NDO/VNA – Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on January 19 emphasised socio-economic infrastructure development, the building of value chains and the transfer of technologies to create sustainable livelihoods for ethnic minority groups.

Addressing a meeting of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, Minh said it is a must to keep a close watch on the situation in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, especially natural disasters and diseases there and “security hotspots”.

He requested that the committee, relevant agencies and local authorities effectively roll out the strategy on ethnic affairs in 2021-2030 with a vision towards 2045, the master scheme and the national target programme on socio-economic development in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas in 2021-2030.

Deputy PM Minh also ordered promoting legal popularisation, expanding international cooperation in ethnic affairs to attract foreign investment in the regions, and continuing with people-to-people diplomacy.

He reiterated the importance of policies on ethnic affairs and affirmed that over the past years, the Vietnamese Party and State have issued many guidelines and policies on ethnic affairs, which have covered all sectors and regions, helping to raise living standards of ethnic minorities.

In his remarks, Chairman of the committee Hau A Lenh said the ethnic affairs work has received the due attention of the Government and the Prime Minister, the effective coordination between ministries, agencies and localities, and the supervision of the National Assembly’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs.

In 2022, the committee will focus on building projects and policies, and step the ethnic affairs work in the new situation, he said.