In the early days of starting his business, Lù Văn Đức, a youth union member from Cang Hoa village, Nà Tấu commune, encountered numerous difficulties due to shortages of capital and production experience, alongside a lack of local models to learn from. However, accompanied by the Youth Union organization and support programs for youth economic development, he step-by-step overcame these obstacles.

In 2019, after studying local conditions and recognizing that plum trees suited Nà Tấu commune’s climate and soil, Đức boldly borrowed VND 100 million from the Provincial Youth Union’s support fund to invest in developing a plum cultivation model. Initially, he planted 100 trial plum trees to accumulate care experience, control pests, and evaluate economic efficiency.

After years of persistence, his plum garden grew well, yielding stable productivity. Building on initial success, he expanded his plum cultivation scale over an area of nearly 3 ha, while combining black kanarium, macadamia, and honey beekeeping, generating a stable income ranging from VND 100 million to 120 million/year.

Lù Văn Đức shared: “Without capital and technical support, alongside the companionship of Youth Union executive bodies, developing my family’s economic model would have faced immense difficulties. It was the encouragement and conditions created by the Youth Union that gave me added motivation to boldly invest, step-by-step expand production scale, and persistently pursue a career path right in my hometown.”

To support youth in expanding production, the Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Federation of Pú Nhung commune recently handed over coffee seedlings to disadvantaged youth union members in the area. The program supported over 35,000 coffee seedlings for youth across villages, enabling households to expand production acreage, shift crop structures toward commercial farming, step-by-step elevate incomes, and achieve sustainable economic development.

Trần Đình Trọng, Party Committee Secretary of Pú Nhung commune, affirmed: “Youth actively supporting each other in production development not only helps young people rise out of poverty, but also contributes to building solidarity and awakening self-reliance in each member. When young people have stable jobs and incomes, it creates a vital driving force for the locality to develop sustainably.”

Grassroots-level livelihood support activities form part of a chain of solution packages accompanying youth deployed by the Standing Board of the Điện Biên provincial Youth Union. Aiming to awaken aspirations for self-establishment and career development, Youth Union executive bodies have accelerated propaganda, heightened awareness, and innovated economic mindsets for youth union members.

Beside capital, crop, and livestock support, the provincial Youth Union coordinated with the Vietnam Youth and Children Support Center to hand over 47 breeding cows as livelihood support to youth and disadvantaged households across Núa Ngam, Thanh Nưa, and Mường Mùn communes. Providing breeding livestock helps households gain extra conditions to develop animal husbandry, boost incomes, and step-by-step stabilize their lives.

From the beginning of the year to date, the Standing Board of the provincial Youth Union coordinated two career counseling and job introduction conferences for over 1,000 youth union members across Mường Nhé and Tuần Giáo communes. Through these programs, union members received information regarding corporate recruitment needs and labor market trends, while being advised on choosing suitable occupations following training.

Nguyễn Anh Sơn, Youth Union Secretary of Thanh Nưa commune, noted: “Propaganda and career orientation activities for youth are increasingly deployed in diverse ways suited to each target group. Youth Union executive bodies regularly update labor market information, disseminate policies supporting start-ups, and guide youth to access preferential capital sources as well as state production support programs. This has helped many young people boldly invest in economic development, creating jobs and raising incomes.”

Youth Union executive bodies continue coordinating with the Bank for Social Policies to effectively execute entrustment activities for loans from the National Employment Fund and preferential credit programs. To date, total entrusted debt managed by the Youth Union has reached over VND 1,330 billion with 17,714 borrowing households, enabling many young people to invest in production and build economic models.

Lò Xuân Hạnh, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Youth Union, emphasized: “Through livelihood support activities, capital connections, career counseling, and technical transfers, the Provincial Youth Union wishes to create conditions for youth to boldly invest in production development and elevate incomes. When young people possess stable livelihoods, they become a vital force driving local economic development, contributing to building an increasingly prosperous home province.”

Through effective economic models, practical support programs, and continuous policies, Youth Union executive bodies across the province are step-by-step affirming their role as reliable companions to youth on the path to self-establishment and career development. Thereby, they motivate Điện Biên’s youth to promote pioneering spirits, boldly start businesses, and contribute to rapid and sustainable socio-economic development.