Efforts to promote rapid and sustainable development in the ethnic minority and mountainous regions of the province.

(Baonghean) - Comrade Luong Thanh Hai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee, gave an interview to Nghe An Newspaper on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state agency for ethnic affairs in Nghe An province (May 3, 1946 - 2016).

Leaders of the Ethnic Affairs Committee inspect a wild apple tree nursery in Son La province. Photo: Tuan Thi.

PV:Could you give us a general overview of the natural conditions of the ethnic minority areas in Nghe An province?

Comrade Luong Thanh Hai:The ethnic minority and mountainous regions of Nghe An province account for over 83% of the province's total area; currently, there are 101 communes in Zone III, 61 communes in Zone II, and 90 communes in Zone I; 1,188 particularly disadvantaged villages and hamlets; 27 border communes; 3 districts receiving state investment under Resolution 30a and 1 district benefiting from the 30a policy; and 419 km of border with the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The population of ethnic minority and mountainous areas is 1,197,628 people (accounting for 41%); of which ethnic minorities are 442,787 people, accounting for 15.2% of the total provincial population, comprising 5 ethnic groups: Thai, Tho, Khmu, Mong, and O Du...

PV:The mountainous and ethnic minority regions of Nghe An have always played an important role in the overall development of the province. The establishment of a state agency for ethnic affairs in the province is a response to the practical requirements of development... Could you briefly outline the history of the Nghe An Ethnic Affairs Committee?

Comrade Luong Thanh Hai:Recognizing the importance of mountainous areas and ethnic issues for socio-economic development and national defense and security of the entire province and the North Central region, immediately after the Government established the Department of Ethnic Minorities (May 3, 1946), Nghe An province also quickly established an organization to advise on ethnic and mountainous affairs, called the Department of National Minorities (established November 3, 1946).

Throughout its 70 years of operation, the agency has gone by various names such as: Department of Ethnic Minorities (1946 - 1954); Steering Committee for the Western Region (1954 - 1965); Ethnic Affairs Committee of Nghe An Province (1965 - 1976); Ethnic Affairs Committee of Nghe Tinh Province (1976 - 1991); Ethnic and Mountainous Areas Committee of Nghe An Province (1991 - 2004) and Ethnic Affairs Committee of Nghe An Province (2004 to present).

PV:Could you please tell us about the role and contributions of the ethnic minority communities in Nghe An province in the cause of national defense and the construction and development of our homeland?

Comrade Luong Thanh Hai:Throughout the two wars of resistance against French colonialism and American imperialism, with the motto of eating, living, and working together with the ethnic people, those working in ethnic affairs in Nghe An actively participated in propagating and mobilizing the people to increase production; practice thrift; fight against "the enemy of hunger" and "the enemy of illiteracy"; respond to the "Golden Week" and "Rice Jar for the Army" campaigns; support the "Winter Resistance" campaign; suppress the reactionary "Bao Ca Tay Hac Muoi" group; eliminate bandits, thwart the plot of "Chau Pha" to declare himself king; mobilize ethnic people to implement settled farming; and directly supervise the construction of labor and production models...

Tens of thousands of ethnic minority youths joined the armed forces and served as frontline laborers, and thousands sacrificed their lives for the Fatherland or lost parts of their bodies. From these extraordinary human and material contributions, the ethnic minority people played a significant role in the great victories of our army and people in the two resistance wars.

Entering the period when the whole country was building socialism and implementing the reform process, the specialized agency for ethnic affairs in Nghe An province inherited and developed its traditions and experience; focusing on investigating, surveying, and thoroughly understanding the basic situation and characteristics of mountainous areas and ethnic groups in the province; promptly advising the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee on applying, concretizing, and effectively implementing policies of the Central Government and the province.

Since 2004, the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas of Nghe An province officially changed its name to the Department of Ethnic Minorities of Nghe An province - a specialized agency at the same level as a provincial department; it has legal personality, its own seal and bank account.

PV:Could you please tell us about the achievements of the Ethnic Affairs Committee in the cause of reform?

Comrade Luong Thanh Hai:In implementing the Party's reform process, the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee has focused on mobilizing ethnic minority communities to build and develop the mountainous economy towards a commodity-based economy; closely linking with ethnic minorities in the province to maximize the region's strengths, while effectively implementing the Party's ethnic policies. From 2005 to 2010, the Ethnic Affairs Committee advised the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee to approve projects and issue policies for socio-economic development in the mountainous areas of the province in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 7 of the Central Committee (9th term) on ethnic affairs, such as: Developing the project "Implementing the policy of supporting production land, housing land, housing, and clean water for poor ethnic minority households with difficult living conditions" of the province according to Decision 134 of the Prime Minister, which was approved by Decision No. 1413 dated May 9, 2006 of the Provincial People's Committee; The department advised on the development of four major projects on socio-economic development in mountainous and ethnic minority areas, including: the socio-economic development policy project for mountainous and border communes; the resettlement project for ethnic minorities in the period 2006-2010; the project for the preservation and development of the O Du ethnic group; and the project for training and fostering ethnic minority cadres in Nghe An province, to be submitted to the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and the Provincial People's Committee for approval...

Comrade Luong Thanh Hai - Provincial Party Committee member, Head of the Ethnic Affairs Committee, visits and converses with the people of Na Ni village, Huoi Tu commune, Ky Son district. Photo: Van Anh.

The implementation of ethnic policies by the Ethnic Affairs Committee during this period yielded practical results, making a significant contribution to promoting socio-economic development in particularly disadvantaged communes in particular and mountainous ethnic minority areas in general.

During the period from 2010 to 2015, ethnic affairs and ethnic policies continued to receive attention from the Government. In particular, the Government issued many innovative policies for mountainous and ethnic minority areas in Nghe An province.

Based on that, the Ethnic Affairs Committee has helped the province develop and issue many important reports, such as: the Report on the results of implementing the policy to support poverty reduction in ethnic minority areas, 2011-2015; the Report on the two-year implementation of Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW of the Politburo and Directive No. 1/2015/CT-TTg, dated February 7, 2005, of the Prime Minister on some work related to Protestantism; the report on free migration and non-marital marriages in the border areas of Vietnam and Laos...

The Committee also coordinated with other units to accelerate the progress of developing projects and policies to implement Decision No. 2165/QD-UBND, dated May 20, 2014, on the plan for implementing the Action Program for the Strategy on Ethnic Affairs in Nghe An province until 2020 of the Prime Minister, which is specified in 13 projects and 2 policies...

Currently, the face of the mountainous and ethnic minority areas of the province has changed significantly; the material and spiritual lives of the people have improved and been enhanced; the development gap between regions and ethnic groups in the province is gradually narrowing; political security and social order continue to be maintained. Production has undergone a strong transformation; agricultural production has shifted from self-sufficiency to commodity development.

The poverty rate in ethnic minority and mountainous areas (according to the poverty standard for the period 2011-2015) decreased from 36.19% (in 2010) to 16.54%, equivalent to the multidimensional poverty standard of 24.04% (in 2015), a decrease of an average of 3.93% per year. By 2015, the average income in the mountainous and ethnic minority areas of Nghe An province was 19 million VND/person/year, reaching 65.51% of the provincial average (29 million VND/person/year). Infrastructure projects such as inter-village and inter-hamlet roads, schools, health stations, electricity, clean water, community cultural centers, etc., have been built and completed, handed over for use, contributing to socio-economic development and poverty reduction.

The Ethnic Affairs Committee of Nghe An province has also done well in administrative reform, applying information technology in agency management, implementing democratic regulations effectively, and reforming public finance in the agency's financial activities and in the implementation of programs and projects. Emphasis has been placed on training and planning for the agency's staff to improve their professional skills, political understanding, and state management capabilities.

Under any circumstances, with the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee; the close guidance of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities; and the coordination of various departments, agencies, and organizations, the Ethnic Affairs Department has always successfully completed all assigned tasks, receiving the Second Class Labor Medal from the President of Vietnam (1998) and the First Class Labor Medal (2006). In particular, on the occasion of its 70th anniversary, the Ethnic Affairs Department of Nghe An province was honored to receive the Third Class Independence Medal from the State.

PV:Thank you, comrade!

Dang Cuong(Perform)