New rural construction seen from the perspective of two-level local government

Implementing the arrangement of commune-level administrative units, Tay Ninh province currently has 96 communes and wards (including 82 communes). This creates space and motivation for local development, but along with that are many difficulties and challenges, especially in new rural construction (NRC), requiring great determination and efforts from authorities at all levels.

The province encourages people to apply high technology in agricultural production.

Localities unanimously and make efforts

Before the merger, agriculture in Long An and Tay Ninh provinces had a strong change, and the countryside was increasingly renewed. The structure of crops and livestock shifted towards efficiency and high economic value; productivity and quality of rice were increasingly improved; many specialized agricultural production areas and production areas according to GAP standards were formed. The breakthrough program on developing high-tech agriculture (HDA) associated with restructuring the agricultural sector was focused on and brought about many positive results. The infrastructure of agricultural production was invested and upgraded. In particular, the National Target Program on New Rural Development of the two localities was increasingly going into depth and substance.

Thuan My commune was recently established by merging three communes: Thanh Phu Long, Thanh Vinh Dong, and Thuan My, formerly part of Chau Thanh district, Long An province. Of these, the former Thanh Phu Long and Thuan My communes have been recognized as model new rural communes, while Thanh Vinh Dong commune has achieved advanced new rural commune status.

Following the motto "State and People work together", in recent times, social welfare works and infrastructure systems in Thuan My commune have been basically completed. 100% of rural roads have been concreted and maintained with asphalt, creating favorable conditions for traffic and transportation of goods to serve people's lives and promote economic development.

Following the merger and reorganization of the two-tiered local government, Thuan My commune covers an area of ​​53.32 ^km² with a population of over 39,238 people. In addition to economic development, Thuan My commune is also focusing on improving the criteria for New Rural Development.

Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Thuan My Commune, Nguyen Van Khai, said that the commune aims to maintain the commune meeting the advanced NTM standards; strive to build a model NTM in the period of 2025-2030. To achieve that goal, local leaders continue to propagate, create consensus and participation of people in implementing the movement; develop the agricultural economy using advanced technology, especially dragon fruit and shrimp farming using advanced technology; focus on comprehensive digital transformation; improve the quality of education, health care, vocational training, poverty reduction and social security; prioritize advanced technology: smart garden management system, promote consumption through e-commerce as well as develop new-style cooperatives to coordinate the production - consumption chain, improve management capacity, connect businesses and banks; invest in infrastructure of production areas such as traffic, dykes, canals, ditches, irrigation culverts;...

Localities within the province maintain models and movements that contribute to building new rural areas.

Phuoc Ly commune was established by merging three communes: Phuoc Ly, Long Thuong, and Phuoc Hau. Before the merger, Long Thuong commune had achieved the New Rural Area standard; Phuoc Ly commune (formerly) had achieved the advanced New Rural Area standard; and Phuoc Hau commune had achieved the model New Rural Area standard.

Local authorities are focused on improving the quality of the movement, developing Phuoc Ly commune in the direction of "Bright - Green - Clean - Beautiful" with many practical models, the rural landscape has improved significantly, and the material and spiritual lives of the people have been enhanced.

During the past term, the commune mobilized all resources to invest in infrastructure such as roads, electricity, lighting systems, dredging of canals and ditches in the fields, schools, and the construction of village cultural houses, with a total budget of 412.7 billion VND, of which the people contributed more than 69 billion VND.

Mr. Do Minh Nghia (living in Ngoai hamlet), along with other households in the commune, has been carrying out environmental sanitation in recent days, saying: “We are often interested in new rural construction, especially in beautifying our rural roads. Most recently, we pulled weeds and planted flowers on Nguyen Thi Thang street. This is a project to welcome the 1st Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Phuoc Ly commune, term 2025-2030”.

Residents of Phuoc Ly commune join hands to beautify Nguyen Thi Thang street.

The process of building new rural areas must not be interrupted.

Thanks to the New Rural Development Program, the rural landscape of the province has seen significant improvements. The material and spiritual lives of the people have continuously been enhanced. This is an important prerequisite for the province to achieve its goals in the coming period.

On July 1, 2025, Tay Ninh province officially came into operation based on the merger of the former Long An and Tay Ninh provinces. According to a review, the province currently has 67 out of 82 communes meeting the New Rural Area standards (accounting for 81.71%); 5 out of 82 communes meeting the advanced New Rural Area standards (accounting for 6.1%); 15 out of 82 communes not yet meeting the New Rural Area standards; and no communes meeting the model New Rural Area standards.

Reviewing the current situation of new rural construction, the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that many communes have maintained good results in the past, the rate of communes meeting comprehensive standards is relatively high. However, there are still clear differences between localities, especially remote and border areas. The criteria that are difficult to achieve are concentrated in planning, income, infrastructure, health, environment, security, order, etc. In addition, commune-level officials have changed after the merger, affecting the synthesis of reports; there is a lack of new guidance on indicators and criteria. Steering committees in some places are still slow to be completed; infrastructure is degraded; small-scale agricultural production, technology application is still limited;...

Faced with this reality, departments, branches and localities in the province have determined that there needs to be strong and synchronous solutions to remove obstacles and promote progress. Localities need to organize reviews and assessments of the current status of each criterion, especially after the administrative unit arrangement process, the requirement is to comprehensively assess the current status of new rural construction in the area; at the same time, adjust the new rural construction planning after the administrative unit merger, ensuring consistency with the provincial and sectoral planning.

The province continues to invest in completing socio-economic infrastructure, striving to maintain standards in the criteria of transportation, schools, cultural facilities, rural trade, irrigation, electricity, information - communication and residential housing; restructuring the agricultural sector associated with the processing industry, developing high-tech agriculture and linking sustainable value chains.

Furthermore, the province also focuses on sustainable poverty reduction, providing housing support for poor and near-poor households; improving the quality of education, healthcare, and culture; and effectively implementing environmental protection and building a "bright, green, clean, and beautiful" landscape.

Along with that, a number of key solutions were proposed such as the province continuing to consolidate and improve the steering committees for new rural construction at all levels; enhancing guidance and training for grassroots officials; stepping up propaganda and mobilizing people to participate, promoting the role of the community as the main subject; mobilizing diverse social resources to supplement the state budget and not interrupting the new rural construction process in the implementation of 2-level local government./.

In 2025, the province plans to mobilize a total budget of more than VND 1,348 billion to implement the program. Of which, the central budget directly supports VND 418.5 billion; provincial budget development investment capital is VND 539.7 billion; combined capital from programs and projects is more than VND 86.7 billion; enterprises contribute VND 90.8 billion and the community participates more than VND 212.4 billion.

The province strives to have over 90% (cumulative) of its communes meet the new rural development standards by the end of 2030, and over 50% (cumulative) of its communes meet the advanced new rural development standards.

Nhu Nguyet

Source: https://baolongan.vn/xay-dung-nong-thon-moi-nhin-tu-chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-2-cap-a203421.html