Thanks to support under the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Farmers' Association of Yen Bai province has implemented many activities to help its members diversify products under the forest canopy.
Sponsored by the FFF in 2019, households that grow ‘La khoi’ (Folium Ardisiae sylvestris) in Dao Thinh commune, Tran Yen district, have joined hands to establish the Developpe pharmaceutical cooperative group with 15 members, growing this kind of plant in a combined area of three hectares. Members are trained on how to grow the plant and process products and offered chances to visit the models of planting ‘La khoi’ under the forest canopy, cinnamon, fruit trees following organic standards.
The group connects with Vietnam Agricultural Products and Pharmaceutical Company and Yen Bai Pharmaceutical JSC to sell products. In 2022, the growing area increased by 7.9 hectares, and each member could earn from 6 million VND to 7 million VND (255-297.5 USD) per month.
Duong Thi Trung, member of the group, said: "joining the group, I have more knowledge about growing ‘La khoi’ by organic methods, the products have stable output and we have stable income."
At the end of December 2022, the group invested in a machine to pack tea of Folium Ardisiae sylvestris leaves, which is the basis for it to propose to recognise the product meeting OCOP (One Commune-One Product) standards.
Through the FFF, the provincial Farmers’ Association has implemented many activities in Tran Yen and Yen Binh districts such as organising visits to effective production and business models for cooperatives and cooperative groups participating in this programme, holding training workshops on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and conducting 11 meetings to plan and implement small projects in communes, cooperative groups and cooperatives participating in the FFF programme.
In Phase I of the FFF programme, the association supported the establishment of 22 cooperative groups and 13 cooperatives with a total of over 1,000 members participating in agro-forestry production. In Phase II, two cooperative groups involved in large timber plantation were set up in Tan Nguyen commune, Yen Binh district; four models of breeding livestock under the canopy of large timber forests were built; and Binh Minh Cooperative in Phu Thinh commune, Yen Binh district received support to build an Australian Acacia seedling nursery with a scale of 500 - 700 sq.m.
In addition, the programme also helped Thinh Phat Cooperative in Thinh Hung commune, Yen Binh district develop a 3-star OCOP honey product at the provincial level; instructed three cooperatives and two cooperative groups to build "Green Credit Funds" to support members in developing sustainable agro-forestry production through a "Green Credit Fund" worth 107 million VND for member households to invest in afforestation, planting medicinal herbs, raising goats and chickens; and coordinated with the Silviculture Research Institute to survey and choose to develop three large timber plantation models with a scale of 6 hectares in Phu Thinh and Tan Nguyen communes in Yen Binh district.
Since 2021, Yen Bai Province has recruited and provided vocational training for 81,504 people. Of these: 6,359 people (7.8%) received college-level training, 12,710 people (15.6%) received intermediate-level training, and 62,435 people (76.6%) received elementary-level training or training under three months. Each year, the province has supported vocational training for 4,000 to 5,000 rural laborers.
Since the beginning of the year, the management of crop seed, fertilizer, and pesticide trading activities in Yen Bai Province has been effectively implemented.
In the first six months of 2025, Yen Bai Province issued two new planting area codes for domestic consumption. To date, the province has granted a total of 103 planting area codes, covering over 1,165 hectares.
After suffering severe losses from flash floods and landslides in recent years, the people of Mu Cang Chai District have seen their lives gradually stabilize thanks to the determined involvement of local Party committees, authorities, and the united support of the wider community. New, spacious houses have risen to replace the ruins left by disasters, opening a new chapter of sustainable recovery in the remote highlands.
Recently, Yen Bai Province has strengthened its cooperation between vocational education institutions and leading enterprises in Hai Phong through the signing of cooperation agreements. In cooperation on employment consulting, job referral, and labor supply with enterprises in Hai Phong City, Yen Bai Province has connected and recruited over 1,200 workers to work at businesses based in Hai Phong.
In 2025, Yen Bai Province aims to provide vocational training for at least 4,000 rural workers, focusing on increasing the proportion of trained workers who receive certification. The province is also adding new and specialized vocational programs to attract more rural laborers to vocational training.
Identifying mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing as key sectors in agricultural development, Tran Yen District has recently focused on actively transforming its mulberry and silkworm production areas to enhance product value. Despite significant damage caused by Storm No. 3 in 2024, Tran Yen has set out multiple solutions to achieve its goal of cultivating 1,200 hectares of mulberry by the end of 2025.
Amid growing consumer demand for transparency in product information, especially regarding agricultural products, traceability through barcodes and QR codes is considered an effective solution to ensure consumer confidence while also preventing commercial fraud.
Thanks to the development of unique and attractive tourism products across its key tourism areas, Yen Bai Province welcomed over 9 million tourist arrivals during the 2021–2025 period, including nearly 800,000 international visitors. Tourism revenue reached VND 7,189 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 32.7%.
In an effort to effectively develop tourism based on its natural and cultural resources, Yen Bai Province has recently focused on promoting and selectively showcasing its potential and strengths. The province has placed particular emphasis on infrastructure investment, especially in key tourism areas, to attract and invite investors.
In recent years, the movement of physical training and sports in Yen Bai Province has seen vibrant and rapid development, spreading widely throughout the local communities. Mass sports have flourished, and the number of people regularly participating in physical exercise and sports has steadily increased. Ethnic sports and traditional folk games continue to be preserved and promoted.
In recent years, Yen Bai has made significant and comprehensive progress in building local culture and promoting human development, contributing effectively to the province’s sustainable growth. These achievements have also enhanced the efficiency of State management in the field of culture amid the challenges of a market-oriented economy and international integration.
As one of the first provinces nationwide to launch the “AI for Everyone†model, Yen Bai has now widely implemented the program across agencies, units, and localities, yielding significant results.
From 2021 to May 2025, Yen Bai Province has sent a total of 866 workers to Japan under official labor cooperation programs, through bilateral memorandums of understanding and intergovernmental agreements.
Blessed with pristine natural landscapes and a rich repository of ethnic cultural heritage, Yen Binh District in recent years has been gradually harmonizing conservation and development by building three pillars of tourism: placing people at the center, nature as the foundation, and culture as the identity — all aimed at sustainable growth.
Summer is a peak time for travel, entertainment, and recreation. To meet increasing visitor demand, Yen Bai Province has, from the beginning of each year, implemented various tourism promotion measures, strengthened state management in the sector, and encouraged businesses and individuals to develop tourism products and enhance technical infrastructure — all with the aim of attracting more tourists than in previous years.
There are no longer any "blank districts" in new rural development (NRD) — a remarkable achievement recently attained by Yen Bai Province, marking a significant milestone in the journey toward building prosperous and happy rural areas. The dramatic transformation of localities, particularly highland districts once faced with immense hardships, has affirmed the province’s correct direction and the spirit of unity and collective effort shared by the Party, government, and all ethnic communities in the province.
In 2023, the People’s Committee of Yen Bai Province issued Decision No. 1648/QÄ-UBND on the Preservation and Promotion of Tangible Cultural Heritage in Connection with Tourism Development within the province.
According to Decision No. 1648/QD-UBND issued in 2023, Yen Bai province is continuing to promote the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, aiming to safeguard and bring into play the unique traditional cultural values of ethnic groups in the area.
