Most of the households have houses and cars, and the average income per capita is 30-40 million VND/month. Few people know, Dien Thap commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An came up from trading scrap, duck feathers…($1=24,000 VND)

The whole commune went up from… duck feathers, broken fields

In the 1990s and earlier, Dien Thap was a poor commune, people’s lives mainly depended on agriculture, life faced many difficulties. With the desire to have a better life, people began to work together to restore the traditional profession of their fathers – bronze casting and scrap trading.

At first, people did this job to produce agricultural tools, serve agriculture and household products such as pots and pans… However, thanks to a good trend, the whole commune turned to scrap trading. , crushed copper. This is considered as a “transformation” step of the whole commune.

A resident is self-producing barbed wire for sale.

The image of people riding bicycles to buy junk fields every morning, or passing foam crates behind their cars, going to get ice cream to sell, exchange for duck feathers… is so familiar to people in many localities of Nghe . At that time, the whole village and the whole commune went to trade in junk. Since then, Dien Thap has also been known as “scrap commune, wasteland commune”.

Initially, they only collected in communes and districts in Nghe An province, then continued to expand the area from South to North. When the source of domestic goods gradually became scarce, they went to Laos to buy scrap. At that time, the scrap price in Laos was low, so people in the commune massively flocked to your country. At first, he used to ride a motorbike, then he bought a car to serve the scrap business.

Mr. Pham Van Thanh’s family economy went up thanks to the business of trading junk.

Each shipment of scrap from Laos will be sorted, recycled, and then returned to your country’s market to sell at a higher price. Gradually, Dien Thap “sprung up” and became one of the richest communes in Nghe An.

When there is food and property, the people of Dien Thap build houses and villas. Now, this place has a completely new face. The spacious villas and high-rise buildings are located closely, running along the center of the commune like the image of the city.

Social… billionaire

Born into a poor farmer’s family, after getting married, Mr. Tran Hung (56 years old, living in hamlet 5, Dien Thap) moved out and started building a life. In 1997, when his neighbors invited him to go to Laos, he also took the risk to follow. At first with only a bicycle and some plastic utensils and pots and pans, he gradually went to the northern provinces to get goods and then rented a car to transport to Laos to import for dealers. 

A corner of the warehouse of Mr. Pham Van Thanh’s family.

Currently, his family owns a large dealership, many cargo cars and more than a dozen workers sorting scrap, loading and unloading goods.

Similar to Mr. Hung, Mr. Pham Van Thanh (54 years old, in hamlet 2, Dien Thap commune), is one of the famous small businessmen who came up from the scrap business. Previously, like many households, he did enough jobs to make a living, but poverty still persisted.

After many years of development, Dien Thap has grown into a “billionaire commune”, high-rise buildings are close together, like an urban image.

After discussing with his wife, Mr. Thanh went to Laos to work as a copper trader. For more than 10 years with the profession, at first it was just a motorbike carrying a few pots and pans… Up to now, Mr. Thanh owns a large agent, specializing in supplying many goods to Laos.

“In the past, my wife and I mainly traded by bicycles and motorbikes, so we faced many difficulties. Now, modern vehicles should go directly to the North to pick up goods and then go back to classify them to bring them to Laos to sell for a profit. minus all expenses, each year profit is about 350-400 million dong,” Mr. Thanh said.

On both sides of the road to the center of Dien Thap commune are rows of tall buildings lying close together.

More than 30 years since embarking on a traditional profession, the economy of many families in Dien Thap commune has “risen like a kite and met the wind”. Previously, many people knew Dien Thap as “rubbish commune” or “scrap commune”, but now have to admire the richness and rare wealth of this countryside.

According to the statistics of the People’s Committee of Dien Thap Commune, currently the whole commune has nearly 7,000 people, 75% of the population has houses and cars, the average income per capita is 30-40 million VND/month and there are many billionaires.

Villa “sprung up like mushrooms” in Dien Thap commune.

According to Mr. Dau Xuan Manh – Chairman of Dien Thap Commune People’s Committee, in the past, people in the commune were very poor. After many years of change and development, now the roads are opened, people are convenient for economic development.

In 2020, the average income of the whole commune was just under 10 million VND/person/month, now it has increased many times. The whole commune has more than 1,000 cars of all kinds, including many billion-dollar cars.

“The people of Dien Thap commune are very industrious and hard-working. Even though they only rely on scrap business to make a living, after a while, their life has completely changed”, Mr. Manh added.

Currently, Dien Thap is considered one of the richest communes in Nghe An province.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung – Head of the Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs of Dien Chau district said that currently, the number of employees of Dien Thap commune working in Laos is 1,200 people, and 600 people in other countries.

“Dien Thap is one of the richest communes in Dien Chau district. People’s lives here have completely changed thanks to their main job, which is trading scraps and scraps. Besides, this locality now creates regular jobs for hundreds of workers in the district,” added Ms. Nhung.

Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)