To date, the province has reviewed and specifically identified ethnic minority, mountainous, and extremely disadvantaged villages for the 2026-2030 period. Results show that 100% of villages and residential groups across the province belong to mountainous zones; 818 units belong to ethnic minority areas, and 632 units fall under the category of extremely disadvantaged.

Điện Biên aims by 2030 to fundamentally eliminate extremely disadvantaged villages. Following the reorganization of residential units, village sizes have expanded, with an increased number of households and individuals, while bottlenecks in infrastructure, livelihoods, and access to essential services in many areas remain challenging. Accurately defining disadvantaged localities serves as the baseline for the province to allocate targeted resources and prioritize investments, avoiding dispersed funding.

Pa Hua village, Núa Ngam commune, was newly formed through the merger of Công Binh, Hát Tao, and Pá Hẹ villages. Following the merger, the village comprises 126 households with 516 residents, predominantly from the Thái ethnic group. Pa Hua is classified as an extremely disadvantaged ethnic minority locality. Transitioning from three former villages into a single, larger community creates new requirements for organizing community life, managing populations, and developing basic infrastructure. However, pre-existing hardships across these formerly distinct villages cannot be resolved overnight.

Lò Văn Chính, a resident of Pa Hua village, shared that after the consolidation, the village has a larger population size, but daily life remains fraught with difficulties. Infrastructure for daily living and production is lacking and unsynchronized, while economic development conditions among many households remain constrained. Residents hope that authorities and sectors continue investing in essential projects, particularly transportation, irrigation, and production facilities, thereby helping people stabilize their livelihoods and progressively increase their incomes.

In the border commune of Mường Nhà, there are currently 21 villages, 17 of which are classified as extremely disadvantaged, including Loọng Ngua, Mường Ló, and Na Chén. Expansive geography, difficult transit conditions, and uneven access to production resources and essential services mean that uplifting local living standards requires substantial resource inputs.

Đặng Văn Tuấn, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Mường Nhà commune, stated that with extremely disadvantaged villages accounting for a high proportion, the demand for infrastructure investment, production support, and livelihood creation is vast. While local municipal budgets remain modest, identifying pressing needs correctly is crucial to avoiding scattered investments. The commune will inspect each locality to select works with direct impacts on daily life and production, concentrating resources based on clear priorities.

Across the province, administrative restructuring brought the total count down from 1,446 to 888 villages and residential groups. A reorganized village possesses a larger population, broader physical area, and higher investment demands regarding transportation, electricity, clean water, schooling, healthcare, and irrigation. Therefore, the province’s specific classification of 632 extremely disadvantaged villages and residential groups for the 2026-2030 period is not merely an administrative review. It serves as a vital foundation for ensuring policies are implemented in the right areas for the right target groups, while enabling local administrations to proactively draft development plans tailored to practical conditions.

Experience from recent years proves that when resources are prioritized for the right localities, conditions in disadvantaged zones change noticeably. Through central and local funds, a series of transportation links, power networks, irrigation channels, schools, and medical stations were built in extremely disadvantaged villages. During the 2021-2025 period, the province invested in 1,129 socioeconomic infrastructure works in extremely disadvantaged villages. Concurrently, over 395,000 household turns received preferential credit support to develop family economies, generate livelihoods, and increase earnings.

Điện Biên province targets by 2030 to fundamentally eliminate extremely disadvantaged villages. This represents an ambitious goal amid limited investment capital, fragmented terrain, severe infrastructure deficits in highland locales, and uneven living standards. To reach this objective, authorities must first know precisely where difficulties persist, the severity of those hardships, and what local residents require. Based on this verified list of disadvantaged localities, programs and projects can be prioritized, focusing funding on works that yield direct improvements for daily livelihood and production.

Correctly determining disadvantaged areas is the starting point to steer poverty alleviation and sustainable growth in the right direction. With 632 extremely disadvantaged villages concretely identified and reviewed, Điện Biên has the foundation to concentrate resources, target investments effectively, create livelihoods, and enhance the quality of life for its residents. The goal of having fundamentally no extremely disadvantaged villages by 2030 remains a path filled with challenges, but it also embodies the hope of narrowing development gaps between regions so that no one is left behind.