Breakthroughs in building new rural areas.

Ensure substance

The New Rural Development Program for the 2021-2025 period has many new features. The criteria for new rural communes and advanced new rural communes are strict, require very high quality, and include many new indicators. Therefore, the implementation process faces many difficulties in achieving the set goals. Along with that, the overall goal of Binh Phuoc is not to chase achievements or leave any criteria unmet, but to ensure that all indicators and criteria are completed before recognition is decided. As evidence, in 2023, 7 communes strived to achieve the New Rural Development goal, and 6 communes aimed for the advanced New Rural Development goal, but by the end of 2024, only 6 communes achieved the New Rural Development goal and 5 communes achieved the advanced New Rural Development goal; the remaining 2 communes, Loc Phu in Loc Ninh district and Tan Hiep in Hon Quan district, were not recognized due to outstanding criteria.

The local roads in Binh Tan commune, Phu Rieng district, are well-maintained, bright, green, clean, and beautiful.

Furthermore, the communes striving to achieve the New Rural Area (NRA) status face increasing difficulties because they are all located in particularly disadvantaged socio -economic regions (Loc Phu commune, Loc Ninh district; Bu Gia Map, Dak O, and Phu Van communes, Bu Gia Map district). Therefore, investing in NRA construction and determining whether they meet NRA standards is a challenging problem. According to Decision No. 861/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2021, of the Prime Minister approving the list of communes in areas III, II, and I belonging to ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the period 2021-2025, communes in areas III and II, if recognized as achieving NRA standards, will no longer benefit from policies on health, education, and other support programs. This affects the interests of the people and makes it difficult to motivate and encourage these particularly disadvantaged communes to strive for NRA status.

Dak O is a border commune facing particular difficulties, with approximately 40% of its population being ethnic minorities and a high poverty rate. Therefore, to build a New Rural Area, with the joint efforts of the entire political system and the people, Dak O received significant investment from all levels, thus successfully fulfilling its political objectives. According to Nguyen Minh Hoa, Chairman of the Dak O Commune People's Committee, the total resources contributed by the central government, province, district, commune, and people in 2023 exceeded 120 billion VND. From this funding, the commune held meetings, considered, and proposed the construction of strategic projects as well as those serving the local economy, culture, society, national defense, and security. By the end of 2024, Dak O completed all targets and criteria, was recognized as a New Rural Area, and the official recognition ceremony is scheduled for early 2025.

For a poor commune like Dak O, with many ethnic minority households, in addition to investment in infrastructure development, the people's rights to benefit from policies are significant and therefore need special priority. Mr. Hoa said: When the commune is officially recognized as a New Rural Area, the support policies for poor communes will naturally cease, such as universal health insurance, and especially the benefits under Government Decree 116 for poor students and ethnic minority students living far from school will be cut. These are concerns of the local Party committee, government, and people, and they hope for continued attention and support so that the children have motivation, overcome economic difficulties, and continue to confidently go to school.

Many outstanding results

Following the principle of "the State and the people working together," in 2024, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels in the province mobilized the people to contribute over 110 billion VND to jointly build new rural areas; donated 93 hectares of land for rural roads and public works; and contributed 10,558 days of labor. Along with state investment, localities have invested in building increasingly modern and well-connected rural road systems, creating favorable conditions to attract investors to rural areas, as well as creating jobs, reducing poverty sustainably, and bringing a new look and vitality to rural areas.

Dak Nhau commune in Bu Dang district will receive the certificate recognizing it as a new-style rural commune in 2023, expected in early 2025.

The school system at all levels in rural areas continues to be strengthened and upgraded; the system of cultural institutions and information and communication better meets the needs for cultural enjoyment and access to information, contributing to raising the intellectual level and spiritual life of rural residents, in line with the policy of building new rural areas; the health system is increasingly complete with 100% of communes having health stations. Along with that, the digital infrastructure system is being invested in synchronously to better serve the construction of e-government and digital government at the commune level, meeting the needs for using shared information technology services and applications of the province, helping to improve management capacity and enhance the quality and effectiveness of the activities of commune leaders in the construction of new rural areas in the locality.

Recognizing that building new rural areas is a long-term, continuous process, achieving the standards is only the initial result. Localities in the province are continuing to invest in building indicators and criteria at a higher and more sustainable level. Simultaneously, they are linking the construction of new rural areas with agricultural restructuring and the implementation of local socio-economic development plans. “Although we have overcome difficulties and challenges and achieved the new rural area standards in 2023, we will continue to mobilize maximum internal resources and are determined to improve the criteria already achieved, gradually bringing Dak Nhau towards the goal of advanced new rural areas and model new rural areas in the future,” said Le Khac Kien, Secretary of the Dak Nhau Commune Party Committee.

Striving for the district to achieve advanced new rural standards.

Building on the achievements, the goal is for Binh Phuoc to have one more commune, Bu Gia Map (Bu Gia Map district), meet the new rural standards by the end of 2025, bringing the cumulative total to 84 out of 86 communes recognized as meeting the standards (excluding Nghia Binh and Dong Nai communes in Bu Dang district, as 100% of their area is within the mineral resource planning area).

The goal is to have 9 more communes recognized as achieving advanced new rural standards, including: Tan Loi commune in Dong Phu district; Loc Thien and Loc Thanh communes in Loc Ninh district; Tan Loi commune in Hon Quan district; Long Tan commune in Phu Rieng district; Duc Hanh commune in Bu Gia Map district; Tan Tien commune in Bu Dop district; Doan Ket and Duong 10 communes in Bu Dang district.

The goal is to bring 7 communes to the finish line of model new rural areas, including: Tan Thanh commune, Dong Xoai city; Thanh Luong commune, Binh Long town; Minh Thang commune, Chon Thanh town; Bom Bo commune, Bu Dang district; Long Giang commune, Phuoc Long town; Thuan Phu commune, Dong Phu district; and Phu Rieng commune, Phu Rieng district.

Dong Phu district is awaiting recognition from the Prime Minister as a New Rural Area (NRA) district, while continuing to maintain and improve the criteria, striving to achieve advanced NRA status by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, Binh Phuoc province is submitting dossiers to the Central Government for assessment and recognition of the completion of NRA construction for Chon Thanh town, and the achievement of NRA standards for Loc Ninh and Phu Rieng districts.

Rural school systems have also been invested in and built to be spacious and modern, meeting national standards. In the photo: A classroom at Vo Thi Sau Primary School, Duong 10 commune, Bu Dang district.

To achieve the set targets, Binh Phuoc aims to implement the New Rural Development program in conjunction with the effective implementation of the "Restructuring the province's agricultural sector in the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030" project, developing the rural economy, and deepening the urbanization process for efficiency and sustainability. The program also aims to improve the material and spiritual lives of rural people and promote gender equality. In particular, it focuses on addressing three major issues to create a breakthrough for the program: reducing the disparity in New Rural Development results between localities; promoting the development of production linkages along the value chain; and building a synchronous and progressively modern rural socio-economic infrastructure, ensuring a bright, green, clean, beautiful, safe rural environment and landscape, rich in traditional cultural identity, adapting to climate change, and promoting sustainable development.

Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/81/169267/dot-pha-xay-dung-nong-thon-moi