Soc Trang (VNA) – The Khmer community in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang are preparing to celebrate the Sene Dolta Festival, a major event of the ethnic group to remember their ancestors, which will take place from October 13-15 this year.
Soc Trang is home to over 400,000 Khmer ethnic minority people, accounting for over 30% of the province’s population.
According to Lam Son Hien, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee of Dai Tam commune in My Xuyen district, support policies of the Party and the State have facilitated the local community’s economic development, contributing to improving incomes for local residents. The poverty rate in the commune has reduced to 1.6%, while the number of near-poor households has decreased to 1%.
Earlier in 2023, the Ministry of Public Security had supported Soc Trang in building 1,200 houses, providing opportunities for impoverished households, particularly those in the Khmer ethnic minority area to stabilise their lives.
According to the provincial Party Committee, over the past five years, the local authorities have supported nearly 26,900 poor ethnic minority households to promote economic development. Meanwhile, over 2,800 local households were provided with fresh water, while over 1,200 houses were constructed for Khmer ethnic families.
Thanks to these efforts, the locality’s socio-economic situation has recorded positive changes. The material and spiritual lives of local residents have continuously improved. The rate of poor households in the Khmer ethnic group decreased by over 4.5% per year.
Attention has been paid to education and training, healthcare for people in ethnic minority-inhabited and extremely disadvantaged areas, and preservation of traditional culture identities.
Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Ho Thi Cam Dao said the province will continue to step up communications on the significance of the National Target Programme on Socio-economic Development in ethnic minority areas in the 2021 - 2030 period./.