Given the fragmented terrain and uneven public intellectual standards, reputable individuals always serve as an important bridge between the party committees, authorities, and the people. Not only disseminating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s legal policies, they also contribute to maintaining community solidarity, protecting border security, developing the economy, and building a cultural lifestyle at the grassroots level.

According to statistics from the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religion, in 2026, the entire province has 1,307 reputable individuals among ethnic minority communities. This force includes 559 people from the Mông ethnic group, 546 from the Thái ethnic group, and the rest from the Khơ Mú, Hà Nhì, Dao, Lào, Kháng, and Xinh Mun groups. Being close to the people, understanding their needs, and firmly grasping local customs, traditions, and aspirations, this force helps bring the Party’s guidelines and the State’s legal policies into daily life. The voice of these reputable individuals carries a strong persuasive power because they are trusted and respected by the community over many years of close connection with the villages and hamlets.

Lường Văn Dọn, residing in Hua Pe team, Thanh Nưa commune, is an outstanding reputable individual who was honored in the national “Village Anchor” program. Because he is over 70 years old, he still enthusiastically participates in community work, always setting an exemplary lead to gain the people’s trust and obedience. Before 2020, Hua Pe faced numerous difficulties and a high poverty rate. Lường Văn Dọn, along with mass organizations, persistently mobilized the villagers to restructure crop and livestock choices and apply science and technology to production, directly taking the lead so that others could follow. Thanks to these efforts, local livelihoods gradually improved, with the number of poor households dropping from 12 in 2023 to just 3 in 2025, while the average income reached approximately VND 25 million per person annually. The entire team no longer has temporary housing, security and order are firmly maintained, and many outdated customs have been eradicated.

Having served nearly 20 years as a village head and 4 years as a highly trusted reputable person, Lò Văn Ọi from Thái village, Nà Tấu commune, always takes the lead in every local movement. Actively developing his family economy, he built a livestock and poultry farming model that generates an annual income of around VND 50 million, serving as a practical lesson for his neighbors. Beyond practicing good economics, Lò Văn Ọi enthusiastically guides villagers on livestock care techniques, mobilizes residents to avoid legal violations, and maintains harmony in the community. Thanks to the pivotal role of reputable individuals like him, Thái village, which consists of more than 120 households and 570 people, now has only 20 poor households, and 90% of the households achieve the status of a cultural family.

These transformations in Hua Pe team and Thái village demonstrate the particularly crucial role of reputable individuals in building a new lifestyle across ethnic minority areas. Reality in Điện Biên over the past years shows that wherever the role of reputable individuals is well promoted, the security and order situation there remains stable, emulation movements develop vigorously, and the public reaches a higher consensus in executing guidelines and policies. Especially in border communes, reputable individuals act as the vital “eyes and ears” supporting functional forces to grasp the grassroots situation, as exemplified by Hạng Dụ Chúng in Hồ Chim village, Na Sang commune, Lỳ Xuyến Phù in A Pa Chải village, and Pờ Á Sinh in Tả Kố Khừ village, Sín Thầu commune.

Thái Đình Hưng, Deputy Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religion, stated that most reputable individuals have successfully promoted their roles in local socio-economic development and security maintenance. With a high sense of responsibility, they have coordinated to detect and promptly notify party committees and authorities of numerous incidents affecting social security, contributing to protecting the national border and maintaining peace in ethnic minority regions. Reputable individuals also serve as the pioneering nuclei in grassroots economic development, with many boldly transitioning crop and livestock choices and applying science and technology to production to set an example for the villagers.

Recognizing the unique role of this force, the province always pays close attention to fully implementing policies dedicated to reputable individuals according to Decision No.12/2018/QĐ-TTg and Decision No.28/2023/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister. One of the regularly deployed contents is providing information and documents to reputable individuals. In 2025, the province distributed more than 14,300 copies of the Điện Biên Phủ Weekend Newspaper and over 15,600 copies of the Ethnic and Development Newspaper to more than 1,300 reputable individuals across the area.

Through the synchronous implementation of ethnic policies and national target programs, the province’s ethnic minority areas have seen positive turnarounds. The poverty and near-poverty rate among ethnic minorities currently stands at 40.30%, while 94% of ethnic minority households use hygienic domestic water, and 98% participate in health insurance. These outcomes create a solid foundation for the province to continue setting higher targets for the 2026 - 2030 period, such as raising mountainous region incomes by 2.5 to 3 times compared to 2020 and ensuring that 85% of communes possess adequate essential infrastructure.

For the 2026 - 2030 phase, the province plans to allocate over VND 250 billion to continue upgrading capacity, honoring typical models, and enhancing communication, thereby helping reputable individuals fully access guidelines, policies, and legal knowledge. They will be given favorable conditions to participate more deeply in local socio-economic development movements and programs.

In the ongoing development of Điện Biên today, reputable individuals always maintain a unique role across highland villages. They are the “fire keepers” who sustain community solidarity, preserve ethnic cultural identity, and serve as the vital bridge connecting the Party’s will with the people’s heart, contributing to forging the strength of great solidarity in the mountainous border regions.