Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính visits an ethnic community in Điện Biên Province on Sunday. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐIỆN BIÊN — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Sunday urged macadamia growers in the northern province of Điện Biên to turn the vast northwestern mountains and forests into material wealth.

He was speaking while paying a visit to a new model for macadamia cultivation in Huổi Tao B Village, Pu Nhi Commune.

Chính said coffee and macadamia trees could both be developed in the region.

To promote these crops, support should be provided during the first five years for macadamia and the first three years for coffee, he said.

The Government leader asked local authorities to improve planning, avoid fragmented cultivation and instead promote business links and market access.

He also stressed the importance of applying science and technology, improving crop quality and productivity, developing processing capacity and building product brands and packaging, as well as establishing links between enterprises and farmers or suitable co-operatives.

Through these connections, enterprises would support the supply of seedlings and fertilisers, while banks would provide credit and scientific and technical organisations would assist with technology.

During the visit, the PM also presented gifts and praised outstanding households engaged in macadamia cultivation and local economic development.

Chính encouraged area residents to explore additional crops and livestock suitable for intercropping, optimise land use, strengthen cooperation among households and enterprises, participate in co-operatives, consolidate land plots and prosper in their own homeland.

The high-tech macadamia plantation project in Pu Nhi Commune is funded by HD Kinh Bắc Joint Stock Company and covers a total area of 761.7 hectares.

Under the project, macadamia trees were planted starting in 2021.

Thus far 470 hectares have been planted, including 450 hectares directly operated by the enterprise and 20 hectares developed by 27 local households from the Thái and Mông ethnic groups.

Before starting the project, local residents mainly used the land to grow traditional crops such as upland rice, maize and cassava.

These crops generated relatively low economic returns, with average incomes after costs and labour reaching only up to VNĐ3 million per hectare.

The macadamia trees are expected to start bearing fruit in 2027.

After becoming more commercially stable, the productivity and economic value of macadamia will continue to increase, contributing to higher incomes for local residents.

By the 10th year, output is projected to reach about 10kg per tree, generating an income of more than VNĐ80 million per hectare.

Most households participating in the project are Thái and Mông ethnic families living in the area.

The project also creates regular and seasonal jobs for hundreds of local workers.

As part of his working visit to Điện Biên Province, that same day Chính offered incense to commemorate President Hồ Chí Minh, heroes and martyrs at the Hồ Chí Minh Memorial House within the E2 Hill historical site, the Điện Biên Phủ Battlefield Martyrs' Temple and the A1 Martyrs' Cemetery in the lead up to the 72nd anniversary of the Điện Biên Phủ Victory (May 7, 1954 - 2026).

PM Phạm Minh Chính offered incense and flowers at the A1 Martyrs' Cemetery in Điện Biên Province on Sunday. VNA/VNS Photo

At the Hồ Chí Minh Memorial House within the E2 Hill historical site, the PM and a delegation of officials laid flowers and offered incense to commemorate and express their boundless gratitude to national hero, President Hồ Chí Minh, who dedicated his life to the country and the people.

President Hồ Chí Minh played a decisive role in enabling the entire Party, army and people to achieve the historic victory at Điện Biên Phủ in 1954.

The PM and the delegation pledged to live, fight, study and work in line with the thought, morality and lifestyle of President Hồ Chí Minh, fulfilling their assigned tasks and helping to build a Việt Nam that is increasingly prosperous, civilised and thriving, where the people are increasingly happy and well-off.

Chính and the delegation then offered incense and flowers, expressing their profound respect and boundless gratitude, commemorating and paying tribute to the heroic martyrs at the Điện Biên Phủ Martyrs' Temple and visiting the A1 Martyrs' Cemetery.

With courage and a heroic spirit of sacrifice in the resistance war against the French colonialists, especially during the 56 days and nights of digging tunnels in the mountains, sleeping in bunkers, enduring torrential rain and meagre rations, blood mixed with mud, unwavering courage and unyielding determination, the heroes, martyrs and soldiers of Điện Biên Phủ, along with the entire Party, army and people, achieved the victory that shook the world and resonated across five continents, known as 'a glorious golden milestone' in the history of the nation.

The memorial to the martyrs at the Điện Biên Phủ battlefield is built on the F Hill relic site, located immediately to the east of A1 Hill, which played a crucial role in controlling and launching attacks on A1 Hill by the Vietnamese army, where many soldiers sacrificed their lives.

Located approximately 100 metres south of the A1 Hill historical site, the A1 Martyrs' Cemetery is the resting place of 644 soldiers who bravely fought and sacrificed their lives in the historic Điện Biên Phủ campaign in 1954.

In a solemn, sacred and deeply moving atmosphere, the PM and members of the delegation respectfully bowed before the spirit of General Võ Nguyên Giáp and the heroes and martyrs who bravely fought and sacrificed their lives on the heroic land of Điện Biên Phủ.

The delegation prayed that the spirit of the heroes, martyrs and compatriots who sacrificed their lives on the Điện Biên Phủ battlefield would rest in eternal peace, and that they would bless and protect the nation, ensuring peace and prosperity for the people, and that Việt Nam would endure and thrive. — VNS