This stands not only as an immediate requirement for defense and security but also carries fundamental, long-term significance for political stability, socio-economic development, and national territorial sovereignty protection. The Documents of the 14th National Party Congress continue to affirm the consistent viewpoint that socio-economic development must be closely linked with consolidating defense and security, while building a whole-people national defense closely associated with a robust people’s security posture and a solid whole-people border defense. This represents the inheritance and development of the Party’s strategic mindset regarding the tight combination of the two strategic tasks of building and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

For Điện Biên province - a strategic territory at the westernmost tip of the Fatherland holding a vital position in defense, security, and foreign affairs - the construction of a defense area carries particularly crucial significance. Sharing more than 455 km of borderline adjacent to the People’s Republic of China and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and characterized by complex terrain, a high rate of ethnic minority populations, and difficult economic conditions, Điện Biên possesses great development potential yet simultaneously harbors numerous elements affecting local political stability, defense, and security.

In recent years, despite lingering difficulties, the province’s GRDP growth rate has consistently maintained a fair level, with 2025 estimated at approximately 7.6%, average per capita income reaching over VND 50 million/year, and the average poverty rate reducing by 3% to 4% annually. The infrastructure system continues to receive synchronous investment, as 100% of communes now have automobile roads leading to their centers and over 85% of routes have been hardened, creating favorable conditions for socio-economic development linked with ciong defense and security consolidation across this strategic border territory.

Deeply grasping Resolution No.28-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building provinces and centrally-run cities into solid defense areas, the Party Committee and the provincial Military Command have proactively advised the Provincial Party Committee, the People’s Council, and the People’s Committee over the past years. They have guided the comprehensive deployment of local military and defense tasks, linking the construction of the defense area with socio-economic development and building a robust “people’s heart posture.”

Grounded in firmly mastering the local situation, the provincial Military Command proactively coordinated to advise on the issuance and synchronous deployment of resolutions, programs, and schemes regarding defense area construction. The unit effectively executed state management over defense, strictly appraised socio-economic development projects linked with defense and security requirements, and adjusted operational document systems to fit the two-level local government structure and task requirements in the new era.

Specifically, the provincial Military Command coordinated to tightly manage 116 national defense land spots covering an area of over 14.6 million m², while participating in the appraisal of 48 socio-economic development projects to ensure absolute alignment with military defensive posture plans within the defense area. Concurrently, they finalized operational document systems, adjusting the planning of combat bases, military zones, and national defense priority terrain for the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050 to match current mission requirements and the two-level local government organization.

Alongside these efforts, the province’s armed forces have always strictly maintained combat readiness regimes, coordinating tightly with other forces to firmly manage and protect national border sovereignty, while proactively grasping situations to handle incidents promptly without being passive or caught by surprise. Training and exercise tasks for the defense area and civil defense were deployed tightly and realistically, continually upgrading the command organization and operational coordination capacities of the local armed forces.

In 2025, the provincial armed forces coordinated 271 patrol drives involving nearly 2,000 turns of cadres and soldiers along the borderline, promptly detecting and effectively handling arising situations. Training work was deployed synchronously and rigorously, resulting in 100% of testing results meeting requirements, with over 80% rated fair or excellent, alongside completing 100% of defense area and civil defense exercise targets at all levels with absolute safety.

A prominent highlight in building the Điện Biên provincial defense area is its constant and tight integration with socio-economic development, especially across remote, isolated, and border zones. Transport, telecommunications, healthcare, and education infrastructure systems have been step-by-step invested in synchronously along a dual-use direction, serving both socio-economic development and satisfying defense and security requirements when situations arise.

Accordingly, the province focuses its priority on investing in infrastructure works possessing dual-use characteristics, such as the Sơn La - Điện Biên - Tây Trang Border Gate Expressway, upgrading National Highway 12 connecting to the A Pa Chải area, and developing telecommunications infrastructure, digital transformation, healthcare, education, and administrative center systems at all levels. To date, the entire province logs over 35 communes meeting new rural standards, contributing to elevating the people’s lives and consolidating political-spiritual potential alongside the whole-people national defense posture in the locality.

Multiple key works have been deployed to help enhance the force mobility capacity, boost trade, develop tourism, and upgrade public livelihoods. New rural construction programs, sustainable poverty reduction, and border trade economic development have received close attention, thereby contributing to consolidating the “people’s heart posture” - the core foundation of the province’s defense area.

The provincial armed forces have consistently promoted their core role in mass mobilization work, natural disaster prevention, search and rescue, helping the public eradicate hunger and reduce poverty, and building new rural areas. Tens of thousands of turns of cadres and soldiers directly participated in overcoming natural disaster consequences and supporting citizens in building stable housing, continuing to brighten the noble qualities of “Uncle Hồ’s soldiers” in the new era.

Specifically, the provincial armed forces mobilized over 26,500 turns of cadres and soldiers and more than 430 turns of vehicles to participate in natural disaster prevention and search and rescue. They coordinated to newly build and repair 321 houses for citizens in Na Son, Xa Dung, Tìa Dình, and Mường Luân communes, while supporting the elimination of 76 temporary or dilapidated houses in the area. These practical actions continue to consolidate the people’s trust in the Party, the State, and the armed forces, contributing to building an increasingly robust “people’s heart posture” along the nation’s borders.

In force building, the reorganization and rearrangement of local military organs toward a “lean, compact, and strong” direction have been seriously and effectively deployed, ensuring centralized and unified leadership and command over local armed forces. Militia, self-defense, and reserve forces are built solidly and widely, steadily upgrading the aggregate quality, standard, and combat readiness capacity of the provincial armed forces.

Education and training of national defense and security knowledge have received great focus, providing training for nearly 24,000 comrades, while annual troop recruitment completed 100% of targets with 850 citizens enlisting and 74 candidates passing into military academies and schools. Militia, self-defense, and reserve forces are arranged in strict accordance with regulations, ensuring quality and satisfying task demands in the new situation.

Defense diplomacy activities have been deployed proactively, flexibly, and effectively, contributing to strengthening solidarity and friendship with the armed forces and governments of Northern Laotian provinces, firmly maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in the border region, and creating favorable conditions for socio-economic development and firm protection of national territorial sovereignty. The provincial Military Command organized logistics and technical training for 37 military cadres from Northern Laotian provinces, effectively maintaining bilateral patrol mechanisms and twinned residential clusters on both sides of the border, while coordinating to tightly manage and protect the system of borderlines and landmarks in accordance with signed legal documents.

Several primary lessons can be drawn from the practical experience of building the Điện Biên provincial defense area.

First, it is crucial to thoroughly grasp the Party’s military and national defense viewpoints and guidelines, maintaining absolute, direct, and all-encompassing Party leadership over the armed forces and local defense tasks. This involves effectively advising local party committees and authorities to tightly integrate socio-economic development with defense and security coundations right from the planning, execution, and master-planning phases, while adopting political stability and defense consolidation as prerequisites for sustainable growth.

Second, building a robust “people’s heart posture” must be identified as the decisive factor behind the strength of the defense area, which requires focusing heavily on upgrading the material and spiritual lives of the people, particularly ethnic minorities in remote, isolated, and border zones.

Third, it is essential to build comprehensively strong provincial armed forces possessing high aggregate quality and combat readiness, proactively mastering the situation to handle incidents effectively from the grassroots-level, early on, and from afar, while strengthening coordination among forces and stepping up defense diplomacy to construct a border of peace, friendship, cooperation, and development.

In the context of rapid, complex, and unpredictable regional and global developments, the task of protecting the Fatherland poses increasingly higher requirements, rendering the continued construction of a solid defense area in Điện Biên exceptionally important strategically. This stands as both an objective requirement and a political responsibility of the entire political system and ethnic populations across the province. Reality has affirmed that in a strategic mountainous and border territory like Điện Biên, constructing a solid defense area is not merely a pure military requirement, but serves as a prerequisite to firmly maintain political stability, develop the economy and society, upgrade public livelihoods, and firmly protect national territorial sovereignty early on and from afar.

Promoting the heroic Điện Biên Phủ tradition, the armed forces of Điện Biên province will continue to unite, remain proactive and creative, and serve as the core shield to advise on building a robust whole-people national defense, constructing an increasingly solid provincial defense area worthy of being the vital outguard at the westernmost tip of the Fatherland, and joining hands with the entire Party, public, and army to firmly protect the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam in any situation.

Senior Colonel Trịnh Đức Thiêm

Member of the Standing Board of the Điện Biên provincial Party Committee, Commander of the Điện Biên provincial Military Command