Building a strong national defence represents an important and regular task of the entire Party, people and Military. As a strategic province of ​​Military Region 3, Hoa Binh has been implementing several solutions synchronously to carry out this task effectively, contributing to strengthening its national defence, maintaining local stability, and creating a favourable environment for the Province’s fast and sustainable development.

The mountainous province of Hoa Binh is located on the border of Northwest, North Central and Red River Delta regions where many convenient waterways and road traffic routes run through making it an important gateway to other regions and areas of the country. It boasts rich and diverse soil and climate conditions, making it very potential for tourism development. The province is home to the "project of the century" - Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant and ​​many ethnic groups in which Muong people alone account for about 63% of the province's population, etc. This locality has a large area of ​​forestry land with high forest coverage, beautiful natural caves and many important economic and defence projects, so it holds a strategic position in terms of economy, culture, society and national defence and security. With these distinct potentials, competitive advantages and rich and diverse resources, Hoa Binh is best suited for "green, sustainable, and comprehensive" development.

Promoting its intrinsic potentials and advantages, together with promoting socio-economic development, the Province always attaches importance to the task of defence and security consolidation, especially the building of a strong national defence and has achieved encouraging results. However, due to harsh climate, terrain and historical conditions, Hoa Binh still remains a poor province, where people's living standards in some remote communes still remain low. Meanwhile, rural security, ethnic and religious issues still have factors that can cause instability; drug trafficking and other social evils still happen complicatedly, etc. This requires the Party Committee, government, people and armed forces of the province to focus all resources on building a strong national defence, creating a favourable environment for its civilised and prosperous development, focusing on the following tasks and solutions:

First of all, promoting propaganda, education, raising awareness and responsibility for cadres, party members and people of the province about the task of building the national defence. In order to achieve practical effectiveness, the content of propaganda and education must be extensive, comprehensive, focused, memorable, comprehensible, and suitable for each target, especially for ethnic minorities living in far-flung, isolated and extremely difficult areas. In particular, emphasis should be placed on resolutions and directives of the Party, State, Central Military Commission, Ministry of National Defence, Party Committee and Command of Military Region 3 and of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee on the task of building and defending the Fatherland in the new situation. In addition, it is necessary to promote education on national defence and security, the revolutionary tradition of Hoa Binh province for the young generations, contributing to raising awareness and responsibility of its citizens with the task of building the national defence. As a locality with many military units, in the implementation process, in addition to diversifying forms and measures of propaganda and education on mass media, especially the defence and security columns of localities, it is necessary to closely coordinate with units to improve the effectiveness of propaganda and education, creating a widespread spillover effect throughout the province. At the same time, it is necessary to integrate propaganda and educational content to each subject, each person, etc through cultural and artistic activities, traditional festivals of ethnic groups, community activities in residential areas.

Leaders of the province and Military Region 3 at the Provincial defensive area exercise in 2023

Second, focusing on socio-economic development to build a strong national defence potential. As its area is large but its population density is low, while ethnic minorities account for 3/4 of the population, and the living conditions of the people still face many difficulties, in order to build a strong national defence, the Province should strengthen the mobilisation of resources to promote socio-economic development associated with defence and security consolidation. To make it effective, the Province should focus on implementing the approved master plans and projects, focusing on industry, tourism and agro-forestry in order to make the best use of its potentials, competitive advantages, and realise the vision and development goals. In order to make a breakthrough in socio-economic development, the Province accelerates the implementation of the multi-polar concentration model, 02 economic corridors and 03 development zones. It focuses on improving people's living standards, ensuring social security, and narrowing the development gap between localities. Moreover, it pays attention to environmental protection, forest development and biodiversity, ensuring sustainable development, green growth, and circular economy; promotes investment in strategic infrastructure (transportation, electricity, telecommunications, urbanisation, healthcare, education, etc.), in line with the province's overall planning, linked with defence and security tasks and the regional defence posture, creating a close combination between economy and defence and security and defence and security with economy; continues to improve the effectiveness of the movement of "the Military joins hands to build new countrysides", replicate the model of "Cultural, defence and security villages and hamlets" in especially difficult areas, etc., contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of the people, while maintaining political security, social order and safety at the grassroots level.

Third, building the provincial armed force all-strong, acting as the core in building the all people’s national defence. Accordingly, the Military Party Committee and the Provincial Military Command focus on leading and directing the building of a strong armed force in politics, ideology, morality, organisation and personnel; improving its overall quality, combat strength for promptly and effectively handling defence and security situations in the area. It focuses on building military agencies at all levels comprehensively strong, "exemplary and typical", associated with building clean and strong Military Parties, meeting the requirements and assigned tasks; conducting training and exercises in a serious manner, maintaining strict discipline, building regular order and high level of combat readiness, etc; building a "strong, widespread" reserve force, sufficient in number, high political quality, with appropriate structure, qualifications and expertise; a "strong and widespread", high-quality militia and self-defence force, truly being the core force in building new rural areas and civilised urban areas, preventing, combating and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, search and rescue, protecting forests, etc. Besides, it effectively implements the coordination regulations with the Public Security force according to Decree No. 03/2019/ND-CP, dated 05 September 2019 of the Government and coordinates with military units stationed in the area in performing the tasks of protecting national security, ensuring social order and safety, fighting and preventing crimes, protecting the safety of key targets and projects, thoroughly handling all situations right from the grassroots level, avoiding being made passive and surprised.

Fourth, regularly building a solid defensive area. Based on the overall defence posture of Military Region 3, important national projects and the overall socio-economic development plan, the Province proactively and synchronously implements drastic measures to build defensive areas; regularly reviews, adjusts and supplements the military posture plan of the defensive areas; focuses on researching and arranging key military projects, ensuring that they are consistent with the tasks, combat plans, local characteristics and troop arrangement of the Province, Military Region 3 and units of the Ministry of National Defence stationed in the area. To do that well, the Provincial Military Command closely coordinates with departments, agencies and branches to advise the Province to adjust projects in the planning, contributing to promoting socio-economic development associated with defence and security assurance, creating a solid foundation in defence and military potential and posture. As an area with many military units are stationed, many important economic and military projects of the country are based, in the process of building the defensive area, the Province directs close coordination, careful research, avoiding overlap which may cause waste, ensuring a solid, in-depth, interconnected posture, effectively supporting each other when situations arise. Leveraging its mountainous terrain, the Province closely combines new construction with renovation and upgradation of natural caves into important military and defence works. Due to the limited budget allocated for the construction of defence and military works, the Province mobilises available resources from the State’s and the people’s funds, for building essential and important works first and gradually finishing the remaining works according to the determined roadmap and plan.

With strong political determination, huge efforts, the drastic involvement of the Party Committee, the government, the people and the armed forces of the province, together with synchronous and effective solutions, it is believed that the all people’s national defence of Hoa Binh will be made increasingly stronger, creating a foundation for successfully implementing its defence and security tasks, firmly protecting the country’s strategic areas.

Senior Colonel DINH DINH TRUONG, Member of the Standing Office of the Provincial Party Committee, Commander of the Provincial Military Command