Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh works with the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions

Attending the meeting were comrade Phung Thanh Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of the Provincial People's Committee Office and departments and branches.

The Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions has Comrade Vi Van Son - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department and other leaders of the Department.

The ethnic and religious situation in the area is increasingly stable.

Nghe An Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions was established and started operating from March 1, 2025 on the basis of the Ethnic Minorities Committee taking over the functions, tasks, and organization of the state management apparatus on religion from the Department of Home Affairs.

The Department inherits the results of its predecessor agencies, continues to perform advisory functions, and assists the Provincial People's Committee in state management of ethnic and religious affairs.

Nghe An's ethnic minority area covers an area of 13,745 ^km2 , accounting for 83% of the natural area; the population is nearly 1.2 million people, of which ethnic minorities have more than 507,500 people, accounting for 13.24% of the province's population, including 47 ethnic minority groups.

From July 1, 2025, the ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Nghe An have not been demarcated according to the new administrative units. However, corresponding to the old areas, the new commune-level administrative units in this area have 62 communes.

Through the assessment at the meeting, it was shown that the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions has advised on many mechanisms and policies and directed and implemented tasks in the field of ethnic affairs and ethnic policies; focusing on implementing the National Target Program on Socio -Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2025 period with 10 component projects.

Accordingly, the investment capital of the program is contributing to changing the picture for the better in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Nghe An province: traffic infrastructure, schools, medical stations, electricity grid, domestic water...

In particular, investment and support contents directly related to the people have brought positive effects, created livelihoods, improved people's knowledge, and contributed significantly to preserving and promoting the fine cultural identity of ethnic minorities.

The material and spiritual life of the people has been significantly improved, increasing year by year. Notably, the poverty reduction rate among ethnic minorities is over 3% on average each year, meeting the target; the average income per person at the end of 2024 is about 38.4 million VND.

Besides, Nghe An is also a locality with a large number of religious people, of which two major religions stand out: Catholicism with about 300,000 followers and Buddhism with about 170,000 followers.

Over the years, the predecessor agencies and the current Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions have effectively performed advisory work for Party committees and authorities in formulating and promulgating policies and legal documents on beliefs and religions.

At the same time, the Department promotes propaganda and dissemination of the Party's guidelines and policies and laws of the State; organizes the implementation of relevant policies and laws; conducts theoretical research and summarizes practices in this field...

From the above activities, ethnic minorities and religious people in the province unite, believe in the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, actively work in production, strive to become rich legitimately, and their material and spiritual life is gradually improved.

At the meeting, leaders of departments and branches discussed contents related to their fields of responsibility, coordination work with the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to develop the socio-economy of ethnic minority and mountainous areas; religious work; especially implementing component projects of the National Target Program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2025.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phung Thanh Vinh spoke at the meeting and acknowledged the results achieved in the field under the Department's management, in the context of many objective and subjective impacts, the team working on ethnic and religious affairs is still thin; however, the ethnic and religious situation in the area is increasingly stable, not allowing "hot spots" to arise.

Pointing out some shortcomings and limitations, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phung Thanh Vinh requested the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to pay attention to 4 key tasks: Early consultation on perfecting the apparatus of the 2-level local government, especially in the field of ethnic minorities and religion according to the vertical system associated with organizing training according to the motto "holding hands and showing work"; at the same time, reviewing and supplementing appropriate functions and tasks, close to the assigned staff and specific assignments.

He also requested the Department to coordinate with relevant departments and branches to advise the Provincial People's Committee to effectively implement foreign affairs with Laos; synthesize practical needs, collect full opinions, and propose to the Central Government capital sources to implement the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the period 2026 - 2030, so that after approval, it must be effectively implemented.

Take the best care of the material and spiritual life of our people

Concluding the meeting, Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee acknowledged the positive results that the Department of Ethnic Affairs and Religion has achieved in recent times; especially in the context of the huge State management work in this field, directly related to the life, customs, cultural practices and freedom of belief of a large part of Nghe An people.

Based on the analysis of the context, situation, advantages, difficulties and challenges, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh has oriented the key contents in the coming time for the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions.

First of all, he suggested that it is necessary to clearly define the roles of village elders, dignitaries, and leaders of religious organizations in order to coordinate well in performing the task of State management.

The head of the Provincial People's Committee also requested to continue to organize the dissemination and propaganda of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws on ethnic and religious affairs to all cadres, civil servants, public employees and people throughout the province; especially regularly update, disseminate and effectively implement new resolutions and directives, especially documents on the implementation of two-level local government.

At the same time, it is necessary to continue to effectively implement State management, resource management, infrastructure development, and strict medical education, with sustainable and long-term solutions.

The Department also needs to be more proactive in reviewing and evaluating the effectiveness of current policies; advising on practical solutions suitable to local conditions, in order to remove difficulties and obstacles in implementing policies for ethnic minorities and mountainous areas.

Closely coordinate with relevant departments and branches to have specific proposals to better manage religious activities, ensuring compliance with legal regulations and the legitimate religious needs of the people.

Regarding the organization, apparatus and personnel work, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee noted that the Department should review the functions, tasks and powers to coordinate with the Department of Home Affairs to study and advise on decisions specifying the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Department and commune level.

Along with that, continue to review and strengthen the team of cadres, civil servants, and public employees, especially cadres and civil servants working in State management of the religious field; strengthen training and fostering of professional skills for cadres at all levels.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also pointed out that the Department needs to focus on grasping the situation at the grassroots level and foreign affairs; regularly follow the locality, proactively grasp information, promptly detect and advise on thoroughly handling arising issues, and not let hot spots arise.

Paying special attention to the livelihood, settlement and education of the people, comrade Le Hong Vinh emphasized: the cadres, civil servants and public employees of the Department need to fully grasp the thoughts and aspirations of the people, aiming to take the best care of the material and spiritual life of the people; considering this a fundamental solution; at the same time, coordinate to advise the province to deploy tasks, especially implementing the National Target Program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026 - 2030 to ensure that it is close to the requirements and scope of the program.

At the same time, it is necessary to consolidate and build a strong political system, focusing on improving the leadership capacity and fighting strength of Party organizations and grassroots authorities; taking care of and strengthening national defense and security; promoting patriotism and the tradition of solidarity of ethnic minorities and religious people to participate in building the homeland.

He also requested the Department to effectively mobilize people to support projects, especially key national projects passing through the province, first of all the high-speed North-South railway...

Before concluding the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh expressed his belief that, with the spirit of solidarity, responsibility and close coordination, the collective leadership, cadres and civil servants of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions will clearly assign tasks, promote capacity, and perform well the State management function in the field of ethnicity and religion, contributing to maintaining political stability, consolidating the great national unity bloc, and promoting socio-economic development in the province.