On the morning of July 9, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee - and the working delegation visited and worked in the border commune of Ia Dom, bordering Cambodia. Here, the working group presented gifts and encouraged 103 ethnic minority households in difficult circumstances.
Mr. Le Trong Phuc - Chairman of Ia Dom Commune People's Committee - said that as a border commune, Ia Dom is not subject to merger of commune-level administrative units. The commune has 16.2 km of border with Cambodia, established in 1990, with a natural area of 14,562 hectares.
The current population is 2,200 households with 8,686 people, mainly ethnic minorities.
Average income per capita at the end of 2024 is 52 million VND; the plan for 2025 is 53 million VND. The whole commune has 103 poor households with 432 people, accounting for 4.68%. The number of near-poor households is 157 households/691 people, accounting for 7.13%.
When asked by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee about ideas for local socio-economic development, Ia Dom commune officials said that it is necessary to attract businesses to invest in deep processing of agricultural products (cocoa, pepper, cashew) to increase product value for farmers.
Authorities need to have solutions to respond to climate change, prevent pests and diseases for crops and key agricultural products of the locality, handle environmental pollution; implement social security policies, raise awareness for ethnic minorities.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan was concerned about the fact that the border commune still has many poor and near-poor households, while the land of Gia Lai is large, fertile, has a temperate climate, and is favorable for high-tech agricultural production.
To meet growth requirements, he requested cadres and commune authorities to know how to do it, find output markets for agricultural products, and avoid the situation of "losing prices in good seasons and getting good prices in good seasons".
Ia Dom commune also needs to recalculate the potential and growth advantages, attracting businesses to invest. At the same time, the commune must create conditions for individual business households to have land for production and capital to expand business.
According to Mr. Tuan, the province will balance budget capital to have a separate investment mechanism for Ia Dom border commune and other border communes, creating momentum for economic development.
Along with the Le Thanh International Border Gate area, which has just been approved by the Prime Minister, the border commune will have development space and advantages to attract tourism investment, link agricultural exports, deep processing, and logistics services.
When a business invests in a project, the commune government needs to be unanimous, determined to implement it quickly and conveniently; determined not to let it delay or prolong. The Ia Dom border area has a border gate, large, fertile land, so there is no reason for people to be poor.
The policy is good, but more importantly, commune cadres must be responsible for guiding people to escape poverty and become rich together, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan affirmed.
