35 years after Liberation Day, Buon Ma Thuot City in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak has made significant progress. The Party Politburo plans to develop the city into an economic, cultural and social center in the Central Highland region by 2020.

Developing from scratch...

After Liberation Day, Buon Ma Thuot was a very small town, devastated by the wars. Infrastructure had collapsed and the economic foundation left by the old regime was in tatters with people facing famine and epidemic diseases spreading fast.

Nguyen Duc Dung, a resident in Tu An ward, Buon Ma Thuot City, recalls: “At the time, the town just had 21 streets. Its center had a diameter of around 1.5km with electricity and the remaining area was desolate.

Almost from scratch, under the leadership of the Party, Buon Ma Thuot has achieved significant results in its construction and development process over the past 35 years. In 2009 its economic growth rate reached over 20 percent. Per capita income is more than US$1,200, doubling the provincial average level and budget collection hit over VND710 billion.

Together with socio-economic development, Buon Ma Thuot has developed urban beauty. Now the city has more than 260 concrete roads with lighting systems and nearly 12,000 trees along streets. Last year, it was selected as one of the country’s cleanest cities.

The Prime Minister has decided to upgrade the city into one of the 12^th regional city and the first tier one. This is good news for the whole Party, Government and people.

Ha Quang Vien, president of the Fatherland Front of Tan Thanh ward says the Front has gained high solidarity among citizens to develop the city. Particularly, the civilised lifestyle programme is widely implemented.

Under the Party Politburo’s guidelines to develop Buon Ma Thuot into a major city in the Central Highlands, its authorities and relevant agencies have made great efforts to build special features for the city. By 2020, the inner city will cover 10,000ha, doubling the current areas.

Tran Vinh Canh, director of the Dak Lak Department of Construction, says the construction plan is given first priority. The Prime Minister has allowed the city to hire foreign assistants to make the plan, he adds.

In addition to infrastructure development, the city will focus on developing crafts and some key industries of highly added value that need grey matter and producing consumer goods for export. The city will implement a number of measures to attract both domestic and foreign investment.

Huynh Ngoc Luan, chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot City People’s Committee, says the city will complete plans to develop proper short-term and long-term planting schemes while ensuring environmental protection. Furthermore, the city will create the best conditions for businesses, and step up land clearance and compensation to assist with early implementation of projects.

This is testimony to constant efforts of Buon Ma Thuot in particular and Dak Lak in general. The achievements recorded over the past 35 years will create a motive for the city to continue to develop, and complete infrastructure to meet the standards of a major city in the Central Highland region in 2020.