Fully aware of the importance of combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation, the district of Tram Tau has been synchronously taking measures for well performing this important task.

Tram Tau is an upland and remote district located in the West of Yen Bai province, with a total area of over 74,300 hectares. It is divided into 12 commune-level administrative units. At present, the district’s population is about 33,000, including 10 ethnic groups. The Mong people account for 77% of its population while the Thai people make up more than 13.65%. The district’s terrain is complex and its traffic system is still backward. There is only one road to the district’s centre. Its socio-economic facilities are underdeveloped. Its people are facing a lot of difficulties in their life and the rate of poverty is still high. Meanwhile, the district is usually confronted with flash floods and landslides. Its political security is easily destabilised. It should be noted that over the years, the hostile forces have taken advantage of some people’s gullibility to undermine the national great unity block, carry out the missionary work illegally, and destabilise the district’s political security and social order and safety.

Grasping and executing the Party’s guidelines on the two strategic tasks of national construction and protection as well as realising 3 strategic breakthroughs set by the 18^th Provincial Party Congress’ Resolution for the 2015-2020 tenure, over the years, the District Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee have focused their leadership and direction on fostering socio-economic development and consolidating the defence-security potential and posture in accordance with local conditions, thereby gaining good results.

Constructing the road to connect Van Chan with Tram Tau

First of all, the district has concentrated on developing its agriculture and rural areas, restructuring its agriculture and forestry, and building an effective, sustainable agriculture in order to ensure its citizens’ life. At the same time, emphasis has been placed on mobilising all possible resources, especially from the society to enhance infrastructural construction, implement the national target programme on new-style countryside construction, and narrow the gap between the lowland and upland areas. Moreover, sectors and localities have actively made a change in the production structure of plants and animals, applied technology to production, developed afforestation, intensive farming, and large-scale production of goods, and improved products’ quality and value. With the support from the Party and the State as well as the efforts made by party committees, authorites and citizens, in the past 5 years, the district has planted over 35,974 hectares of forest, with a large number of high-value crops, such hawthorn and fokienia, while gradually establishing and developing an agriculture-forestry production chain. Besides, the district has made best use of hundreds of hectares of mountainous land to plant maize and increase its total area of food crops to 6,915 hectares, with the gross food production of 23,365 tons in 2019, thereby contributing to ensuring food security and improving the on-the-spot logistics accumulation for its defensive zone. To meet the task requirements, in the upcoming, the district will keep effectively executing the programme on science and technology, developing agriculture, and building new-style rural areas in the period of 2020-2025. Consideration will be given to renewing the method of agriculture and forestry production and promoting the advantages of its specialities. It will maintain and expand its zones for producing maize, snow Shan tea, and speciality rice, while developing ecotourism and making plans for producing its agricultural specialities. At the same time, it will plant and raise some new high-value crops and animals in accordance with each region’s soil conditions. It strives to achieve the gross food production of over 27,500 tons by 2025 and at least 10 products will be recognised by three-star OCOP rating or above to practically, sustainably eliminate poverty.

As for industry, handicraft, trade and services, the district has promulgated many mechanisms and policies to create a favourable condition for investors to construct hydroelectricity works, exploit minerals, and process agriculture and forestry products. It has also encouraged its citizens and enterprises to mass-produce handicrafts, made investments in infrastructural construction, and created new tourism products, such as ecotourism and resort, travel-adventure, communal culture within ethnic minority groups. Up to now, the district has had a number of products attractive to both foreign and domestic tourists, such as Ta Xua and Ta Chi Nhu mountains, Hang De Cho waterfall, Tram Tau hot mineral spring resort, Eo Gio pine hill, making contributions to increasing its budget, creating employments, and well performing the defence-security task.

In order to achieve a breakthrough in boosting socio-economic development and consolidating defence and security, the district has focused on attracting resources to build its traffic system to improve regional and inter-regional connection, particularly in the remote, isolated areas and the regions mainly inhabited by ethnic minorities and destroy isolation in the event. Over the years, the district has tapped various resources to upgrade key traffic lines, paths to mountains, and roads connecting lowland regions with upland areas, thus breaking down traffic barriers. Notable, thanks to funds from the State’s Programmes 30a and 135 and local budget, in the past 5 years, the district has constructed and upgraded 900 kilometres of roads of various types, including 190 kilometres of concrete and asphalt roads, as well as 3 concrete bridges, 2 suspension bridges, and 9 bridges of other types. Up to now, all communes of the district have managed to construct automobile roads to their centres while all villages within the district have succeeded in constructing motorbike roads available all year round. To break isolation and facilitate socio-economic development in the upcoming years, the district has speeded up the progress of the projects on building roads to connect the National Highway 32C with the Provincial Road 174 and link Tram Tau with Bac Yen (Son La). At the same time, it has actively exploited funds from the national target programme and other resources to develop facilities within its rural areas, with a focus placed on building inter-village and inter-commune roads and dual-purpose works within its defensive zone.

More investments have also been put in developing health, post and telecom services in line with the defence-security task. By June 2020, all communes within the district had health posts. It has a ratio of 7.3 physicians per 10,000 residents, basically meeting the people’s demand for medical examination and treatment and readily providing support for defence-security situations. The district’s telecom system has been developed extensively to opportunely serve the work of leadership and direction in all situations. Policies on ethnicity, religion, social welfare, especially people with meritorious service to the revolution, beneficiaries, poor households, and families affected by natural disasters have been publicly, democratically implemented to create a sense of consensus among the people, cement their faith in local party committees and authorities, and build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.”

In addition to its socio-economic task, the district has actively executed the province’s Project on national defence and security in the period of 2015-2020, with orientation towards 2030, the Project on organising the military intelligence and reconnaissance force in the period of 2016-2020, and the Project on deploying police officers to communes and townships. In the process, due regard has been paid to raising the efficiency and effectiveness of all-level authorities’ leadership and direction over the defence-security work and promoting the core role of military and public security offices in counselling and performing this work. Great value has been attached to building the all-people national defence and the postures of all-people national defence and people’s security, making the defensive zone increasingly strong, improving the local armed forces’ synergy and combat readiness, supplementing and perfecting the plan to shift the district from peacetime to wartime and other combat plans, practising projects and holding exercises on defensive combat, natural disaster and forest fire prevention and control, search and rescue.

However, a part from those good results, the awareness of several cadres, party members and people towards the task of combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation has yet to be great enough. Some others believe that the district should only boost economic development at any rate, without regard for defence and security. Meanwhile, the capacity of the district’s reserve force and militia and self-defence force has been still limited.

With its good results and valuable experiences, in order to foster its socio-economic development associated with defence-security consolidation, in the upcoming time, the district of Tram Tau will focus its leadership and direction on realising the targets and fulfilling the tasks set by the Resolution of the 15^th District Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure. Due attention will be paid to raising the awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, people, party committees, authorities and especially the key ones towards the two strategic tasks. Significance will be attached to enhancing state management of defence and security, effectively providing defence and security education, and making political bases strong to create a politico-spiritual foundation for the district’s defensive zone. Furthermore, the district will continue reviewing, supplementing, and completing plans and projects for socio-economic development, particularly in the key areas, adjusting and making its master plan for national defence disposition in line with socio-economic development towards 2030 relevant to the province’s development plans, and mobilising resources to build its defensive works properly. Great value will be placed on making the armed forces comprehensively strong, with a high level of synergy and combat strength, and especially making them politically strong. All-level defensive zone exercises and drills on natural disaster and forest fire prevention and control as well as search and rescue will be well organised to enhance party committees’ leadership capacity, authorities’ management, the advisory role of military and public security offices and other agencies, and the local armed forces’ combat readiness for the Homeland construction and protection in the new situation.

VU LE CHUNG ANH, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the District People’s Committee