure of ethnic minority areas will continue to be upgraded and invested. Attention will be paid to building and promoting the role of ethnic minority cadres and prestigious people in the community. At the same time, effectively solving the problems of spontaneous migration, lack of residential land and production land of ethnic minorities. The Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions will continue to advise the Provincial People's Council on resolutions regulating specific policies of the province to improve living standards and support economic development. Focus on building the great solidarity bloc of ethnic groups, mobilizing the participation of ethnic minorities in policy making and enjoying ethnic policies.

Implementing the national target program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, phase II (2026 - 2030), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested units and localities to focus on implementing 10 groups of tasks and solutions. In particular, prioritizing mechanisms, policies and allocating appropriate resources to achieve the goal of improving the lives of ethnic minority and mountainous areas with the spirit of leaving no one behind in the process of comprehensive, rapid and sustainable development of the country.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/phat-trien-ben-vung-vung-dong-bao-dtts-va-mien-nui-387557.html