Over the years, the provincial armed forces of Binh Thuan have focused their leadership and direction on enhancing education and propagation work, building a strong local political system, actively taking part in socio-economic development and improving the people’s life as the centrepiece of the building of the political - spiritual potential within defensive zones, thus asserting their core role in building defensive zones across the province.

Mass mobilisation work carried out by the provincial armed forces

Located on the Southern end of the South Central Coast, possessing rich natural resources, a large territorial sea of 52,000km², and many key road, rail, and maritime transport systems, Binh Thuan province holds a position of importance in political, economic, defence, and security terms. In the process of development, a part from advantages, the province has been confronted with a lot of difficulties, particularly security issues within industrial zones, rural security issues, natural disasters, and epidemics. Within the province, there are 34 ethnic minority groups with 25,000 households (accounting for 8.4% of the population); there are 8 religious organisations with nearly 500,000 followers (making up 38.8% of the population); the people’s life is still in difficulty. Hostile forces are stepping up their “peaceful evolution” strategy and promoting “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, with a view to undermining our national great unity. Fully aware of the overall situation, over the years, under the leadership and direction from Military Region 7’s Party Committee and Command as well as all-level party committees and authorities, the provincial armed forces have promoted their core role in building the political - spiritual potential within defensive zones, thus contributing to fulfilling the tasks of defence - security consolidation and socio-economic, cultural development. Offices and units within the Provincial Military Command (PMC) have proactively cooperated with sectors and other forces in stepping up defence and security education for target individuals. Due attention has been paid to enhancing mass mobilisation work, carrying out policy work, building a strong local political system, and taking part in socio-economic, cultural development. As a result, a consensus has been achieved among people from all walks of life about the Party’s lines on socio-economic development and defence - security consolidation, particularly in the building of provincial and district-level defensive zones; the “posture of people’s hearts and minds” has been cemented; the national great unity strength has been brought into play as the basis for the province’s rapid, sustainable development.

However, the building of the political - spiritual potential within defensive zones necessitates concentrated leadership and direction via more effective measures; it also requires more efforts from all sectors and forces, especially the core role of the provincial armed forces. By doing so could the province reach a consensus among its cadres, party members, and citizens about the Party’s lines, the State’s laws and policies, the building of a strong political system, socio-economic and cultural development, and the people’s improved mental and material life. To that end, in the upcoming time, the provincial armed forces will continue to synchronously implement various measures, with a focus on the following.

First, enhancing education and propagation work to raise awareness and responsibility of party committees, authorities, and citizens towards the cause of Fatherland construction and protection. The Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the PMC will continue to give advice to the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee on directing sectors and localities to grasp and widely disseminate the Party’s resolutions, directives, and conclusions on military - defence work. Great value will be attached to educating all people on the two strategic tasks of Fatherland construction and protection, rendering all citizens fully aware of the Party’s viewpoints and lines and the State’s laws and policies on all-people national defence, people’s war, ethnicity, and religion, the building of national great unity, national and local history, and hostile forces’ plots and artifices. In the process of education and propagation, various forms and methods will be employed in accordance with the particularities of each area and educational background of each group of citizens, while the role of mass media will be promoted. This work will also be integrated into conferences, revolutionary action movements, cultural and artistic activities, traditional festivals, and communal meetings within residential areas. Consideration will be given to combining “building” with “fighting”, resolutely combating wrong viewpoints and distortions, firmly protecting the Party’s ideological foundation, and foiling hostile and reactionary forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy.

A cultural and sport facility for religious people constructed by the PMC

Second, actively participating in building a strong local political system. This measure plays a decisive role in building the political - spiritual potential within defensive zones as the political system is responsible for translating the Party’s lines into life and directly performing political tasks at grass-roots level. Hence, the PMPC will continue to collaborate with departments and sectors to advise the Provincial Party Committee on consolidating and building a strong political system, particularly at commune level, enhancing party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness, and improving all-level authorities’ managerial and operating capabilities. In the short term, due attention will be paid to personnel preparation for all-level party congresses for 2025 - 2030 tenure and elections of deputies to all-level People’s Councils for 2026 - 2031 tenure. Competent offices of the province will work with district-level party committees in reviewing, completing, and strictly executing operational regulations, renewing the content and methods of leadership of party organisations over military - defence work, improving commune-level party cells’ leadership capacity. The Project on “building exemplary party cells” will be effectively implemented to create positive spillover effects across the Provincial Party Organisation. Besides, due regard will be paid to initiating new members into the Party within the reserve force and the militia and self-defence force to contribute to raising the leadership capacity of grass-roots party committees and party cells.

Coordination between departments, sectors, and forces will be maintained to assist all-level party committees and authorities in organising an adept, compact, efficient, effective apparatus. Emphasis will be placed on building a contingent of cadres, particularly leaders of sectors, departments, and localities with sufficient political qualities, revolutionary morality, professional competence, and managerial capacity. At the same time, coordination will be promoted to develop and complete each organisation’s operating regulations as well as supervision and social criticism regulations of the Fatherland Front and political - social organisations to achieve a high degree of unanimity on the tasks of socio-economic development and defence - security consolidation. Importance will be attached to consolidating organisations, such as youth union, women’s union, farmers’ union, veterans’ association, turning them into the core force in mobilising the national great unity strength.

Third, actively taking part in fostering socio-economic development and improving the people’s mental and material life. In order to win the people’s hearts and minds, it is vital to stabilise the people’s life, ensure social welfare, and further improve the people’s mental and material life. That will lay a foundation for building the political - spiritual potential within defensive zones. Hence, the PMC will continue to research and propose measures to facilitate rapid, sustainable socio-economic development and combine socio-economic development with defence - security consolidation in the key, strategic, sea, island, ethnic minority, religious people-inhabited areas under the Government’s Decree 164/2018/NĐ-CP, dated 21 December 2018, on “combining defence with socio-economic development and vice versa”. Emphasis will be placed on effectively executing the province’s medium-term public investment Plan for the period of 2021 - 2025 and the Project on enhancing Phu Quy Island’s defensive capability in the period of 2021 - 2025, with orientation towards 2030. In the short term, the province will concentrate on developing infrastructures, traffic systems, water supply facilities, seafood processing stations, centres for plant varieties and animal breeds, models of agriculture and forestry promotion, and military - civilian infirmaries. 

The provincial armed forces will step up mass mobilisation work, helping the people with socio-economic, cultural development, improving the people’s mental and material life via various models, such as “the armed forces join hands to build new-style rural areas”, “the armed forces promote unity with ethnic minority groups and religions”. Besides, much weight will be given to well organising exchange and twinning programs between the provincial armed forces and ethnic minority people, get-togethers between leaders of localities, leaders of the armed forces, and religious dignitaries, and visits to families under preferential treatment policy on national holidays so as to cement the close-knit bond between the people and local party committees, authorities, sectors, unions, and armed forces.

In addition to those above-mentioned measures, the PMPC and the PMC will continue to direct their offices and units to closely coordinate with other forces in grasping situational developments, opportunely dealing with issues on political security and social order and safety, building an increasingly firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”, creating a stable, safe environment for Binh Thuan’s rapid, sustainable development, thereby contributing to protecting the Fatherland early and from afar.

Sr. Col. NGO MINH LUC

Political Commissar of the PMC