Khmer people celebrate Ok Om Bok, one of their main festivals, in Trà Vinh Province. – Photo: vietnamplus.vn

TRÀ VINH – Trà Vinh plans to spend around VNĐ400 billion (US$14.8 million) to develop the living conditions, education and healthcare for its ethnic Khmer population.

Lê Văn Hẳn, director of the province People’s Committee, said the focus would be on projects to better the Khmers’ quality of life, improving their work skills and preserve their culture.

These would help the Khmer get land and teach them sustainable farming methods, and conserve their culture by developing tourism models that promote it, he said.

The province would work to better education, including by expanding higher education, he said.

Improving health, especially of malnourished children, is also one of the goals of these projects, he said.

Trà Vinh has a population of around one million, with 32 per cent being Khmer.

Its target is to raise the ethnic group’s per capita income to US$3,300 by 2025 and cut the poverty rate to 3 per cent.

It also wants to reduce the number of extremely poor communes to none. – VNS