Quang Huy commune in Phu Yen district on January 16 held a ceremony to announce Chieng Thuong hamlet as meeting new-style and model new-style rural area standards in 2023. This is the second hamlet in the district recognised as a model new-style rural area.

In 2023, the provincial library added more than 16,000 new copies to its bookshelves, and collected 665 geographical documents, serving more than 583,000 readers.

In 2023, 5,524 people in Son La province obtained loans worth 341 billion VND (13.9 million USD) to improve production. Of these, 308 got loans from the National Employment Fund, 4,050 from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, and 1,166 from local trust funds. 

The People’s Committee of Yen Chau district on January 12 held a ceremony to announce the decision of the Chairperson of the provincial People’s Committee recognising Long Phieng commune as a new-style rural area in 2023.

The provincial Youth Union and Youth Federation on January 12 organized a programme entitled “Tet (Lunar New Year) 2024 for Workers” at the Anh Duong Garment Joint Stock Company in It Ong town, Muong La district.

In 2023, the area of newly planted forests throughout the province reached 2,533.5 hectares, including 1,835.7 hectares of production forests and 697.8 hectares of special-use and protective forests.

In 2023, Son La province had 33 more schools recognised as meeting national standards, including 12 kindergartens, two primary schools, 16 secondary and primary-secondary schools, and three high schools, bringing the total number of national-standard schools to 369, reaching 66.33% of the total 597 in the province, and exceeding the set target by 4.13%.

In 2023, the Son La provincial Museum coordinated with relevant units to organise 90 classes educating the revolutionary tradition at relic sites and cultural - spiritual works; and six experiential education programmes to introduce culture, history, and revolutionary tradition, attracting the participation of tens of thousands of students, residents, and tourists.

Son La approved investment intentions for 17 projects with a total registered capital of over 2.5 trillion VND (102.69 million USD), and allowed three others to increase their investment by nearly 482 billion VND in 2023.

The Vietnamese Students Association (VSA)’s chapter in Son La province organized a gala night commending "5-good students" at the provincial level in 2023 and a student music festival welcoming the New Year 2024 at Tay Bac (Northwest) University.

The Vietnamese Students’ Association (VSA)’s chapter at Tay Bac (Northwest) University on January 6 organised a programme titled "Proud of 5-good students" on the occasion of the 74th traditional day of students and the VSA (January 9, 1950 - 2024).

The provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations on January 5 coordinated with the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund to organize a conference to summarize the project "Promoting effective management of community forests associated with preserving intangible cultural values of ethnic minorities in Son La province".

In 2023, the province organised 12 communication campaigns for voluntary blood donation, attracting the registration of 8,000 people and receiving over 6,000 units of safe blood to serve emergency and treatment at local medical facilities.

The Department of Education and Training of Son La province on January 4 held the opening ceremony of a national exam to choose excellent high school students in the 2023-2024 school year at Son La High School for the Gifted.

Song Ma district has 215 revolution contributors and their relatives receiving monthly allowances.

Coming to the mountainous land of Bac Yen, visitors not only explore and admire the beauty of the natural landscape, but also are immersed themselves in highland festivals and market fairs and enjoy ‘banh day’ (steamed round glutinous rice cake) imbued with the cultural identity of the Mong ethnic people.

The Nam Lanh Border Guard Station in Sop Cop district has coordinated with the People’s Committee of Muong Va and donors from Hanoi to organise a programme aimed at consolidating solidarity between border guards and local residents at the Hin Cap facility of the Semi-boarding Primary and Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities in the commune on the occasion of the 2024 New Year.

A special programme named “zero-dong booths” was held at the provincial General Hospital on December 28 to support patients in difficult circumstances.

With the funding from the national target programme on poverty reduction and another on socio-economic development in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas for the 2021-2025 period, districts in Son La province have completed more than 98 km of roads connecting commune centres with 36 hamlets this year, raising the number of hamlets having roads to commune centres cemented or asphalted to 1,672 so far, or 74.41%.

In 2023, the provincial Forest Protection Sub-department has focused on reviewing forestry land areas and enhancing forest monitoring and management, thus giving advice to local authorities on forest protection and wildfire prevention and control.