A view of the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien (Photo: VNA) The policy has helped ethnic minority groups improvetheir material and spiritual life, gain sound awareness and put their faith inthe right religions, thus addressing the root of the spread of heresies.
Chairman of the People’s Committee of the northernmountainous province of Dien Bien Le Thanh Do said an array of central andlocal policies have been implemented in Muong Nhe district – a key, strategicarea in the Northwestern region.
Most of the resources poured into Muong Nhe are focused on the settlement of local residents. Local infrastructure has been built,significantly contributing to ensuring national defence and security.
The province has also made efforts to ensuresustainable livelihoods and raise the material and spiritual life of ethnicminorities in Muong Nhe, Do said, adding that one of the solutions is to build production models based on the local advantage of land and forest.
Investment has been injected in forming concentratedmaterial areas growing industrial trees of high economic values. Notably, a macadamia growing project in Muong Nhe district is expected to bear goodfruit, opening up a new promising direction for local development.
The Central Highlands is home to 5 million people of many ethnic groups. (Photo: VNA) With a population of more than 5 million people of many ethnic groups, the region is also home to large numbers of followers of various religions, with the four main ones being Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Cao Dai,among others, which is a vivid picture of the ethnic and religious life in Vietnam in general and the Central Highlands in particular.
Over the past years, various policies onsocio-economic development have been issued. Thanks to such policies, theliving standards of residents in the Central Highlands have been improved significantly.Ethnic minority groups and religions in the region have contributed greatly tosocio-economic development, and national defence and security.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Loi, Deputy Director ofthe Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, has highlighted the links betweenethnicity and religions in the Central Highlands, which he said have distinctive characteristics and serve as a foundation and a pillar in the spiritual life of localresidents.
The multi-layered belief system in the region and religious activities of individuals and communities create the rich and distinctive community culture of the Central Highlands. Meanwhile, the introduction of new religions and beliefs to thecommunity has diversified the ethnic and religious structures in the CentralHighlands while also bringing changes and disorder to the community culture and the life of localresidents.
Reality shows that limitations in socio-economicdevelopment, partially due to difficulties in connecting the region with the remainingparts of the country, especially economic centres, have hindered povertyreduction in the region.
However, the Central Highlands is changing day byday. Local authorities have always paid attention and created favourableconditions for people to exercise the right to freedom of belief and religions,along with ensuring equality between religions.
Religious practice has positively impacted thecultural life and daily activities of ethnic minorities in the CentralHighlands, changing the local out-of-date lifestyle which was passed down from generations togenerations. Outdated customs and practices have been eliminated and replacedby a civilized and modern lifestyle./.
VNA
