Advancing new-style rural development in a deeper, more substantive manner

According to the Draft Document of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Congress for the 2025–2030 term, the province aims for 70% of its communes to meet the standards of new-style rural areas by 2030, with at least 10% meeting the criteria for modern new-style rural areas. Accordingly, the National Target Program for new-style rural development will shift its focus from advanced and model new-style rural areas to modern new-style rural areas.

Model new-style rural road in Xuan Hoa Commune. Photo: B. Nguyen

Despite many changes, the overarching goal and ultimate objective of the National Target Program on new-style rural development remains the continuous improvement of rural livelihoods. In line with this, localities have proposed a range of breakthrough solutions to develop the rural economy along green, circular, and sustainable directions.

 Improving the quality of life in rural areas

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is drafting the National Criteria Set for new-style rural development for the 2026–2030 period. It is expected that many criteria and indicators for building new-style and modern rural areas in this period will be revised compared to previous phases. However, the overarching and most important goal of the new-style rural development program remains the continuous improvement of both the material and spiritual well-being of rural residents.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment aims that by 2030, the new-style rural development program will expand in scale and improve in quality, ensuring a harmonious living environment that balances tradition and modernity, economic growth and human development, contributing to the realization of the goal of creating livable rural areas in the new period.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Van Thang said: After the provincial merger, Dong Nai province has 72 rural communes. Of these, the province aims to strive for 70% of the total communes in the province to meet new-style rural area standards, with at least 10% of communes meeting modern new-style rural area standards. In particular, modern new-style rural area communes will replace model new-style rural area communes and will be of higher quality than the old model. This new model will be more complete in terms of criteria groups, especially focusing on sustainable production associated with clean, organic agriculture, high-tech applications, and digital transformation. The goal is to continuously improve the material and spiritual lives of rural people, building a green, cultural, and safe living environment.

Dong Nai has great potential for ecological, agricultural, and rural tourism with Tri An Lake, Cat Tien National Park, Bu Gia Map National Park... Therefore, identifying "rural tourism development as a pillar, an important driving force" in new-style rural area construction will be in line with the Government's directive. Dong Nai also needs solutions to support people and communities in tourism, and at the same time, strengthen state management for sustainable development, preservation of cultural identity, and environmental protection.

Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial Farmers' Union Nguyen Van Giang

Exploiting local advantages

A new feature in new-style rural area construction in the 2026-2030 period is that localities will be empowered to determine new-style rural area and modern new-style rural area models suitable for their specific characteristics. Depending on the conditions, each commune can choose to develop in the direction of craft villages, high-tech agriculture, community tourism, eco-tourism, or smart rural areas...

Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hoang visits and learns about brocade products of the people of Bu Gia Map commune. Photo: B. Nguyen

 Following the merger, Bu Gia Map became a remote border commune where 75% of the population is ethnic minorities, and living conditions remain difficult. As a result, it is one of the few communes in the province that has yet to meet the standards for new-style rural areas. In the commune’s economic structure, agriculture and forestry account for 85%, while trade and services make up 15%. The average per capita income remains low, reaching only 28.5 million VND per person in 2024. The poverty rate stands at 7.15%, significantly higher than the provincial average. Capitalizing on its forest resources, Bu Gia Map is focusing on developing eco-tourism in tandem with forest conservation and the preservation of ethnic cultural heritage.

Vuong Duc Hoa, Director of Bu Gia Map National Park, stated that in 2025, the park’s eco-tourism product will be recognized as a 3-star OCOP tourism product. In the near future, the park will continue to develop distinctive tourism offerings aimed at integrating forest protection and nature conservation with livelihood development and community-based eco-tourism in the border commune. The park will open additional tourism routes for exploring primeval forests, while preserving and promoting traditional crafts, cuisine, culture, and attire, and developing signature local OCOP products, creating new sources of livelihood for residents in the locality.

Sharing the same perspective, Le Hoang Nam, Secretary of the Bu Gia Map Commune Party Committee, emphasized that tourism and services have been identified as a key and breakthrough economic sector in the commune’s socio-economic development strategy for the coming period. The commune will focus on leveraging the potential of ecological, community-based, and agricultural tourism, in connection with OCOP products and the advantages of its border location. The local government is committed to creating favorable conditions to attract strategic investors and to develop large-scale, high-quality tourism zones and destinations offering diverse, distinctive products that reflect the local identity. The commune aims to raise the average per capita income to 57.85 million VND by 2030 and reduce the multidimensional poverty rate to below 5%.

Before the merger, Xuan Loc Commune had been oriented toward building a model new-style rural area focused on sustainable agricultural commodity production. According to Nguyen Thi Cat Tien, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chair of the People's Council of Xuan Loc Commune, the local goal in the coming period is to develop a more comprehensive and modern new-style rural area, with improved infrastructure and large-scale, sustainable agricultural development. In particular, the commune will implement a range of breakthrough solutions to promote high-tech and organic agriculture linked to ecological and spiritual tourism. The locality’s overarching goal is to raise residents’ incomes continuously.

Dinh Quan Commune has also achieved notable results in economic development tied to new-style rural development. The commune is oriented toward enhancing investment attraction in industry and trade–services in a civilized and modern direction, while also focusing on the development of high-tech agriculture, organic agriculture, and circular agriculture that deliver high economic efficiency. The local agricultural sector has shifted from traditional, small-scale production to a large-scale agricultural economy linked to processing and market consumption. The commune aims to reach an average per capita income of 130 million VND by 2030.

By: Binh Nguyen

Translated by: Mai Nga-Minho