Ethnic minorities in Bac Lieu need to turn heritage and cultural identity into resources for sustainable development.

Ethnic minorities in Bac Lieu province need to preserve and promote their cultural identity, and quickly eliminate backward customs, superstitions, child marriage and incestuous marriage, transforming national heritage and identity into resources for sustainable development; always raise vigilance, do not believe in distorted, destructive and divisive arguments of the nation. This is the direction of the Central Party Committee member, Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Hau A Lenh at the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Bac Lieu province in 2024. That is the main content of the seminar on implementing Decision 1220/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2024 of the Prime Minister approving the project "Improving the capacity of inspection and examination of ethnic policy implementation for civil servants in state management agencies on ethnic affairs in the period of 2025-2030" organized by the Inspectorate of the Ethnic Minorities Committee on the morning of November 23 in Nghe An. Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Y Thong chaired the seminar. Attending the seminar were representatives of the Government Inspectorate , the Ministry of Home Affairs, and departments under the Ethnic Minorities Committee. In localities, there were leaders of the Ethnic Minorities Committee and inspectors of the provinces and cities of Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Tuyen Quang, and Nghe An. On the side of Nghe An province, there was Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long. At noon on November 23 (local time), General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, left Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to return home, successfully concluding the official visit to Malaysia from November 21-23, 2024, at the invitation of Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife. In order to support customers to easily realize their dream of owning a prosperous and happy home at the NewTown Diamond luxury apartment project (Da Nang), Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank, HOSE: SSB) has launched a 0% interest home loan program at the NewTown Diamond project with a 0% interest rate and a grace period of up to 36 months for principal repayment. The program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households is one of the major policies of the Party and State. With the capital mobilized, mobilized and contributed by agencies, units and philanthropists, since the beginning of the year, Thach An district, Cao Bang province has supported the construction of 63 "Great Unity" houses for poor households and those in especially difficult circumstances, worth more than 1.8 billion VND. Within the framework of a working trip to Cambodia, on the morning of November 23, in the capital Phnom Penh, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man received the Supreme Advisor to the King of Cambodia, Vice President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group, Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association Samdech Men Sam An. That is the main content of the seminar on implementing Decision 1220/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2024 of the Prime Minister approving the project "Improving the capacity of inspection and examination of the implementation of ethnic policies for civil servants in state management agencies on ethnic affairs in the period 2025-2030" organized by the Inspectorate of the Ethnic Minorities Committee on the morning of November 23 in Nghe An. Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Y Thong chaired the workshop. Attending the workshop were representatives of the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and departments under the Ethnic Minorities Committee. In the localities, there were leaders of the Ethnic Minorities Committee and inspectors of the provinces and cities of Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Tuyen Quang, and Nghe An. On the side of Nghe An province, there was Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long. On the morning of November 23, continuing the program of the 8th Session, the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the hall to listen to the Government and the reviewing agency report on the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry. The summary news of the Ethnic Minorities and Development Newspaper, on November 22, had the following notable information: Preserving ethnic cultural heritage from the family. Highlights of the Bat Racing Festival in Bac Me. Puih Dup passing on ethnic cultural capital. Along with other current news in the ethnic minority region and mountainous region. Within the framework of the official visit to Malaysia, at noon on November 23, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, visited the Embassy and met with the Vietnamese community in Malaysia. Ms. Ton Ngoc Hanh - Vice President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union was assigned by the Politburo to hold the position of Secretary of the Binh Phuoc Provincial Party Committee for the 2020 - 2025 term. On November 22, in Quy Nhon City, the People's Committee of Binh Dinh Province and the Consulate General of Thailand in Ho Chi Minh City held a conference to meet with Thai businesses in Binh Dinh Province. On the afternoon of November 22, in Hanoi, the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front - Central Relief Mobilization Committee held a conference to deploy the third phase of support for localities affected by storm No. 3 (Yagi). On the evening of November 22, at the Phu Yen Provincial Museum, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province organized Opening of the thematic exhibition “Vung Ro Wharf and the activities of receiving support from the Ships Without Numbers”. The activity aims to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Vung Ro Wharf receiving the first shipment of the Ship Without Numbers (November 28, 1964 - November 28, 2024).

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Dân tộc Hầu A Lềnh phát biểu chỉ đạo tại Đại hội các DTTS tỉnh Bạc Liêu lần thứ IV, năm 2024 — Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh gave a speech at the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities of Bac Lieu Province, 2024

Taking place over two days, November 22-23, the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Bac Lieu Province, 2024, with the theme "Ethnic groups unite, innovate, promote advantages, potentials, integrate and develop sustainably" was a great success.

The Congress is an opportunity to review the situation after 5 years of implementing the Resolution of the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Bac Lieu Province in 2019. Accordingly, under the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee, the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities in the province has been constantly improved. Ethnic programs and policies and 3 National Target Programs (NTPs) for the period 2021 - 2025 have been seriously implemented; investment resources supported by ethnic programs and policies have made an important contribution to changing the face of rural mountainous areas.

The Congress also listened to reports from delegates with rich content on good models and effective methods in economic development, poverty reduction, and ethnic policy implementation.

Các đại biểu tham dự Đại hội Đại biểu các DTTS tỉnh Bạc Liêu lần thứ IV, năm 2024 — Delegates attending the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Bac Lieu Province, 2024

Many outstanding results in socio-economic development

In the period of 2019-2024, the economic growth rate reached 6.04%/year; total GRDP reached 36,448 billion VND (up 30% compared to 2019), ranked 5th out of 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta; Average income per capita reached 5.5 million VND/person/month (doubled compared to 2019).

Bac Lieu province has 49/49 communes recognized as meeting new rural standards, reaching 100%; the poverty rate of ethnic minority households has decreased from 11.12% to 3.86%; 1,460 poor households have changed their occupations; and 670 cases of damage caused by natural disasters that caused houses to collapse and roofs to blow off have been promptly supported.

Infrastructure in ethnic minority areas has been invested synchronously. Up to now, 100% of communes in areas with large ethnic minorities have car roads to the commune center; 99.3% of households use the national grid; 100 communes have postal and telecommunication service points, especially points to support ethnic minorities in accessing and applying information technology; 100% of households can watch television.

In the province, 64/64 communes have national standard health stations and 61/64 health stations have doctors; free health insurance is provided to 41,015 ethnic minorities; in terms of education, 231/266 schools meet national standards, students at ethnic minority boarding schools are exempted from tuition fees; support with clothes, stationery, daily necessities...; free health insurance cards are provided, especially 10 schools teach Khmer at primary, secondary and high school levels, 1 primary school teaches Chinese.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Hầu A Lềnh trao tặng lẵng hoa tươi thắm chúc mừng Đại hội — Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh presented flowers to congratulate the Congress.

Attention is paid to the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values of ethnic groups. Traditional festivals such as Chol Chnam Thmay, Ooc Om Boc, Sen Dolta Festival of the Khmer people; Peace-praying Festival, Lunar New Year, Thanh Minh, Doan Ngo Festival of the Chinese people... are maintained and organized annually, creating an exciting atmosphere, uniting the community, associated with the development of tourism services...

National defense and security are maintained; ethnic minorities in the province are always united, striving to rise up, actively participating in the work of building the Party, the political system and the great national unity bloc.

Many urgent problems need to be solved

Speaking at the Congress, Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Hau A Lenh assessed that in the 5 years of implementing the Resolution of the 3rd Congress of Ethnic Minorities, period 2019-2024, the Party Committee and the government of Bac Lieu province have had correct policies on socio-economic development for ethnic minority areas, which have been well received by ethnic minorities.

On behalf of the Party Executive Committee, the leaders of the Ethnic Committee, Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh congratulated the achievements of the Party Committee, government and people of all ethnic groups in the province in the past time, especially praising the efforts of ethnic minorities who have joined hands and unanimously made positive changes step by step in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas, contributing to the people of the whole country in the cause of innovation, development and protection of the country.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Dân tộc Hầu A Lềnh trao kỷ niệm chương — Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh awarded the "For the cause of ethnic development" medal to individuals.

However, the Minister and Chairman also stated that, in addition to the achieved results, it is also necessary to frankly admit that the lives of a part of the people in ethnic minority areas still face many difficulties. The pace of poverty reduction is still slow and unsustainable; the development of agricultural economy, the main pillar of the province in the direction of commodity production linked to the market, has not yet met expectations. The quality of education, health care, and culture in ethnic minority areas compared to the general level of the province still needs much improvement. The implementation of a number of programs, policies, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas has not kept pace. Some backward customs have not been completely eliminated; the political security situation, social order and safety in some localities still have potential complications; the quality of human resources in ethnic minority areas is still uneven...

Therefore, Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh requested Party committees, Party organizations and authorities, especially in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, to continue to pay attention to disseminating, thoroughly grasping and effectively implementing Conclusion No. 65-KL/TW dated October 30, 2019 of the Politburo on continuing to implement Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the 9th Party Central Committee on ethnic work in the new situation. On that basis, develop a specific action program and plan for implementation. Make the greatest effort to fundamentally solve urgent problems arising in practice, create livelihoods, increase income and improve life and enrich one's homeland.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Dân tộc Hầu A Lềnh trao Bằng khen của UBDT đến các tập thể — Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh awarded Certificates of Merit of the Ethnic Committee to collectives and individuals.

“2024 is determined to be the year Bac Lieu accelerates the completion of socio-economic development targets in the 2021-2025 period. Provincial Party Committees and authorities will act more decisively, with the highest political determination to effectively implement the 3 National Target Programs, especially the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period in the province. In the immediate future, priority will be given to using all resources and potentials of the province to accelerate the progress of eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses for policy beneficiaries, poor and near-poor households to ensure the completion of the Government's set targets", Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh stated.

The Minister and Chairman proposed to focus on building and consolidating the grassroots political system in ethnic minority areas, especially those living in remote areas where the main occupation is agricultural production, the quality of human resources and the level of education are low compared to the general level, the area where access and application of science and technology in production is still slow, where a part of the people still wait for and rely on the State's policies, and have not yet risen out of poverty. Promote the training, fostering and development of high-quality human resources from ethnic minorities, increase the training of dedicated ethnic minority cadres to work in difficult areas; promote the role of prestigious people and all classes of people in building and consolidating the grassroots political system.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Hầu A Lềnh trao bằng khen cho Trưởng Ban Dân tộc và Tôn giáo tỉnh Bạc Liêu Tô Thành Phương — Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh presented a Certificate of Merit to Head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of Bac Lieu province To Thanh Phuong.

Focus on combining socio-economic development with ensuring national defense and security, especially in key areas, proactively building a national defense posture, a people's security posture, associated with a solid people's heart posture. Proactively resolve all conflicts and problems arising right from the grassroots; create consensus, build villages, hamlets and wards that are united, peaceful and developed.

“For the delegates and ethnic minorities, I hope that no matter how difficult it is, we must prioritize time and money, creating all conditions for our children to go to school, play and study. Only education is the only way to change thinking and working methods, to increase income and get rich from the land and sea right in our homeland. Continue to do a good job of protecting the environment, responding to climate change; improve forecasting capacity, promptly adapt and prevent natural disasters, especially issues such as landslides, floods, etc., promote the role and responsibility in national defense and security, contributing to maintaining political stability and social order and safety”, Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh shared.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Dân tộc Hầu A Lềnh cùng Phó Bí thư Tỉnh ủy Bạc Liêu Huỳnh Quốc Việt tham quan không gian trưng bày những thành tựu về công tác dân tộc — Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh, together with Deputy Secretary of Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee Huynh Quoc Viet and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Tran Thi Hoa Ry, visited the space displaying achievements in ethnic work.

The Minister and Chairman noted the importance of preserving and promoting cultural identity and good traditional festivals, while quickly eliminating backward customs, superstitions, child marriage and incestuous marriage, transforming national heritage and identity into resources for sustainable development, teaching children about the patriotism of their ancestors, the spirit of national pride and self-respect; about the virtues of diligence, hard work, honesty, kindness; about the will to devote oneself to the community and the country; always raising the spirit of vigilance, not believing in distorted, destructive and divisive arguments of the nation.

Minister and Chairman Hau A Lenh also affirmed that, with its functions and tasks as an advisory body for the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government to develop and direct the implementation of ethnic policies and ethnic work, the Ethnic Committee will continue to research and proactively coordinate with ministries, branches, and localities to promptly advise and propose appropriate policies and strategies to better meet the expectations of ethnic minorities, so that our people have conditions for comprehensive development and make more worthy contributions to the cause of national construction and defense.

Strengthening care for the lives of ethnic minorities

At the Congress, Mr. Huynh Quoc Viet, alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee, also pointed out the limitations, including the difficulty in propagating and mobilizing the people, the effectiveness of which is not high; the intellectual level, quality of human resources and economic life of the people are low compared to the general level of the province; superstition has not been completely eliminated.

Ủy viên dự khuyết Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng, Phó Bí thư Thường trực Tỉnh ủy Bạc Liêu Huỳnh Quốc Việt phát biểu tại Đại hội — Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee Huynh Quoc Viet speaks at the Congress

Mr. Huynh Quoc Viet said that in the coming time, Bac Lieu province will focus resources and effectively implement socio-economic development policies for areas with a large number of ethnic minorities towards rapid and sustainable development.

At the same time, prioritize the development of infrastructure, education, healthcare, vocational training, human resource development, science and technology transfer, credit support, production development and product consumption; encourage investment attraction in ethnic minority areas.

Bộ trưởng, Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Dân tộc Hầu A Lềnh và Phó Chủ tịch Hội đồng Dân tộc Quốc hội Trần Thị Hoa Ry trao quà của Chủ tịch Quốc hội tặng các vị Hòa thượng, Thượng tọa, Đại đức là trụ trì các chùa trong tỉnh Bạc Liêu — Minister, Chairman Hau A Lenh and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Tran Thi Hoa Ry presented gifts from the National Assembly Chairwoman to the Venerable Monks, Venerable Monks, and Venerable Monks who are abbots of pagodas in Bac Lieu province.

Completing mechanisms and policies to create livelihoods and increase income for poor and near-poor households in ethnic minority areas to sustainably reduce poverty. Along with the support of the Central Government, proactively mobilizing legal resources and organizing the integration of socio-economic development resources, programs, projects and policies in the area to effectively implement investments to improve material and spiritual life, narrowing the gap between rich and poor in ethnic minority areas, remote areas and urban areas.

Phó Bí thư Thường trực Tỉnh ủy Bạc Liêu Huỳnh Quốc Việt trao bằng khen cho các tập thể và cá nhân — Standing Deputy Secretary of Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee Huynh Quoc Viet awarded certificates of merit to collectives and individuals.

On this occasion, authorized by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Hau A Lenh, Standing Deputy Secretary of Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee Huynh Quoc Viet and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Tran Thi Hoa Ry presented 22 gifts to the Venerable Monks, Venerable Monks, and Venerable Monks who are abbots of pagodas in Bac Lieu province. The total value of the gifts is 66 million VND.

Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh awarded Certificates of Merit to 1 collective and 5 individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing ethnic work and ethnic policies of the Party and State; awarded the "For the cause of ethnic development" Medal to 5 individuals with many contributions to the cause of building and developing the great solidarity bloc of Vietnamese ethnic groups; along with that, presented a beautiful flower basket to congratulate the Congress.

Ban Chấp hành Đảng bộ tỉnh Bạc Liêu cũng trao tặng bức trướng chúc mừng Đại hội — The Executive Committee of the Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee also presented a congratulatory banner to the Congress.

The People's Committee of Bac Lieu province awarded Certificates of Merit to 15 collectives and 22 individuals who had outstanding achievements in implementing ethnic work and ethnic policies in the past time; the Executive Committee of the Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee also presented a congratulatory banner on the success of the Congress.

The Congress voted to approve the Resolution of the 4th National Congress of Ethnic Groups in 2024, with many key tasks in the spirit of solidarity, joint efforts, and dedication to excellently implement local political goals and tasks, in order to contribute to building Bac Lieu homeland to become increasingly prosperous and civilized.