Under the Party’s strategic line on building provinces and centrally-run cities into strong defensive zones, Nghe An province has been implementing drastic, synchronised measures to realise this strategic line.

Nghe An is located in the heart of the North Central Coast, on the North - South key transport axis, within the East - West economic corridor (Myanmar - Thailand - Laos - Vietnam), thus holding a position of strategic importance in economic, defence, security, diplomatic terms to Military Region 4 and the whole country.

Dealing with situations during a maps-based command - office exercise

Fully aware of its strategic position, over the years, Nghe An has focused on directing its committees, sectors, and localities to actively tap their potential and advantages, attract more investments, and make a breakthrough in socio-economic, cultural development associated with defence - security consolidation, particularly the building of increasingly strong defensive zones in the new situation, thereby obtaining significant results. Notably, the work of leadership and direction has been closely carried out; awareness of military - defence tasks among party committees, authorities, the armed forces, and citizens has been raised. Political security and social order and safety have been maintained; the people’s life has been improved; “posture of people’s hearts and minds” has been developed and effectively promoted. Defensive zone potential, forces, and postures, especially in key, border, coastal, island areas have been consolidated.

However, awareness of the building of defensive zones among several party committees, authorities, and citizens has been insufficient; the combination of socio-economic development and defence - security consolidation has yet to be really effective; resources for constructing military works within defensive zones have been still limited.

Currently, political security within the province is basically stable; socio-economic development continues to be fostered. Nevertheless, rural security, ethnic and religious issues, particularly in remote, isolated, border areas are facing potential destabilising factors; free migration, drug trafficking, and social evils are still complex and negatively impacting on the performance of military - defence tasks. The streamlining of the political system’s apparatus, the organisation of a two-tier local government model, and administrative boundary adjustments at commune level directly affect the building of defensive zones and present new issues to be resolved. To continue effectively realising the Party’s strategic line, building the province into a strong defensive zone, maintain readiness for dealing with defence - security situations, creating a favourable condition for socio-economic development in the new era, Nghe An’s sectors and forces, especially the provincial armed forces will uphold unity and uniformity, proactively surmount difficulties, and focus on well implementing several measures as follows.

First, stepping up education and propagation work to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among sectors, forces, and all people towards the building of defensive zones. Well implementing this measure will help achieve great consensus among committees, sectors, organisations, and all people about this important task. To that end, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) will proactively give advice to the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee on directing all-level party committees and authorities, sectors, and departments to step up education and propagation work aimed at rendering cadres, party members, and citizens fully aware of the necessity of building strong defensive zones as well as hostile forces’ plots and artifices. Emphasis will be placed on disseminating the Resolution of the 13^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation, the 12^th Politburo’s Conclusion 64-KL/TW, dated 3 October 2019, on enhancing the execution of the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated 22 September 2008, the Government’s Decree 21/2019/NĐ-CP, dated 22 February 2019, on building defensive zones, as well as resolutions, directives, and guidance by the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, Military Region 4, and the province on defence - security tasks.

The PMC will collaborate with sectors, departments, and localities to intensify political education and propagation, raise the quality of defence and security education for target individuals, especially key cadres of the political system, students, religious dignitaries, ethnic minorities, and citizens in remote, isolated, border area. Promoting their function as an “army ready for work”, the provincial armed forces will actively carry out mass mobilisation work and take part in building political bases and helping the people with hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and natural disaster relief. Doing so will help raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among cadres, party members, and all people towards Fatherland protection, while a “posture of people’s hearts and minds” will be consolidated right at grass-roots level as the basis for the building of all-people national defence and defensive zones within the province.

The PMC inspects training work for new soldiers of Regiment 764

Second, closely combining socio-economic development with defence - security consolidation. Under the Politburo’s Resolution 26-NQ/TW, dated 3 November 2022, on “socio-economic development and defence - security consolidation in the North Central and Central Coast regions by 2030, with a vision towards 2045”, “Nghe An province’s planning in the period of 2021 - 2030, with a vision towards 2050”, and commune-level administrative boundary adjustments, the PMC will advise the province on reviewing and adjusting the master planning of defence disposition combined with socio-economic development and provincial defensive zone military posture, identifying proper locations for regional defence commands. It will work with the province’s Public Security, sectors, and departments to closely appraise socio-economic development plans and projects, particularly foreign-invested projects and projects in the key areas of defence and security, ensuring a harmony of socio-economic development and defence - security consolidation.

Moreover, the PMC will assist the province in exercising leadership over a combination of socio-economic development, defence - security consolidation, and diplomacy. Great value will attached to developing economic sectors with great potential, attracting investments, and effectively implementing socio-economic development projects in localities. In the medium term, the province will develop 4 economic corridors to boost economic cooperation, trade, and investment between regions; it will continue restructuring its economy towards the increased proportion of processing, manufacturing, and production for the people’s life in peacetime and military - defence tasks in the event of a war. It will develop synchronised, modern traffic, health care, energy, information technology infrastructures to stimulate socio-economic development and create resources for defensive zone building and defence - security tasks.

Third, enhancing the planning and building of an inter-connected, solid defensive zone military posture. While giving advice on supplementing and perfecting operational mechanisms and regulations for defensive zones, raising all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership, direction, and operation capacity in the new situation, the PMC will continue to assist the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, the Provincial People’s Committee in designing plans for building military works within defensive zones under the approved Project on “building military posture within Nghe An provincial defensive zone in the period of 2021 - 2025”. It will proactively give advice on completing the planning of provincial defensive zone military posture relevant to administrative boundary adjustments and the provincial armed forces’ disposition to guarantee an extensive, inter-connected, focalised posture without any overlaps, especially in key, border, sea, island areas. It will give advice to the province on mobilising resources for construction under the pre-set plans and road map, with priority given to crucial, dual-purpose works, such as combat bases, rear bases, logistics - technical bases, all-level headquarters, and tunnels. The province will continue to closely manage natural caves, areas of tactical value, and urban constructions, while upgrading natural caves into shelters, arms depots, and food depots to save expenses. Doing so will enable the province to create an “inter-connected, solid, in-depth” military posture to meet the requirements of defence, security, and area protection operations in the event of a war.

Fourth, consolidating all-level military agencies, making the provincial armed forces adept, compact, strong, and capable of playing a core role in building defensive zones. Under higher echelons’ guidance and directives, the PMC will proactively give advice to the province on arranging and consolidating all-level military agencies in a timely, effective manner. It will design force adjustment plans and quickly stabilise the armed forces’ organisational structure, weapons, and equipment when there are adjustments in commune-level administrative units and district-level governments cease their operations. It will resolutely prevent this process from affecting the performance of the armed forces’ political missions. It will give advice to the province and localities on making the armed forces strong in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel, turning them into loyal, reliable political and combat forces of local party committees, authorities, and citizens. Due attention will be paid to building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong military offices and units as well as pure, strong military party organisations to meet their task requirements in the new situation. The PMC will make a breakthrough in raising the quality of training and exercises, particularly defensive zone exercises when district-level local governments no longer exist; it will take synchronised measures to step up regularity building and discipline management to contribute to raising the armed forces’ synergy and combat power.

The province will continue to build a “powerful”, high-quality reserve force and a “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence force; significance will be attached to building standing border militia units and maritime militia and self-defence units in each area as the core force in military - defence tasks, natural disaster and epidemic prevention and mitigation, and search and rescue at grass-roots level.

Last but not least, the provincial armed forces will well carry out the work of defence diplomacy and maintain a good relationship with the three Lao provinces bordering Nghe An in order to build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation, mutual development, provide a solid foundation for the province’s defensive zone, and protect the Fatherland early and from afar.

Sr. Col. DINH BAT VAN

Commander of the PMC