At noon on March 1st, in Hanoi , Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the ceremony to announce the National Assembly's Resolution on the establishment of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions and decisions on personnel matters within the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions.
General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man sent congratulatory flower arrangements to the conference.
Attending the conference were: Politburo member, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Do Van Chien; Politburo member, Minister of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang; Central Committee member, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung; members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, leaders of ministries, branches, agencies of the Central Party, National Assembly, Government, and Vietnam Fatherland Front; leaders of some provinces and centrally-administered cities; representatives of ethnic groups and religious organizations.
At its 9th extraordinary session, the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 176/2025/QH15 on the organizational structure of the Government for the 15th National Assembly term, in which the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions is one of 17 ministries and ministerial-level agencies within the Government's organizational structure. The National Assembly also approved the appointment of Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung as Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions.
The Government has issued Decree No. 41/2025/ND-CP stipulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion; the Prime Minister has issued decisions appointing the Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion, including Mr. Y Vinh Tor, Mr. Y Thong, Ms. Nong Thi Ha and Mr. Nguyen Hai Trung.
Based on practical considerations and in accordance with Resolution 18-NQ/TW of the Central Committee, the establishment of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion ensures consistency with practical management; the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws and regulations regarding the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of state administrative agencies; the streamlining of personnel and restructuring of the workforce of officials, civil servants, and public employees; and ensures a lean, efficient, and effective apparatus to meet the requirements and tasks of the new period.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion on its first establishment; and emphasized the even greater significance of the Party and State's attention to ethnic and religious affairs, which aims to both promote movements and activities and effectively manage state affairs in the field of religion and ethnicity, further enhancing the contributions of ethnic groups and religions to the revolutionary cause, national construction and defense of our Party, State and people.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister also acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts and contributions of Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tra (Minister of Home Affairs) and Mr. Hau A Lenh (Secretary of the Ha Giang Provincial Party Committee, former Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities) in leading agencies to perform state management functions in the fields of religion and ethnicity in the past.
The Prime Minister also congratulated Comrade Dao Ngoc Dung on completing his term as Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and now being assigned the nhiệm vụ of Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religion. At the same time, the Prime Minister expressed his sincere gratitude for the attention and cooperation of agencies within the political system with the Government in carrying out the task of state management of ethnic minorities and religion.
According to the Prime Minister, our country has 54 ethnic groups, each with its own cultural identity, creating a unified yet diverse Vietnamese culture. The Prime Minister emphasized that the most crucial element is the spirit of national unity of the Party, the State, and the people, the camaraderie and brotherhood, which has been fostered in all periods and stages of the revolution, leading to great victories as President Ho Chi Minh summarized: Unity, unity, great unity / Success, success, great success.
Similarly, we also strongly promote solidarity among religions, connecting religion with life and life with religion in the spirit of "religion and nation". With this great unity, including the unity of ethnic groups and religions, we have together overcome all difficulties and challenges, contributing to the achievements since the founding of the Party and the establishment of the country.
The Prime Minister emphasized that, in the new situation, the cornerstone of our country remains the spirit of national unity, national solidarity, and fraternal love, which must be further promoted to the highest degree in order to fulfill the noble and arduous political tasks entrusted by the Party, the State, and the people in building and defending the country in the new period.
The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to continue to thoroughly understand and effectively implement the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws on ethnic and religious affairs, and to effectively perform its functions, tasks, and powers as prescribed, paying particular attention to several key points.
Accordingly, regarding ethnic affairs, the Prime Minister emphasized the spirit of solidarity among ethnic groups, ensuring equal access for all; creating a gap between ethnic groups in development; ensuring no one is left behind; and preventing hostile and reactionary forces from dividing national unity.
Noting that the Politburo had just decided to waive tuition fees for all students from preschool to high school nationwide, the Prime Minister expressed his concern about schools for children and medical facilities for people in remote areas, ethnic minority regions, and border and island areas. The head of government requested the Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religion and the Minister of Education and Training to urgently develop a nationwide plan this year to provide boarding schools for children so they "don't have to travel far or walk tens of kilometers to school," while also ensuring their accommodation and meals. Funding for this would come from increased revenue and savings from unnecessary regular expenses. In addition, the Minister of Health was tasked with developing a plan to upgrade and improve grassroots healthcare nationwide, with the motto that caring for and protecting the health and lives of the people is paramount.
According to the Prime Minister, the principle is that wherever there are students, there should be teachers, and wherever there are patients, there should be doctors. However, this must be practical, reasonable, and effective. The important thing is to ensure comprehensive coverage and meet the needs of the people, but without being rigid or mechanical, such as "one student, one teacher; one patient, one doctor."
Furthermore, it is necessary to promote the cultural identity of ethnic groups, making their cultures a resource for development and serving the country, meeting the cultural needs of the people while transforming culture into material wealth; this includes implementing national target programs on culture, developing the cultural industry, the entertainment industry, etc.
Regarding religious affairs, the Prime Minister emphasized crucial issues such as ensuring freedom of belief and religion, closely integrating religion and life, and ensuring religion is closely linked to the nation; institutionalizing and effectively implementing state management, managing for development, implementing the Party's guidelines, the State's policies, and the aspirations of the people; and simultaneously improving the material and spiritual lives of religious followers in line with the country's development, with the spirit of leaving no one behind.
Furthermore, religious organizations and wholesome religious activities, linked to the country's development, promote national and international solidarity, enhance the role of religion in society and in international activities such as the Vesak Buddha's Birthday celebration, contributing to the progressive and civilized development of humankind.
At the same time, hostile and reactionary forces must not be allowed to incite religious issues and cause divisions among religions. The Prime Minister also noted the task of deploying satellite internet to provide internet coverage and promote digital transformation in remote areas, border regions, islands, and areas inhabited by ethnic minorities.
The Prime Minister has instructed the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to develop a plan to be submitted to competent authorities to contribute to the equitable, healthy, and civilized development of religions.
The Prime Minister also requested the Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to immediately begin work, ensuring uninterrupted progress, especially in matters related to the people and ethnic and religious affairs, actively contributing to political stability, social order and security, national development, and promoting GDP growth of 8% or higher.
The Prime Minister noted that the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion must promote and be a model of solidarity and unity, spreading solidarity and unity; officials must be closer to the grassroots, visit the grassroots more often, go to remote areas, border regions and islands, and do even better in information and propaganda work, creating motivation and inspiring equal development and ensuring that no one is left behind.
On behalf of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung respectfully thanked the Party and State for their attention in deciding to establish the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions; pledged to heed the directives of the Prime Minister at the ceremony; and committed that the leadership and affiliated units of the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions would continue to uphold the spirit of unity, solidarity, dedication, and commitment, doing their utmost to best fulfill all tasks entrusted by the Party, State, Government, National Assembly, and people.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/thu-tuong-bao-dam-binh-dang-giua-cac-dan-toc-va-ton-giao.html
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