Vietnamese Propaganda

Tuesday, June 18, 2002

Ethnic minorities enjoy equality: Minister

Bridging the gap: Mang Bridge over Hat River in Nghe An central province has markedly helped accelerate economic development in local mountainous areas. - VNA/VNS

HA NOI - The Party and Government have spared no effort to foster national unity and boost socio-economic development in mountainous areas towards narrowing the gap between upland and lowland regions, a senior official has asserted.

Hoang Duc Nghi, cabinet minister and head of the Government's Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions, further said that the national policy on ethnic groups is based on equality, and aims to promote mutual assistance and fraternity among all groups.

While the basic tenets of the policy remain unchanged, the new stage of development requires focus on some specific aspects, like the establishment of a socialist-oriented multi-sectoral commodity economy in mountainous areas, he said.

This should be done in such manner as to suit specific conditions of each geographic region, facilitating efforts of each and every ethnic minority group to harness natural resources for economic growth.

The minister said priority was being given to creating a strong contingent of ethnic minority intelligentsia by providing education and vocational training for all groups.

At the same time, the cultural values and traditions of each ethnic group as well as those of the entire ethnic minority community will be preserved to enrich national identity, he said.

The most important task is to improve living conditions for ethnic minority people and prevent population decline among small tribes, especially those residing in remote and isolated areas, Nghi said.

The minister highlighted considerable achievements made in socio-economic development in upland provinces over the past years.

Their annual GDP growth rate averages between 8-10 per cent while economic restructuring is being sped up to facilitate the establishment of a large-scale commodity economy.

To date, more than 97 per cent of mountainous communes have been linked to provincial towns with motorways and over 50 per cent of minority households have access to electricity. The telecommunication network has been extended to some 60 per cent of upland communes.

The coverage of national radio broadcast has extended to 90 per cent of all tribal communes and that of television programmes has risen to 70 per cent. All ethnic minority children now have access to primary education and 90 per cent of communal health care stations are staffed by trained medical workers.

Investment in upland regions has been increasing steadily. As of last year, more than VND93.5 trillion (US$6 billion) had been spent on about 20 national programmes and projects in the mountainous areas. One third of this sum had been drawn from the State budget. The Government has also spent a large sum of money to subsidise prices of essential consumer goods like iodised salt, kerosene, paper and medicines for ethnic minority people.

Nghi said ethnic minorities have displayed their faith on the socialist regime, noting that the highest turnouts during the 11th National Assembly election on May 19 this year were recorded in many highland provinces. Cao Bang led the charge with 100 per cent, followed by Ha Giang with 99.97 per cent in, Kon Tum with 99.90 per cent and Dac Lac with 99.89 per cent.