Combining socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation represents a central task and measure set out by the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure)  on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the new situation. That is a very important orientation for the implementation process of central committees, ministries, sectors, the armed forces, and local party committees and authorities across the country in general, the Southwestern region in particular via synchronous, drastic measures.

Southwestern region of Viet Nam consists of 13 provinces and municipalities with a total area of 40,600 square kilometres and a population of 17,273,630; its sea, islands, and mainland borders many countries. Therefore, it has great potential and resources for economic development, particularly agriculture, seafood, petroleum, and renewable energy, accounting for 11.95% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It also has rich history and culture with the peoples of Viet, Khmer, Chinese, and Cham, thereby holding a position of strategic importance to socio-economic development, defence, security, and diplomacy of the South and the whole country. At the same time, it is also a region where hostile forces both at home and abroad often employ different artifices and take advantage of disputes over seas and islands and incidents relating to ethnicity and religion for their distortion and sabotage. Rural security, complaints, smuggling, and social evils in some localities have complex developments and negative impacts on political security and social order. Besides, due to COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and natural disasters, food prices are unstable, thus leading to the bankruptcy of many businesses, particularly farm produce and seafood processing ones, negatively impacting the region’s socio-economic development.

Against that backdrop, in order to successfully implement the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the new situation, central committees, ministries, sectors, the armed forces, and local party committees and authorities have seriously developed action programmes in line with the Politburo’s Resolution 21 and Conclusion 28 on orientations, tasks, and measures for socio-economic development and defence and security consolidation within the Mekong Delta in the periods of 2001-2010 and 2011-2020. As a directing, guiding, and supervising agency of the Party in the South, the Southwest Steering Committee has cooperated with forces in the region to formulate Statutes on Coordination in socio-economic development and defence and security consolidation according to functions and tasks of each unit and locality, thus obtaining significant achievements in the following fields.

Regarding socio-economic development, starting from an imbalanced, backward economy with a low growth rate, the Southwest has been on track to achieving an increasingly greater economic scale and effectiveness. Socio-economic infrastructures, particularly irrigation, electricity, and water supply for the people’s production and daily life have witnessed robust developments. Road traffic, waterway, airway, seaport, post, and telecommunication systems have been constructed rather synchronously from urban to remote, isolated, border, sea, island areas. Commerce, services, and tourism have recorded tremendous growth, meeting the needs of the people’s production, consumption, and daily life. The entire region’s average export value has increased by 18% per annum. Consequently, social security policies have been synchronously, effectively implemented; the rate of poor households has been reduced by about 2% per annum; per capita income has reached 46 million VND per annum. Notably, investment in constructing flood proof residential clusters and houses in line with the disposition of defence and security posture in border areas has initially proved to be practically effective and made contributions to providing sustained accommodation for hundreds of thousands of poor households and building a solid defensive posture along the border. Due regard has been paid to bringing into play border economic zones and developing marine economy, logistics services, and tourism in border provinces.

Defence and security consolidation serves as a task of strategic importance and helps create a stable environment for socio-economic development. Thus, central and local competent forces have well coordinated with one another to grasp and opportunely, effectively settle complex security situations, ensure the safety of significant political events taking place within the region, opportunely detect, effectively combat, and thwart hostile forces’ violations of national security and plots of internationalising the issue of “Khmer Krom”. At the same time, emphasis has been placed on building provincial-level defensive zones associated with socio-economic development master plans, implementing the Project on the building and operation of all-level defensive zones, and establishing Defensive Zone Steering Boards in accordance with each locality’s practical conditions. Due attention has been paid to constructing combat and defensive works in strategic directions and areas, creating a strong defensive posture, and consolidating the postures of all-people national defence and people’s security within the region, particularly in key, border, sea, island areas, thereby contributing to strengthening defence potential and increase the capacity to defend the Fatherland.

The Southwest has always focused on promoting the strength of the national great unity block especially when policies on ethnicity and projects on socio-economic development, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction have produced significant results. There have been positive changes in executing hunger eradication and poverty reduction programmes; the rate of poor ethnic households has been considerably decreased year by year. Localities have concentrated on providing accommodation, production land, vocational training, and employments for poor ethnic minorities. Consideration has been given to propagating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies to raise public awareness amongst Khmer people, ethnic persons with great prestige, and religious dignitaries and encourage them to take part in protecting the Fatherland and fighting against hostile forces’ sabotage strategy. As a result, self-reliance against hunger and poverty amongst ethnic minority people has been raised; many ethnic households have escaped from poverty; a lot of ethnic minority individuals and collectives have earned high income. The national great unity block has been cemented, while ethnic minority people have actively joined local authorities in boosting socio-economic development and maintaining security and order.

The political system has been regularly consolidated especially via Party Congresses and elections of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils. Local party committees have focused on making the Party and political system pure, strong, and capable of leading, operating, and successfully performing the tasks of ensuring defence and security and frustrating hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution”, “riot and conversion” strategy. Due attention has been paid to building the People’s Army and the Public Security forces in the region in a revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and gradually modernised manner with political steadfastness, revolutionary vigilance, and combat readiness to protect localities in all situations. Up to now, a sense of responsibility of the political system and unions at grass-roots level has been raised as a new change in encouraging the people to implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies, opportunely settling the people’s issues, and stabilising the region.

Under the Party and State’s guidelines on diplomacy, particularly on Viet Nam’s relations with Cambodia, localities and the armed forces in the region have closely cooperated with Cambodia’s border localities and functional agencies in fostering economic development, ensuring defence and security, accelerating demarcation and border marker planting along the border between the two countries, and opportunely dealing with relevant issues under the spirit of friendship, cooperation, and mutual development.

It is worth noting that we have drawn valuable lessons from the implementation of the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) and the Politburo’s resolutions and conclusions relating to the Southwest. Those lessons are also measures which should be adopted synchronously, drastically to maintain political security and social order and safety as the basis for the Mekong Delta’s rapid, sustainable development.

First of all, it is necessary to be fully aware of the two strategic tasks of constructing and defending the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland in the new situation and enhance all-level party committees’ direct leadership over Fatherland protection. Under viewpoints, goals, tasks, and measures of the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure), the 13^th Politburo’s Resolution 13-NQ/TW, dated April 2^nd, 2022 on Orientations for the Mekong Delta’s socio-economic development and defence and security consolidation towards 2030, with a vision towards 2045, and Prime Minister’s Decision 287/QĐ-TTg, dated February 28^th, 2022 approving the Planning of the Mekong Delta in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050, it is essential to maintain a close relationship between local party committees and Military Region 9’s Party Committee and Command to correctly assess and opportunely deal with defence and security situations as the basis for socio-economic development.

Second, seriously, effectively executing resolutions by the Politburo and the Party Central Committee on socio-economic development associated with defence and security consolidation in the new situation. Emphasis should be placed on continuing implementing the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) and the 13^th Politburo’s Resolution 13-NQ/TW in a close, practically effective fashion. Doing so is of strategic importance to developing localities within the region, realising the goal of inter-regional connection, and encouraging the sustainable development of other economic zones across the country. In the process, grounded on direction and guidance of central agencies, localities should continue exploiting the region’s potential and advantages in the new period and concentrate on formulating action plans associated with the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress in accordance with their practical conditions to achieve goals and breakthroughs in the region’s socio-economic development and defence and security consolidation.

Third, continuing grasping the situation both at home and abroad, accurately recognising objects of struggle and partners of cooperation, effectively combating violations of national interests, and enhancing cooperation with partners for mutual development. Based on correct situational assessments and forecasts, it is important to quickly design combat plans and projects, particularly in key areas. All socio-economic development plans of the region’s localities must be closely associated with defence and security postures, while socio-economic development projects must be combined with defence and security consolidation. It is essential to strengthen coordination between the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security, and competent forces to grasp, anticipate, and settle security-related issues right at grass-roots level in order to avoid falling into perplexing situation. At the same time, it is vital to enhance diplomatic work and opportunely deal with relevant issues to create strong defence and security potential and posture as well as a peaceful, stable environment for safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Lt. Gen. LUU PHUOC LUONG, Former Deputy Head of the Southwest Steering Committee