Reporter: First of all, thank you Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Trần Tiến Dũng for accepting the invitation to participate in our Program. First, could you please tell us about some outstanding achievements of Điện Biên province in the past 2020-2025 tenure?

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Trần Tiến Dũng: In the past tenure, the Party Committee, authorities, and ethnic people of Điện Biên province made efforts to successfully implement the Resolution of the 14th provincial Party Congress with many important and comprehensive results in all fields, including: The province’s economy grew fairly well, and the structure shifted in the right direction. The average GRDP growth rate reached 8.35%/year. The investment and business environment was improved; concentrated agricultural production areas were gradually formed. Many key projects and works were completed, such as the Điện Biên Airport expansion project, and the successful organization of activities celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Điện Biên Phủ Victory. Tourism affirmed its spearhead role, attracting over 5.5 million visitors, creating an important driving force for economic development and creating momentum for Điện Biên to break through and rise.

Cultural, social, and social security fields were cared for; the multidimensional poverty rate decreased sharply, averaging a reduction of about 4% per year associated with creating jobs and sustainable livelihoods for people; completed support to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for about 22,300 poor households. The cultural identity of ethnic groups was preserved and promoted in association with tourism development. National defense, security, and foreign affairs were constantly consolidated and strengthened; national border sovereignty was maintained; arising issues were resolved promptly, early, and from afar, avoiding passivity or surprise in all situations, not allowing “hotspots” to arise, creating a peaceful and stable environment for the province to develop the economy, attract investment, and strengthen international cooperation expansion. Party building and political system work received attention with many innovations. Leadership methods were strongly transformed towards specificity, clear people, clear tasks, and clear responsibilities. The province implemented the arrangement and streamlining of the organizational apparatus, building a 2-level local government operating smoothly, effectively, and efficiently, creating trust and consensus among the people. These results are important premises for Điện Biên to continue rising to develop green, smart, and sustainably in the coming period.

Reporter: To achieve the double-digit economic growth goal in the 2025 - 2030 period, what key breakthroughs has Điện Biên province identified, comrade?

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Trần Tiến Dũng: The Resolution of the 15th Điện Biên provincial Party Congress, 2025 - 2030 tenure, sets an economic growth target of 10 to 11%/year. This target demonstrates the high political determination of the Party Committee, authorities, and ethnic people of the province to bring Điện Biên to develop “green - smart – sustainable,” becoming a fairly developed province in the region. To realize that goal, right after the Congress, the Provincial Party Committee deployed synchronous solutions for socio-economic development, national defense - security; focusing on creating breakthroughs in the following 3 groups:

First of all, Điện Biên identifies the breakthrough in perfecting mechanisms, policies, and improving provincial competitiveness as a key, decisive factor. The province focuses on perfecting and promulgating mechanisms and policies suitable to reality, creating an investment environment, improving competitiveness such as: Building policies to support private economic development, innovative enterprises, policies supporting smart tourism associated with promoting cultural identity... and considers these as thorough tasks, the “key to opening the door” for social resources to participate in development. At the same time, pushing administrative reform, identifying a number of key project groups needing investment attraction to be implemented under the “green lane,” cutting from 70 - 90% of administrative procedure implementation time and creating maximum, most favorable conditions for enterprises and investors.

Second, a breakthrough in socio-economic infrastructure development, focusing on investing in strategic transport infrastructure and connecting development spaces to remove the bottlenecks of a mountainous, border province. The province prioritizes mobilizing and effectively using resources to invest in transport infrastructure; especially the Sơn La - Điện Biên - Tây Trang International Border Gate expressway route, the route connecting to A Pa Chải - Long Phú border gate, opening up a new development direction with Yunnan province, China... Synchronously developing electricity, telecommunications, and tourism infrastructure. Thereby, step by step reducing logistics costs, expanding development space, creating conditions to attract investment and circulation of goods and services.

Third, Điện Biên determines to push tourism development to become a spearhead economic sector with many types; innovating existing tourism products towards promoting unique values, improving quality and competitiveness, developing key tourism products based on three pillars (history - spirituality; cultural identity of 19 ethnic brotherly groups - nature exploration and resort, entertainment, health care, community tourism). Along with diversifying and improving the quality of tourism products, the province promotes investment attraction, focusing on developing Điện Biên Phủ - Pá Khoang National Tourist Area, creating highlights and attraction for Điện Biên tourism; strengthening the connection of tourism with culture, sports, cuisine, and agricultural production.

Besides, the province attaches special importance to breakthroughs in human resource development, science - technology development, innovation, and digital transformation. This is identified as a long-term, key solution to improve labor productivity and the competitiveness of the economy. Điện Biên determines to focus on training and attracting high-quality human resources; promoting the application of science and technology, AI application in state management, providing public services and in production, business; step by step developing the digital economy, creating new growth room in the coming period.

Reporter: Dear comrade, how should Điện Biên closely combine socio-economic development, improving people’s lives with consolidating national defense - security, and firmly protecting national border sovereignty?

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Trần Tiến Dũng: Điện Biên is a province with a strategic position in terms of national defense and security; a “frontier” land at the border of the Fatherland, with a border line nearly 456km long, bordering the two friendly countries of Laos and China. The draft Political Report presented to the 14th National Party Congress identified the viewpoint of national development in the new period as “development for stability and stability for fast, sustainable development of the country.”

To further consolidate and promote the great national unity bloc, it is necessary to ensure the people have a prosperous and happy life, so that people in the border areas can feel secure to work and produce together with forces protecting sovereignty, keeping forests, and protecting water source security.

Especially, during the visit and working session in the province in July 2025, General Secretary Tô Lâm directed the Party Committee, authorities, and ethnic people of Điện Biên province: “The spirit of Điện Biên Phủ needs to be rekindled in peacetime as a command for development”. With that spirit, Điện Biên province is making efforts to act, striving to implement socio-economic development tasks: Attracting investment, clearing all resources; perfecting transport and irrigation infrastructure; focusing on solutions to realize goals of eliminating “white villages” without electricity, building inter-level boarding schools for primary and secondary education in border communes, improving the quality of human resources, bringing Điện Biên to become a drug-free province by 2030; promoting agricultural restructuring, building new rural areas to reduce multidimensional poverty, ensuring sustainable livelihoods, improving material and spiritual life for the People, so that the People can feel secure to work and produce; consolidating the all-people national defense posture, associated with the people’s security posture, firmly protecting national border sovereignty.

Along with that, strengthening the expansion of cooperation with provinces sharing the border in Laos and China, promoting people-to-people exchange, building a border of peace, cooperation, and development.

Reporter: Thank you very much!