More than 80% of the population are ethnic minorities spread across lowlands, uplands, and border regions. While challenges such as uneven educational levels, difficult livelihoods, and incomplete infrastructure remain, Điện Biên possesses a priceless asset: a diverse, deeply rooted cultural heritage forged over centuries, reinforced by the legacy of the Điện Biên Phủ Victory that “resounded across five continents and shook the globe.”

The province today is home to the nationally significant Điện Biên Phủ battlefield relics; 14 other national relics; 22 national intangible cultural heritages; and 2 intangible cultural heritages inscribed by UNESCO. Alongside these are traditional festivals, rituals, folk arts, handicrafts, cuisine, and attire that together form a vibrant cultural mosaic.

In recent years, Điện Biên has made strong political commitments to put culture in its rightful place within development. Cultural and artistic activities are organized regularly, connected closely to community life. Festivals such as the Hoa Ban Festival, the Ethnic Culture-Sports-Tourism Day, the Cherry Blossom Festival at Pá Khoang, the Thành Bản Phủ Festival, and traditional boat races both honor and promote ethnic identity while fostering pride and solidarity. The movement “All People Unite to Build Cultural Life” has been widely embraced, strengthening community values, social responsibility, and cohesion. Culture has become both a spiritual and material force permeating villages and families.

Yet challenges remain: outdated cultural infrastructure, uneven access at the grassroots level, and the risk of cultural values fading under globalization and cultural homogenization. Investment resources are still limited; cultural socialization and linkage with tourism remain modest.

Against this backdrop, the provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee affirm the principle: “Culture must go first, leading, opening the way, and becoming the driving force for comprehensive development.” Culture is not only an outcome but also a foundation, a source of soft power, and the adhesive binding communities together. Every socio-economic policy must be harmonized with cultural preservation and promotion.

To advance culture as the vanguard of development, Điện Biên will focus on seven priority tasks:

Strengthen Party leadership in cultural affairs by thoroughly implementing the Party’s and State’s guidelines, especially the Politburo’s Conclusion No.76-KL/TW on building Vietnamese culture and people for sustainable development.

Preserve and promote traditional culture by collecting, reviving, and sustaining heritage, encouraging communities to take ownership, and investing in artisans and successors.

Integrate culture with tourism and services, positioning tourism as a spearhead sector with products tied to historical relics, ethnic cultural spaces, handicrafts, cuisine, and performing arts.

Modernize cultural infrastructure at all levels, while digitizing heritage and applying IT to management and promotion.

Develop cultural human resources, particularly among ethnic minority cadres, artisans, and guides as “cultural ambassadors.”

Promote cultural communication and diplomacy, using modern media and digital platforms, expanding international exchanges, and leveraging culture as soft diplomacy.

Build a healthy cultural environment that shapes Điện Biên’s people as proud, distinct, and globally integrated while preserving their roots.

With culture placed at the forefront, Điện Biên is determined to transform its heritage into a source of strength and soft power, ensuring not only socio-economic progress but also sustainable, inclusive, and identity-rich development in the era of integration.

Trần Quốc Cường

Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Điện Biên provincial Party Committee