Ceremony marks Dien Bien Phu victory A grand ceremony celebrating the 62nd anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, which ended French colonial rule in the country, was held in Dien Bien Phu city in the northwestern province of Dien Bien on May 7.   President Tran Dai Quang was present at the celebration, along with representatives from ministries, sectors, the provincial People’s Committee and Council, war veterans and a crowd of local residents. In his speech at the event, Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Mua A Son recalled historical milestones of the Dien Bien Phu 56-day campaign which “ resounded throughout the five continents and was world-shaking”. He expressed gratitude to late President Ho Chi Minh and late General Vo Nguyen Giap, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army, for their roles in the triumph at Dien Bien Phu. He also offered heartfelt thanks to the war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the victory. Son highlighted Dien Bien’s socio-economic achievements over the 30-year renewal (Doi moi) process. According to Son, the local economy has recorded stable growth between 2010-2015, with average growth hitting 9.11 percent a year in the period. Per capita income in 2015 reached 23.6 million VND, up 1.89 times over 2010. Infrastructure facilities in Dien Bien have been upgraded, while the living standard of locals has been improved remarkably, he stressed, adding that the locality’s political stability and security and defence are ensured. The local authorities have also paid heed to promoting foreign relations and international integration, which are expected to help foster the locality’s economic growth in the coming time, Son stressed. On behalf of the Party and State, President Tran Dai Quang presented the Labour Order, first class to Dien Bien province in recognition of the local Party Organisation’s and authorities’ contributions to the bidding of the bidding of the Son La hydro-power plant. Earlier the same day, Vietnamese leaders led by President Tran Dai Quang offered incense to war heroes resting at the A1 Hill Cemetery in the locality. The Dien Bien Phu Victory on May 7, 1954 is considered to be a glorious “golden milestone” in the history of the struggle of the Vietnamese people against foreign aggressors. It marked the complete collapse of old colonialism all over the world, paving the way for the movement of rising up to struggle for national liberation in colonial countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. President urges Dien Bien to raise economic growth President Tran Dai Quang has asked the Party organisation and authorities of the northwest mountainous province of Dien Bien to enhance their leadership and direction for a number of key tasks, including promoting economic growth. During his working session with the provincial authorities on May 7, the President underlined the need for Dien Bien to focus on developing agricultural production and services together with restructuring agriculture, constructing infrastructure facilities for socio-economic and culture development, effectively attracting investment and promoting new-style rural area building programmes. President Quang hailed important achievements made by the local Party organisations and authorities, and residents in recent times, especially in economic growth expansion, per capita income improvement, poverty reduction and vocational training, saying that those greatly contributed to the nation’s development. Tran Van Son, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee briefed the President on Dien Bien’s socio-economic achievements and efforts in ensuring security and defence in 2015. The Party and local-government building work recorded positive results, he noted. In the first months of this year, local authorities devised many solutions to promote trade and service activities, and accelerate key projects such as the programmes of rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, new-style rural area building, the resettlement and socio-economic development plans, Son reported. In 2016, the locality will focus on fostering agricultural production and the service sector, strengthening the great national unity, improving the quality of the local political system’s operations and concretising the Resolutions of the 12th National Party Congress and the 13 th Congress of the provincial Party Organisation, he added. Agreeing on targets and measures for the socio-economic goals in the 2015-2020 period set at the recent 13 th Congress of the local Party Organisation, President Quang made a request for better Party building and local-level political system enforcement. The locality should pay attention to fostering tourism development, especially historical and cultural tourism, and fully tapping the sector’s advantages and potential, he added. The State leader also reminded the local authorities to enhance international integration and take more measures to ensure security and defence. The same day, President Quang inspected preparations for the upcoming National Assembly and People’s Council elections at the Ministry of Public Security’s Mobile Police Regiment in Dien Bien. Dien Bien province is home to over 550,000 people from 19 ethnic groups, with 38 percent of the Thai ethnicity, and 34.8 percent of the H’Mong people. It shares 401 km of borders with Laos and China.- VNA