Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the floor,

Mr. Chairman, Vietnam highly appreciates the work of the Sub-Commission on the promotion and protection of human rights and believes that this forum should not be abused to disseminate slanderous and irresponsible fabrication such as the statement made by the NGO – Transnational Radical Party last Friday under the item 5(b). Such out-dated and slanderous fabrication do not reflect objectively what is going on in Vietnam.

Ethnic communities living in Vietnam enjoy equal rights. The Government has been carrying out a consistent policy aimed at eliminating the economic and social development gap between the remote and mountainous and the lowland areas, and at the same time create favorable environment for ethnic communities to preserve their own identities and fully participate in the common development process of the country. Great achievements have been recorded by the Government of Vietnam during the past years as recognized by the international community. This is a clear contradiction to the allegations in the statement by TRP.

I thank you Mr. Chairman