Located at Southwestern end of the Fatherland, having both land and sea borders, Kien Giang province holds a position of strategic importance in political, economic, defence, security, and diplomatic terms to Military Region 9 and the whole country as well. Fully aware of the Party’s strategic lines on building defensive zones, over the years, the provincial armed forces have always brought into play their core role in maintaining coordination to provide advice, direction, and guidance on the building and operation of defensive zones, thereby achieving relatively comprehensive results. Mechanisms for leadership and management of all-level party committees and authorities have been effectively operated. Cadres, party members, and citizens have been more sufficiently aware of the building of defensive zones, while the whole political system, sectors, forces, and people have actively taken part in this work. The provincial defensive zone, particularly in the key, border, island areas has been strong in terms of potentiality, force, and posture. Due regard has been paid to making the provincial armed forces adept, compact, strong with a high level of synergy and combat power, thereby contributing to building robust all-people national defence and people’s security, fostering the province’s rapid, sustainable development.

Coordination with the Air Force during a provincial defensive zone exercise

To achieve those good results, all-level military agencies have given sound advice to party committees and authorities on leading and directing the building of solid defensive zones. Under the Party’s military and defence lines, particularly the Resolution of the 13^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation and the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW on continuing to build provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has proactively coordinated with departments and sectors to assist the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee in issuing resolutions, directives, plans, and projects, with a view to improving leadership and direction over local military and defence work and the building of defensive zones, creating a legal foundation for the implementation process. At the same time, it has given advice on consolidating organisations within defensive zones, especially steering boards and supply councils. Thanks to the PMC’s staff work, the province has accomplished Planning of defence disposition associated with socio-economic development towards 2030 and Planning of provincial- and district-level defensive zone military postures as the basis for designing action plans.

To increase political and spiritual potentialities within its defensive zones, the province has focused on defence and security education for target individuals. In its capacity as the Standing Agency of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council, the PMC has frequently given advice on conducting surveys, categorising learners, and organising defence and security education courses properly. In the past 5 years, over 300 cadres from the 1^st and 2^nd groups together with nearly 29,000 cadres from the 3^rd and 4^th groups across the province have fulfilled defence and security education courses under regulations. Besides, 2 defence and security education courses have been held for 212 religious dignitaries. All-level military agencies have worked with colleges, vocational schools, and high schools within the province to provide defence and security education for nearly 43,000 students and pupils. The PMC has given advice to the province on promoting the role of competent sectors in conducting propagation, education, and mass mobilisation work, actively taking part in new-style rural area building, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and new cultural life development in residential areas, well implementing policies regarding military families and the “Paying Debt of Gratitude” Movement, stepping up the model “Military - Civilian Tet Holiday”, thus building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”, making the political and spiritual potentialities within defensive zones increasingly strong. In the process, the province has carried out reforms in content, forms, and methods of propagation and education, heightening the role of forces, organisations, mass media, and cultural institutions at grass-roots level in this work, particularly in its border, sea, island areas. Simultaneously, the province has maintained its friendly relations with Cambodia’s Kampot province in economic, social, defence, and security domains to opportunely, effectively deal with issues along the border.

In order to build strong economic and military potentialities within defensive zones, the PMC has given advice on closely combining socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation under the motto: “each socio-economic growth step is a step forward in the strengthening of defence and security potentialities”. Importance has been attached to developing potential economic sectors and making more investments in traffic infrastructures, dual-purpose projects, and marine economy to create material resources for the building of defensive zones. Due to the province’s high economic growth rate, with hundreds of investment projects in various sectors, particularly in Phu Quoc city, the PMC has well conducted review and appraisal of socio-economic plans and projects, particularly in the key areas of defence and security. Thanks to the PMC’s sound advice, the province has directed offices and localities to adjust their socio-economic development master plans based on defence and security postures and concentrate on promoting natural advantages to develop tourism, foreign trade, and fisheries. Consequently, many industrial clusters and factories have been constructed; the system of commerce, logistics, telecoms, and banking services has been consolidated as the basis for promoting trade within the province and external trade; investment and tourism have been fostered within the cities of Phu Quoc and Ha Tien. At the same time, the PMC has advised the province to invest in infrastructural development, such as road, waterway, and electricity systems and to design socio-economic development plans and programs in each sector and region, with the aim of accelerating socio-economic development, serving the people’s daily needs in peacetime, and meeting the requirements of defence and security in wartime. Grounded on the established planning, the province has step by step completed electricity, water supply, environment, irrigation, and communication infrastructures within combat and rear bases, effectively executing national plans and programs on employment and housing for low-income people, actively calling for investment in marine economic development, with a focus on main sectors, such as shipbuilding industry, seaport, maritime transport, seafood processing, fisheries, and marine tourism. Moreover, the provincial armed forces have proactively built combat works, border guard stations and posts, and roads on islands for civilian and military purposes. All-level military agencies have actively advised local authorities to adjust plans on defence demands in the first year of a war and mobilise resources to build works within defensive zones. To cement all-people national defence posture, the PMC has attached great value to giving advice on conducting planning for residential areas, new-style rural area construction, economic zones, industrial zones, and economic - defence zones in the border, sea, island areas in accordance with the building of military postures within defensive zones. Consideration has been given to constructing fishing ports, fishing logistics service zones, petroleum depots, and other key works, such as Phu Quoc International Airport, Rach Gia Airport, sluice gates of Cai Lon and Cai Be to prevent salinity, coastal roads, border patrol roads.

The PMC organises general exercise of 2024

Making the armed forces strong is an important part of the building of defensive zones. Therefore, the province has focused on building politically, ideologically, and organisationally strong local armed forces with a high level of synergy, combat readiness, and combat power as well as in accordance with each force’s tasks and functions. The province has attached significance to building an adept, compact, strong standing force, particularly in terms of politics and ideology, with proper strength and structure; this force has regularly maintained training and exercises under plans; the strength rate of combat readiness units has always reached 99%; on a yearly basis, the province has fulfilled all targets of military call-up. The reserve force has been consolidated within each area, with sufficient members being provided for reserve units under plans; means and materials have been closely managed to be ready for mobilisation when necessary. The militia and self-defence force has been made “strong and extensive” in accordance with each area’s particularities; all military party cells at commune level have established their own executive boards; all militia and self-defence platoon commanders have been party members; all commune-level military command members have experienced military training courses in different degrees. Over the years, the province has well performed the task of building standing militia Squadron to take part in protecting national sovereignty over seas and islands as an important factor in directly increasing the provincial defensive zone’s military potentiality.

In addition to force building, the province has renewed and improved training and exercises. Units of the provincial armed forces have strictly maintained regulations on combat readiness, regularly adjusting, supplementing, completing, and practising projects and plans on operations within defensive zones, natural disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue. At the same time, they have closely maintained coordination with the Public Security Force and the Border Guard Force under the Government’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP, dated 5 September 2019. Various measures have been taken to grasp situational developments, particularly in the key, border, island areas and Southwestern sea as the basis for giving advice to party committees and authorities on dealing with situations and avoiding falling into passivity. Notably, the PMC has advised the province to well conduct defensive zone exercises in order to supplement and perfect defensive zone-related mechanisms and regulations. Since 2020, the province has directed all cities, districts, and communes to hold defensive zone, combat, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue exercises with good results.

Fully aware of the requirements of Fatherland construction and protection in the new period, Kien Giang province will continue to step up the building of defensive zones to make contributions to building a solid defensive posture within the Military Region and well executing the Party’s strategic lines.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN VAN NGANH

Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board

Commander of Kien Giang PMC