The Dong Khoi (General Uprising) movement in Ben Tre in 1960 was a milestone in the South’s resistance war against the United States. The movement led directly to national reunification under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh.
From Ben Tre, the movement spread across the south. It changed the tone of the revolution from reserving forces to relentlessly attacking the enemy thus gaining many victories.
With the lessons learnt from and the momentum of the General Uprising, Ben Tre and the southern region entered the decisive battle of the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975 with its peak being the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, which led to the liberation of the south and national reunification.
Since then, the Party organisation and people of Ben Tre have maintained the spirit of the General Uprising to build a prosperous and beautiful homeland.
Over the past 62 years, the spirit and values of the General Uprising have been preserved and elevated by the provincial Party Committee and people in the locality. The movement has perpetuated an internal strength, a spiritual motivation to overcome difficulty to turn Ben Tre into a modern and prosperous region in the Mekong Delta. The material and spiritual life of local residents has improved, while the province’s economy and society have risen in parallel.
The year 2021 was the first the province carried out the resolution of the province’s Party congress for the 2020-2025 term and the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. Despite facing many difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben Tre moved forward with the 11th provincial Party Congress under the moniker “Consensus – Creation” and launched the “New Dong Khoi” emulation movement for 2020-2025 period with a vision to 2030.
Tran Ngoc Tam, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ben Tre province, said that in the coming years, coconut production and processing, seafood processing, supportive industries and renewable energy have been identified as key industries, based on the local advantages.
The provincial authority sets some key targets for this year including expanding its Gross Regional Domestic Products (GRDP) growth rate by 8-8.5 percent; earning total export turnover of 1.5 billion USD and raising GRDP per capita to more than 2,000 USD. The ratio of urbanisation will be raised to about 23 percent while the percentage of households using clean water should reach about 66 percent.
The region is investing capital toward liquefied gas power projects in Thanh Phu and Ba Tri districts and is developing transmission grid infrastructure for renewable energy projects in the area.
Attracting more investment and developing infrastructure for industrial parks and economic industry clusters are key tasks in the future, according to Tam.
Ben Tre will continue with global integration to create a foundation for socio-economic development; responsible implementation of commitments with foreign partners; and making full use of opportunities and resources for development, he said.
A 65-kilometre coastline means the province has advantages for developing a sea-based economy.
Ben Tre is developing concentrated farming of key aquatic species in coastal districts in Ba Tri, Binh Dai and Thanh Phu. These districts now have 46,000ha of aquaculture farms, including 11,500ha devoted to intensive and semi-intensive shrimp farming.
Doan Van Danh, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said aquaculture is to be developed into an effective and sustainable sector in tune with Ben Tre’s unique environment. He said that the province will proactively switch from traditional to hi-tech breeding methods, adopt good agricultural practices and origin traceability, and ensure bio-safety and environmental protection.
This year, the province aims to develop at least 500ha of hi-tech farms breeding brackish-water shrimp, taking the total to 2,500ha, he said.
The provincial People’s Committee has unveiled a plan to host 4,000ha of hi-tech shrimp farms by 2025, 2,500ha in Binh Dại, 1,500ha in Thanh Phu and 500ha in Ba Tri.
Leading companies have already entered the hi-tech shrimp farming game in the three coastal districts. The province is investing in infrastructure for hi-tech farming at those sites.
The province is soliciting investment in processing, especially of marine shrimp. It has 11 plants that process seafood for export, mostly tra fish and clam, with a total capacity of 72,000 tonnes a year.
Ben Tre has 47,550ha under aquaculture with an expected output this year of 320,000 tonnes, according to the department./.
