President of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee Đỗ Văn Chiến visits the Bạc Liêu Province's Patriotic Clergy Solidarity Association on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Kiệt

BẠC LIÊU — President of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Đỗ Văn Chiến on Thursday visited the Mekong Delta province of Bạc Liêu's Patriotic Clergy Solidarity Association on the occasion of the Chol Chnam Thmay, the traditional New Year Festival of Khmer ethnic people.

Accompanying Chiến on the visit was Lữ Văn Hùng, secretary of Bạc Liêu Province Party Committee and chairman of the People's Council; Trần Thị Hoa Ry, deputy chairwoman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council; and Nguyễn Văn Hòa, head of the provincial Committee for Mass Mobilisation and head of Bạc Liêu chapter of the Fatherland Front.

Chiến expressed his delight at the improvements in the life of the Khmer people in the province and extended his best wishes to them.

He said he hopes that Khmer monks and people will continue to promote solidarity and patriotism and successfully carry out socio-economic tasks to build a prosperous homeland.

Most Venerable Hữu Hinh, permanent member of the Việt Nam Buddhist Sangha's Central Committee and chairman of the province’s Patriotic Clergy Solidarity Association, said that the association and pagodas regularly urge people to preserve and promote the traditional cultural identity of the ethnic group.

The association always calls on people to seriously implement the laws and policies of the Party, State, and Government, develop the family economy, and maintain peace in their residential areas, he said.

The VFF leader presented gifts to the province’s Patriotic Clergy Solidarity Association and outstanding Khmer monks, families, and disadvantaged people.

Bạc Liêu Province is home to nearly 17,000 Khmer households with 73,600 people, making up more than 7.6 per cent of the local population. — VNS