Thanh Oai District has a cleaner, greener and more beautiful appearance. Photo courtesy of Co-ordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in Hà Nội

HÀ NỘI – After more than ten years of building new-style rural areas, Hà Nội’s Thanh Oai District was recognised as meeting the new-style rural district standards in 2020.

But it has not stopped there. The District continues to develop and build on its advances to achieve new status recognition this year.

Located in southwest Hà Nội, Thanh Oai District is an area with many craft villages, 44 officially recognised and 266 historical and cultural heritage areas, including revolutionary relics.

With the goal of achieving advanced new-style rural status this year, the district has long valued sustainable economic development linked with the development of peri-urban ecological urban areas, with a modern agricultural base and craft villages developing alongside tourism.

Chairman of the Thanh Oai People's Committee Bùi Văn Sáng, said that the district has established a steering committee and developed an implementation plan for prosperity and harmony across its area.

The committee will help realise Programme No. 04-CTr/TU of the Hà Nội Party Committee on “promoting effective implementation of the National Target Programme on building new-style rural areas linked with restructuring the agricultural sector and developing the rural economy, improving the material and spiritual life of farmers in the 2021-2025 period".

It will guide the development and is urging communes to develop and implement plans to meet the new-style standards.

With sports and education facilities and a well-developed social structure, Đỗ Động Commune is one of the areas seen as a model of the new-style communes.

Chairman of the commune People's Committee, Nguyễn Bá Huy, said: “The programme to build new-style rural areas has created a strong transformation in Đỗ Động Commune.

“The greatest achievement through the stages of building new-style rural areas, advanced new-style rural areas and model new-style rural areas is that the people have been and are enjoying the 'fruits' of economic, cultural and social development.

“To date, Đỗ Động Commune has a primary school and a secondary school meeting national level one standards, a kindergarten meeting national level two standards,” said the chairman.

“All four hamlets in the commune have cultural houses to meet community cultural activities and they have also socialised the installation of outdoor sports equipment. Social welfare and healthcare work are well-attended, invested in and developed," he said.

People of Đàn Viên Village, Cao Viên Commune preserve the traditional craft of making revolving lanterns.Photo courtesy of Co-ordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in Hà Nội

Meanwhile, in Hồng Dương Commune, there are new, clean and beautiful schools, concrete roads extending under rows of trees and cultural villages filled with laughter and conversation as the evening painting a vibrant picture of a model new-style rural area.

Chairman of the Hồng Dương People's Committee, Nguyễn Duy Hùng, said: "From the successes in building advanced new-style rural areas, the government and people of Hồng Dương have been determined to build a model new-style rural area.

“As a result, the commune meets mandatory criteria, such as an average income of VNĐ70.5 million (US$2,800) per person per year and one smart village model in Tảo Dương Hamlet,” Hùng said.

“Regarding the optional criteria, the commune chose to build a model new-style rural area in the field of education and training. Currently, the commune has three schools meeting national standards, including a kindergarten and a secondary school.

“The government and people of Hồng Dương Commune always identify building new-style rural areas as a process with a beginning but no end. With that spirit, at the end of August 2023, Hồng Dương Commune was honoured to receive a Certificate of Recognition as a model new-style rural commune from Hà Nội City,” he added.

Not only in Hồng Dương and Đỗ Động communes, but in recent years, the movement to build advanced new-style rural areas and model new-style rural areas has been widely deployed across the district, achieving exceptional results.

Hoàng Long Cooperative in Tân Ước Commune is an exemplary cooperative among those applying high technology in the livestock sector in Hà Nội. Photo courtesy of Co-ordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in Hà Nội

“Currently, Thanh Oai has completed all nine criteria for an advanced new-style rural district according to Decision No. 320/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister. The district also has no outstanding debt in basic construction in building new-style rural areas. The highlight is that the programme to build new-style rural areas has created prosperous, beautiful and modern countryside areas while preserving traditional cultural beauty,” said the district chairman.

As of the end of 2023, the average income of Thanh Oai District reached VNĐ72.1 million per person, an increase of VNĐ17 million compared to 2020 and it is expected that by the end of this year, the district will no longer have any poor households.

Additionally, 90.6 per cent of hamlets and villages have been recognised and maintained the title of cultural hamlets and residential groups and one hundred per cent of the communes meet national health standards.

Thanh Oai District currently has 60 out 74 public schools at all levels, from kindergartens to primary and secondary schools, meeting national standards and all three public high schools meet national level one standards in 2024.

One hundred per cent of the inter-commune and rural road systems have been asphalted and concreted.

Assessing the advanced new-style rural area construction programme of Thanh Oai District, Nguyễn Văn Chí, deputy chief of Co-ordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme said that with high determination, Thanh Oai District currently has 12 communes meeting advanced new-style rural standards, three communes meeting model new-style rural standards and one township of Kim Bài meeting the criteria for a civilised urban area.

These are commendable results that contribute to the overall achievements of the new-style rural construction movement in Hà Nội. Thanh Oai aims to be recognised as meeting the advanced new-style rural district standards by October 2024, he said. VNS

*This article is published under the co-ordination of the Co-ordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in Hà Nội.