National Assembly Deputy Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong joins in a folk dance with ethnic minorities artists. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI  — The second national congress of Vietnamese ethnic minority groups opened in Hà Nội yesterday, with the participation of nearly 1,600 delegates.

Prominent among guests at the event were Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình, head of the steering board for the congress, said the event is a vivid illustration for the solidarity of ethnic groups across the nation.

The congress is an opportunity for the Party and State to grasp the ethnic minority people’s thought and expectations, thus creating consensus and strong belief in society in the leadership of the Party and State on the threshold of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, he stressed.

Delivering the congress’s draft political report, Minister – Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Đỗ Văn Chiến underlined the standout achievements of the ethnic work since the first congress in 2010, including improved local livelihoods, more sustainable poverty reduction as well as better healthcare, education and security.

Particularly, ethnic minority people’s confidence in the Party and State’s leadership has been consolidated, helping strengthen the national solidarity, he stressed.

However, Chiến said the work still showed several limitations such as still high rates of poor and near poor households, the existence of backward and superstitious practices in some localities, and deforestation for construction of hydropower plants that causes flooding and landslides in mountainous areas.

The official presented targets, tasks and solutions for ethnic minority affairs during 2021-2020, including doubling the average income per capita of ethnic minority people by 2025 compared to 2020, an annual three per cent reduction in poverty rate, and under-10 per cent poverty rate by 2030.

To that end, Chiến said competent authorities and Party committees at all levels should complete policies and regulations related to ethnic minority groups and mountainous areas, promote economic structure shifting in line with local culture and practice, among others.   

On the occasion, the Vietnam News Agency joined hands with the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs to organise a photo exhibition, highlighting ethnic minority groups’ contributions to the cause of national construction and development as well as their culture and life. — VNS