On the afternoon of June 6, under the direction of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the National Assembly questioned the second group of issues in the field of ethnicity.

As one of the first delegates to question, delegate Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy (Tay Ninh delegation) said that ethnic policies are still scattered in many documents, still overlapping, resources are still scattered, so they have not been effective. The female delegate likened this situation to "putting oil in a lamp, when it burns out, you have to add more oil to keep the lamp from going out".

"What is the Minister's opinion on this statement and what are the solutions?", delegate Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy asked the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh.

Responding to delegates, Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh acknowledged this situation; said that the Ethnic Committee has proactively proposed to the Prime Minister and is currently implementing the Project to review related ethnic policies to submit to the Government by the end of this year.

Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh answered questions from National Assembly deputies.

Also related to policy issues, delegate Nguyen Tao (Lam Dong delegation) asked Minister Hau A Lenh to express his opinion on whether or not to soon study and promulgate a law on supporting the development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas?

Responding to delegates, Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh said that since 2017, the Ethnic Committee has proposed to develop the Ethnic Law. After 2 terms, many workshops have been organized and the 13th National Assembly Standing Committee has reported on this content.

However, the ethnic sector is related to many different fields, so to ensure the development of appropriate, unified laws that do not overlap with other laws, it takes time to research and consider.

“My point of view is that having laws is good, it is an important legal basis for policy making, but it needs to be fundamental and complete because this field is not specialized law,” the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee shared.

The Minister added that, implementing Conclusion 65 of the Politburo, the National Assembly Party Delegation assigned the task of studying the Law on Ethnic Minorities in this session, chaired by the Ethnic Minorities Council. The Ethnic Minorities Committee will transfer the previous research files and coordinate implementation.

Referring to the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas, delegate Tran Thi Thu Hang (Dak Nong delegation) said that during the implementation of this program, some projects and sub-projects encountered difficulties and problems. The delegate requested Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh to clarify responsibilities and solutions to effectively and synchronously implement this program.

Responding to questions from National Assembly deputies, Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh said that Clause 4, Article 2 of Resolution 120 assigns the Government the task of allocating capital in the capital structure of the total approved capital structure, mobilizing capital sources other than the state budget.

Regarding capital allocation, the Chairman of the Ethnic Committee said that the Ethnic Committee has advised the Government to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee to allocate sufficient capital in accordance with the spirit of the Resolution for the period from now to 2025.

"In addition, the capital structure allocated for the program also includes a number of other capital sources, including credit capital and local counterpart capital. Regarding mobilizing non-state budget sources, we have mobilized ODA sources and other social capital sources. Up to now, the Government has submitted to the National Assembly sufficient resources according to the annual plan to implement in accordance with the capital allocation plan approved by the National Assembly," the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee affirmed.

Regarding the solution to mobilize other capital sources, the Chairman of the Ethnic Committee said that immediately after submitting the investment decision to the Prime Minister for approval, the Ethnic Committee coordinated with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries and branches to advise the Steering Committee of national target programs to develop a plan to mobilize other capital sources outside the budget, including ODA capital, capital from enterprises and corporations. However, in 2021 and 2022, the country faced many difficulties due to the pandemic, and enterprises also faced many challenges, so the issue of mobilization was not raised during this period.

NGUYEN THAO