Turn "danger" into "opportunity"
Located in the southwest of Nghe An province, Con Cuong - the land considered the center of the ancient Tra Lan region, has 12/13 communes belonging to ethnic minority and mountainous areas (EM&MN). The main economic sector is agricultural and forestry production; many areas are still heavily self-sufficient. In addition, Lam River flows through the district, almost dividing the administrative boundaries in half, but the bridge and road infrastructure is not yet synchronized, leading to difficulties in connecting and developing the socio-economy in the areas.
These are also the reasons why the district still has 9 communes in region III and 1 particularly difficult village, with the poverty rate currently at nearly 17% (of which, poor ethnic minority households account for 73.27%)...
How to develop the socio-economy, improve people's living standards through sustainable livelihoods; how to preserve and promote cultural identity; how to maximize superior resources associated with effective investment attraction... Those questions are both concerns and issues that the entire political system of Con Cuong district is always particularly interested in finding solutions for.
Mr. Lo Van Thao, Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district, is also a son of the Thai ethnic group. Born, raised and then working as a cadre in his hometown, Mr. Thao understands more than anyone else "the land and people of Con Cuong". Mr. Thao shared: Only by sharing the same fate and hardships can we hope to overcome difficulties and challenges to succeed. That is also the reason and purpose that the 3rd term of the Ethnic Minority Congress in 2019, Con Cuong district has put forward and agreed to "join forces, unite hearts, unite minds, and agree", under the leadership of the Party Committee and the management and administration of the government to overcome difficulties and challenges, successfully carry out tasks to build Con Cuong village to be more and more prosperous and happy.
The clearest evidence is the removal of the Dan Lai people from the forest according to the policy of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, the Government's project, keeping only a few dozen households in the core area of Pu Mat National Park, both to preserve the culture and to serve community tourism activities, which is considered a very difficult task. However, today, from this determination of "unity, unity, unity, agreement", from Pha Lai dam in the center of Mon Son commune, an adventure tour has been formed across the Giang River to the Dan Lai people.
From there, people appeared who dared to think and act, investing in developing medicinal plants under the forest canopy, creating jobs for dozens of local workers. Opening up opportunities to develop indigenous medicinal plants, exploiting the advantages of mountainous areas to specialize in growing crops with high economic efficiency.
The difficult characteristics of the land with many mountains and streams... are also being turned into advantages by the people to develop experiential tourism. From Tham Nang Man cave, then Moc stream, Kem stream... have become famous to tourists from near and far every time they come to Tra Lan. From the Thai villages in Ran stream, Nua village, Xieng village... pure, ancient features are used to form community tourism spots that tourists, including many foreign tourists, love.
We also think about the difficult, remote lands in Con Cuong… which have been transformed by the people to form famous orange farms that even the national airline Vietnam Airlines has to order to make drinks on every flight. Not to mention, the “remote and remote” lands such as Binh Chuan, Thach Ngan… have been converted by the people to grow meters, acacia… That is why the forest area in Con Cuong is the largest in Nghe An province, with a coverage of nearly 85%.
More “talking” numbers
Con Cuong is turning around today. New life is present in every house, in every village; the face of the mountainous countryside has changed a lot. In that development flow, there is investment and support as leverage from policies, plans and projects from the Central and local levels; the focus is the National Target Program 1719 which has poured hundreds of billions of VND into the land with projects, support contents and "close-up" investment.
In a conversation with us, Mr. Luong Viet Tung, Head of the District Ethnic Affairs Department, talked a lot about the marks and results of a term of the District Ethnic Minority Congress. Mr. Tung shared: The district has implemented ethnic policies and great national unity very well so that each person can see their role, position, and responsibility in building and developing their homeland and village.
The evidence from Mr. Tung's words makes us very happy. From the investment and support of programs and projects; the synchronous participation of all levels and sectors, the consensus and positive response of all classes of people, the socio-economic situation of Con Cuong district has had many positive changes in recent times. The average growth rate of production value to date has reached nearly 7%, the average income per capita in 2023 will reach more than 41 million VND.
Programs and projects, especially the National Target Program 1719 for the period 2021-2025, have truly been an important resource for the lives of people in the mountainous areas of Con Cuong to "transform" completely. Up to now, the whole district has had asphalted and concreted roads with a scale of IV-V to the center of all communes, reaching 100%. The electricity system has been renovated and upgraded, so up to 97.5% of households in ethnic minority and mountainous areas have access to the national grid; 100% of villages and hamlets have built cultural houses.
Many basic construction works such as Thanh Nam bridge across Lam river, traffic route from National Highway 7A to Khe Kem, Don Phuc road to Cam Lam, Luc Da road to Mon Son... At present, Con Cuong has 3 communes meeting NTM standards, 31 villages/107 villages meeting NTM standards. The poverty rate during the term of the Ethnic Minority Congress from 2019-2024 decreased by more than 3% each year, and is currently only 16.88%.
In particular, in recent years, from various sources of appeal and mobilization, Con Cuong district has built 129 new solidarity houses, 120 houses of the Ministry of Public Security... to give to poor households and policy beneficiaries.
The results of the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Con Cuong district will be the foundation and motivation for Con Cuong to move towards the goal of faster and more sustainable development in the coming period.
Pu Mat is missing the appointment…
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