TWENTY - YEAR OLD HAM THUAN NAM DISTRICT

Thuan Nam district was established on June 1, 1983 Pursuant to a decision of the former Council of Ministers, which is now the government, with nine communes - Ham Thanh, My Thanh, Ham Can, Ham My, Ham Kiem, Ham Minh. Tan Thuan, Tan Thanh and Tan Lap.

Ham Thuan Nam has now become a prosperous district with dragon-fruit orchids, immense rice fields, industrial facilities, tourism sites, and fisheries farms.

Remembering the first days of its establishment, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Phi, chairman of the Ham Thuan Nam people's Committee, says: “Ham Thuan Nam had poor infrastructure during its initial days. The district's agricultural production largely relied on the weather. It had virtually no irrigation works and ' the road system was in a very poor state. The district had no electricity, no access to the telephone network, no hospitals and no high schools."

Ham Thuan Nam now has 12 communes and one town with a complete infrastructure, including electricity systems, road systems, schools and healthcare centers. The district's agricultural production now relies less on natural conditions, and has begun to focus on intensive cultivation to produce farm produce for the market. The district's annual food output now stands at 35,000 tons, compared with only 13,000 tons in 1983. The district has built many irrigation works to facilitate agricultural production effectively. All communes in the district are now accessible to motor vehicles. All of its communes are linked to the national power grid and the telephone network. New industrial zones are being formed in Ham Thuan Nam, and tourism has also proved to be one of the key industries in the district.

Thuan Nam town is the capital of Ham Thuan Nam district. Located at the foot of Ta Cu Mountain, Thuan Nam town is the political, economic, and cultural center of the district. The town is home to many major agencies and enterprises, such as the Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, the Electricity Company and the Radio Station.

Along the right bank of the Phan River and to the west of Ta Cu Mountain is Tan Thuan commune, the rice bowl of the district. Endowed with mountains, rivers, plains and the sea, agricultural production in Tan Thuan commune is well developed, with vast green rice fieds stretching throughout the Tam Tan Valley. Apart from rice, cotton, corn and cassava fields, the commune also has many fisheries farms, which bring about high incomes for local residents.

My Thanh commune, the largest in Ham Thuan Nam district, has the biggest forest in the district as well as in the province. A mountainous commune with most of its residents being from the Rai ethnic minority, and the location of a military base during the war, My Thanh commune has made remarkable economic achievements over the last 20 years. The commune now has access to the national power grid, a primary school and a healthcare center. The local Kapet Reservoir, which has a capacity of nearly 70 million cubic meters, is now under construction.

Despite harsh weather conditions, the living standards of people in Muong Man commune have improved considerably over recent years. Local farmers have effectively exploited its land resources by planting and raising highly productive plants and animals, and the national electricity grid has now reached the commune.

Ham Thuan Nam district's economic targets

At the 5^th party Committee Meeting of the Ham Thuan Nam district, a target to restructure its economy during the 2001-05 period was set. Accordingly, agricultural production will account for 45% of the district's economy, industrial production 25% and trade and services for the remaining 30%.

Regarding agricultural production, the district will apply new technologies in agricultural production and will focus on cultivating and raising highly productive plants and animals to produce farm produce for the market. It will maintain its rice growing area, and expand its cornfields, cassava fields and orchids. The district will focus on growing dragon-fruit, of which it reported total output of 62,000 tons in 2002, and total revenues of Vndi25 billion. The plantation of dragon-fruit provides 7,000 jobs for local people.

As regards forestry, the district will reforest 9,000 ha of forests and plant 4,000 ha of new forests. It will also manage the exploitation of timber for the wood processing industry.

With a coastline of 23 km, fisheries is also one of the key industries of Ham Thuan Nam district. The district's annual seafood output stands at 1,200 tons, with such products as fish, cuttlefish, prawns and snails. Tan Thanh and Tan Thuan communes have a total area of prawn ponds of 250 hectares. The communes plan to increase the prawn raising area to 760 hectares in the near future.

Ham Thuan Nam district now has 107 industrial production bases, with key products being bricks, stone and other building materials. The development of industrial production in the district will be in line with the development of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries Production. The district will focus on the Production of products in which it has abundant raw materials, including mineral water, building materials, and woodwork. In the next few years, it will build the Ham Kiem Industrial Park and, the Ham My Mineral Water Plant.

Ham Thuan Nam district now has 10 kindergartens, 26 primary schools, seven secondary schools and one high school. Of these, 12 are multi-storey and the remainder are single-storey buildings. The teaching staff have improved every year in terms of both quality and quality. The rate of school-aged children going to school is target- ed at 46.2% for kindergarten, 97% for primary school, 95% for secondary school, and 46% for high school by 2005. The respective figures are to increase to 50.4%, 100%, 100%, and 70% by 2010.

The district will carry out health- care programs in all of its communes and its town. It has purchased more medical equipment and trained more doctors and healthcare workers The People's Committee of the district has paid due attention to the development of cultural and sporting activities, including those in remote and mountainous areas. Cultural activities are aimed at preserving the district's traditional cultural characteristics. In the future, the district will build an additional cultural and sporting complex in Thuan Nam town and new residential areas in Ham My, Ham Thanh and Tan Lap communes.

“The achievements we have obtained today are credited to the support and guidance of the province and the local Party Committee," said the district chairman Nguyen Ngoc Phi. “However, we still face many difficulties. The markets for our farm produce are not stable and we are short of capital to invest in fishing equipment and in building tourism infrastructure," he said.

The opening of a cable car system at Ta Cu Mountain has marked a new development stage for Ham Thuan Nam district.

Ta Cu Mountain, 170 km from Ho Chi Minh City, is located adjacent to National Highway 1A. The Ta Cu Forest was recognized as a national natural reserve by the government in 1996, and is home to many rare plants such as barian kingwood, pretocarpus trees, medicinal plants, orchids, apricots, and bamboo. On top of Ta Cu Mountain lies the Linh Son Truong Tho Temple, with a Buddhist statue 49 meters in height - the largest Buddhist statue in Indochina. With an average temperature of 20 degree Celsius and often covered with dew, the mountain is considered a local “Dalat", which is a well-known tourist site in the central highland province of Lam Dong. To boost tourism development. the province is building hotels, restaurants and other facilities, including a road from National Highway 1A to Tà Cu Mountain. It will also upgrade and preserve the Linh Son Truong Tho, Linh Son Long Doan and Linh Son Dien Tho temples.

Tan Thanh Commune is home to the Khe Ga Lighthouse, the first light-house in Southeast Asia. The 53-meter tall lighthouse, which is still in operation, was built in 1899 by the French. The commune also has a long coastline with many legends.

Thuan Quy Commune has a stunningly beautiful beach with white sand, clean water and ranges of sea-pine trees along the coast. The unspoiled beach is sure to become an attractive tourist site in the province.

Binh Thuan province has established a plan to develop four tourism zones from now to 2010, with the Tien Thanh - Ham Thuan Nam Zone being one of them. This zone will have four subsidiaries zones - the 300-ha Thuan Quy - Khe Ca Area, the 100-ha Hon La Area, the 100-ha Ta Cu Area, and the 280-ha Bung Thi Hot Springs.

The Thuan Quy and Tan Thanh communes have attracted 82 investment projects, of which 67 have now been licensed. The projects will focus on building infrastructure, including road and electricity systems, to facilitate tourism.

“In order to tap all of our available resources, we have worked out a socio-economic development strategy for the 2001-10 period, which has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee. In addition, we will create an attractive investment environment to entice external investment into industry, agriculture and tourism," said Nguyen Ngoc Phi.

“We have proposed that the province and relevant agencies coordinate with the Ham Thuan Nam People's Committee to implement annual investment plans. Priority will be given to projects involved in building infrastructure. We will also simplify investment procedures and support investors to carry out their investment projects."

With sufficient investment, Ham Thuan Nam will become one of the wealthiest districts in Binh Thuan province, and one of the major tourism centers in the southeastern region./.

NAM KHUONG