The center of Chiềng Sơn commune today.

This spring, the road leading to Ta Tu village in Muong E commune has been paved with clean, beautiful concrete, and both sides are adorned with colorful flags celebrating the Party and the spring. Mr. Luong Van Tem, Party Secretary and Head of Ta Tu village, happily shared: "Previously, the 2.7 km road to the village was dusty in sunny weather and muddy in rainy weather. Thanks to the attention and investment from the National Target Program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas (National Target Program 1719), the village received support to build a concrete road; 34 households in the village voluntarily donated 1,200 m2 of land, removed their fences to clear the way for the road construction. With the new road, there is a bustling flow of vehicles transporting agricultural products. Ta Tu has over 200 households, 100% of whom are Thai ethnic people, mainly growing coffee. This year, the harvest is good and the coffee prices are high, making the villagers very happy."

Returning to Muong Chanh commune in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse, the more than 20-kilometer road to the commune center has been paved, making travel convenient for the people, and both sides of the road are covered with green coffee and fruit trees. With 17 villages and over 96% ethnic minority population, implementing component projects of Program 1719, from 2021 to the present, Muong Chanh commune has received investment for the construction of 2 transportation projects; 2 cultural centers; and 1 bridge over a stream, with a total cost of nearly 6 billion VND; more than 300 ethnic minority households have received training, technical guidance, support with plant and animal breeds, fertilizers, etc., creating momentum for Muong Chanh to reduce the poverty rate to 4.72%.

Muong Coi commune is developing a model for growing citrus fruits.

At the end of 2025, the people of Mé and Ít Hò villages in Mường Chanh commune rejoiced as the bridge over the stream was inaugurated and put into use. Mr. Hà Văn Thương, Party Secretary and Head of Mé village, shared: "It Hò and Mé villages have 249 households with 1,245 inhabitants. In July 2025, from the National Target Program 1719, over 3 billion VND was invested in building the bridge, meeting the transportation needs of the people. With the bridge, transporting agricultural products is much easier."

Education in ethnic minority areas receives significant investment and attention.

In 2025, concluding the 2021-2025 phase of the National Target Program 1719, Son La province was allocated over 5,817 billion VND to invest in 10 projects. Son La province issued numerous resolutions, decisions, plans, and guiding documents for implementation. Affirming the program's effectiveness, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religion, stated: The Department advised the Provincial People's Committee on the rational allocation of funds and issued guidelines for the effective implementation of the capital; the integration of objectives and tasks between national target programs was emphasized, avoiding overlap and duplication, optimizing resources, and maximizing overall effectiveness... As a result, it has contributed to reducing the number of poor and near-poor households in particularly difficult communes by 4.47% per year; 100% of communes have paved or concrete roads leading to their centers; and 99.5% of households use safe electricity grids. 97.5% of the rural population has access to safe drinking water... The contingent of ethnic minority cadres continues to be strengthened, with the percentage of ethnic minority cadres, civil servants, and public employees at the provincial level reaching 26.4%, and at the commune level 86.1%; the percentage of ethnic minority cadres holding leadership and management positions reaching 24% at the provincial level and 87% at the commune level.

The National Target Program 1719 has proven remarkably effective, bringing spring to the villages of ethnic minority communities, helping people gradually escape poverty, achieve sustainable development, preserve and promote traditional cultural identity, and contribute to narrowing the gap between mountainous and lowland areas.

Nguyen Thu