Untie the knot" to create growth momentum
For many years, transportation has always been the biggest bottleneck hindering Dien Bien's breakthrough. Despite possessing many potentials and advantages in agriculture, transportation costs through dangerous mountain passes have pushed product prices up, reducing competitiveness.
Along with that, tourism potential has not been promoted. Although there is a Dien Bien Phu Battlefield relic complex and a majestic landscape system, the locality also suffers from only receiving tourists seasonally because the travel time by road from Hanoi takes more than 10 hours.
Therefore, removing bottlenecks in transport infrastructure is always an issue that generations of leaders of Dien Bien province are concerned about. After many years of waiting, component project 1 of the Son La - Dien Bien expressway was officially started at the end of May, making people extremely excited and expectant.
The phase 1 expressway with a length of 48.3km connecting from Son La to Dien Bien is not only a major transportation project, but also a livelihood and future for tens of thousands of people.
At points that are accelerating site clearance along the route, the expectation is clearly visible on the faces of ethnic minorities Thai and Mong.
Mr. Lo Van Quan, a resident of Lao village, Muong Lan commune, said: "Over the years, the villagers have made food that is difficult to sell because the roads are far away. With a new highway, container trucks speeding downstream, agricultural products are not afraid of being damaged, and people's lives will definitely be better.
Not only farmers, domestic travel businesses are also holding their breath waiting. When the travel time by road from the capital to Dien Bien is halved, Dien Bien will no longer be a "year-on-year" destination.
In addition to the anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, this place will become a regular weekend resort choice for tourists from the lowlands.
Opening the door to logistics to Laos and China
The scale of the Son La - Dien Bien expressway project does not stop at the domestic perspective. Looking at the strategic map, Dien Bien is the only province sharing a border of more than 400km with both Laos and China.
The expressway project after completion will directly connect to Tay Trang International Border Gate - the gateway to trade in the East-West Economic Corridor.
Smooth infrastructure will turn Dien Bien into a cargo transit center (logistics). Goods from northern Vietnam and southwestern China can transit through Dien Bien to Laos or connect directly to northeastern Thailand.
This is a golden opportunity for Dien Bien to attract large corporations to invest in building industrial parks and border logistics warehouses.
The mega-project opens up great opportunities but also poses no small challenges on the Dien Bien provincial government. The problem of site clearance, resettlement arrangement, and ensuring stable social security for ethnic minorities affected by the project needs to be implemented with understanding and high consensus.
In addition, preserving indigenous cultural identity and protecting primary forest ecosystems when the wave of urbanization makes landfall also requires careful steps.
Facing the opportunity to break through infrastructure with the strategic highway as the mainstay, Dien Bien people have every right to be confident about a future that is not only rich in historical value, but also a green economic core and connects to countries in the region of the Northwest region.
