Determined to overcome difficulties, aiming for sustainable development

Implementing the construction of new rural areas, the appearance of villages and hamlets in Lao Cai has changed significantly, many poor rural areas are becoming more prosperous, "bright - green - clean - beautiful", the material and spiritual life of the people has been improved.

Thanks to the new rural development program, many rural areas in Lao Cai have improved. (Photo: Document)

After perfecting the two-level local government organization model, Lao Cai province continues to strongly implement the National Target Program on new rural construction.

Up to now, the whole province has 37/89 communes meeting new rural standards, accounting for 41.6%; 1 commune meeting advanced new rural standards; 387 villages and hamlets meeting new rural standards, of which 132 are in particularly difficult areas. These results demonstrate the great efforts of the entire political system in the context of the newly rearranged and consolidated apparatus.

Looking back at the period 2021 - 2025, the new rural construction program has profoundly changed the face of rural areas in Lao Cai. Essential infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, schools, medical stations, clean water facilities, sports areas, and cultural houses have been invested synchronously, meeting the living and production needs of the people.

The movement “All people unite to build a cultural life” has developed strongly, political security and social order and safety have been maintained. Basically, the highland communes now have paved roads to the center, mobile network and internet coverage, creating favorable conditions for economic development, community tourism and trade.

The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program has achieved many outstanding results. The province currently has 605 recognized OCOP products, of which 2 products have achieved 5-star rating, 52 products have achieved 4-star rating and 551 products have achieved 3-star rating.

Many typical products such as Shan Tuyet tea, Bac Ha honey, Tu Le sticky rice, San Lung wine, Bat Xat medicinal herbs, etc. are increasingly affirming their brands, contributing to increasing the value of agricultural production and creating stable livelihoods for people.

The environmental landscape in the countryside is increasingly green, clean and beautiful.

However, in addition to the achieved results, the implementation of new rural construction after the merger also revealed many difficulties. Most of the communes striving to meet new rural standards in the 2021 - 2025 period are extremely disadvantaged communes, belonging to Region III of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas. Low starting point, high poverty rate, low per capita income make it difficult to complete the criteria on income, infrastructure, and environment.

Investment resources for the program are still limited, while capital needs are very large (central budget support is still limited, local budgets must balance many other urgent tasks). Agricultural production is still small-scale, fragmented, has not formed large-scale commodity production areas, and lacks value chain linkages. Enterprises and cooperatives participating in the agricultural sector are still few, causing unstable product output, reducing the driving force for rural economic development.

In rural areas, there are more and more economic development models that bring high income to people.

According to Mr. Do Xuan Thuy - Deputy Chief of the Office of New Rural Development Coordination of Lao Cai province, after the merger, the new rural development program faced many challenges, notably the management, monitoring and data statistics that have not been fully consolidated; some communes are still confused in allocating capital to implement the program, especially career capital.

"The staff working on new rural areas at the grassroots level are mostly new staff, so they need to be trained and improve their capacity, especially coordination skills and development planning suitable to the conditions of each region," Mr. Thuy emphasized.

He also said that the Coordination Office is focusing on perfecting the system of mechanisms and policies, closely coordinating with sectors to effectively integrate three national target programs, and at the same time mobilizing diverse social resources (especially businesses) to create breakthroughs in the coming period.

The goal is not only to increase the number of communes meeting standards but also to improve the quality of criteria, build a truly new rural area, associated with green economic development, digital economy and climate change adaptation.

Mr. Do Xuan Thuy - Deputy Chief of the Provincial New Rural Area Coordination Office

Reality in localities shows that many communes have been making efforts to overcome difficulties to complete the new rural criteria. Van Chan commune is considered a typical example of that proactive spirit.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Luc - Chairman of Van Chan Commune People's Committee said: Currently, the commune has not met 4 criteria including labor, production organization, health and environment - food safety. These are all sustainable criteria, requiring long-term investment resources and proactive participation of the people. With environmental criteria, the commune has assigned organizations to step up propaganda; help households build new, renovate sanitation facilities, collect and treat waste to ensure "3 clean". Along with that, the commune mobilizes people and livestock facilities to collect and treat waste according to regulations, not to cause environmental pollution.

According to Mr. Luc, Van Chan aims to complete the new rural area by the end of this year, and at the same time gradually build model villages, develop cinnamon and medicinal plant growing areas associated with eco-tourism. This is also a suitable direction to help people increase their income and build a new rural area that is substantial and sustainable.

Van Chan commune people clean up the environment.

In Chan Thinh commune, after merging from three old communes Dai Lich, Tan Thinh and Chan Thinh, the new rural construction work was implemented synchronously, inheriting positive results from the old communes.

According to comrade Pham Thai Son - Secretary of the Party Committee of Chan Thinh commune: The locality focuses on promoting the strength of the political system and the community in implementing the new rural criteria; mobilizing maximum resources to build a democratic, unique rural area, green - clean - beautiful landscape, ensuring national defense and security.

The commune's goal is to strive to achieve advanced new rural standards by 2028, and by 2030, the average income per capita will reach 70 million VND/person/year.

The Secretary of the Party Committee of Chan Thinh commune added: “The two old communes of Dai Lich and Tan Thinh have reached the advanced new rural area finish line, are building model new rural areas, and are moving towards building a model new rural commune. Therefore, the new Chan Thinh commune basically meets the criteria of an advanced new rural commune, gradually affirming its role as a commercial and service center of the area.”

To achieve the goal of having 55/89 communes meeting new rural standards by 2030, Lao Cai province has identified three key groups of solutions to focus on. Specifically: reducing the gap in new rural construction results between localities, prioritizing support for disadvantaged areas and ethnic minority areas. Paying attention to effectively implementing specific policies for poor households and policy households, ensuring fairness in enjoying development results.

Ban Lien Commune promotes the strength of Shan Tuyet tea trees associated with community tourism development.

Along with that, promote the development of agricultural production according to the value chain, strengthen the connection between "Enterprises - Cooperatives - Farmers". The province encourages the development of green agriculture, organic agriculture associated with digital transformation, and the development of rural digital economy to create jobs and increase income.

The third group of solutions is to build synchronous, modern, and environmentally friendly rural socio-economic infrastructure; preserve landscapes and traditional cultural identities, adapt to climate change; promote the integration of three national target programs: new rural construction, sustainable poverty reduction, and ethnic minority development.

People of Muong Lai commune broke down the fence and donated land to expand the road.

The consistent goal that Lao Cai is aiming for in the coming period is not only to increase the number of communes meeting standards, but more importantly, to improve the quality of criteria and build a truly and sustainably new rural area.

The new rural construction program in Lao Cai after the restructuring of the apparatus has, is and will continue to affirm the great significance of a strategic policy. With the strong direction of the province, the consensus of the people and the proactive spirit of the localities, Lao Cai is firmly on the journey of building a new rural area that is "bright - green - clean - beautiful", civilized, rich in identity for the prosperous and happy life of the people.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/quyet-tam-vuot-kho-huong-toi-phat-trien-ben-vung-post885109.html