Solutions for Building a Team of Ethnic Minority Cadres in the Mountainous Areas of Nghe an Province, Vietnam

The mountainous area of Nghe An province accounts for over 83% of the province's total area, with 248 communes and nearly 3,800 villages and hamlets, and is home to over 490,000 ethnic minorities, belonging to 6 main ethnic groups such as Thai, H'Mong, Kho Mu, O Du, Tho and Hoa.Ethnic minorities here are not only an organic part of the provincial community but also an important force contributing to protecting national border sovereignty, maintaining security and defense, developing the economy in difficult areas, and preserving national cultural values.In the context of sustainable development and deep integration, the role of ethnic minority cadres becomes increasingly crucial, because they are the bridge between the Party, the government and the people, the ones who directly organize the implementation of policies in the locality and promptly reflect the voices and legitimate aspirations of ethnic minorities to the State (Ha et al., 2024) Ethnic minority cadres have the advantage of understanding local culture, language, beliefs, and customs, and are an indispensable factor in ensuring the suitability and effectiveness of state administration, especially in areas with concentrated ethnic minority populations (Hai et al., 2023).However, in Nghe An province, although the number of ethnic minority cadres has increased in recent years, there are still many shortcomings: uneven quality, lack of ethnic minority cadres holding key positions, the proportion of female or young ethnic minority cadres is still very low, and some provincial agencies do not have ethnic minority representatives.Specifically, by 2023, ethnic minority cadres and civil servants will account for about 13.3% of the total number of cadres and civil servants in the province, approaching the ethnic minority proportion in the population of 14.8%.They are mainly concentrated at the commune level in mountainous areas, with a serious shortage at the provincial level.The above situation raises urgent requirements for innovation in thinking and action in developing human resources and ethnic minority cadres, especially in the context that Vietnam is implementing key strategies such as the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority