The workshop on April 2 looks into international experience in making and implementing policies targeting ethnic minority groups (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – A workshop was held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 2 on international experience in making and implementing policies targeting ethnic minority groups.
Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said studying ethnic minority policies of other countries will help Vietnam overhaul its ethnic policies in the future.
He added the event aimed to gain an insight into some countries’ viewpoints and policies on ethnic minority groups, including those on minorities’ languages, migration, education, health care, ethnic cadre development, land, poverty reduction, employment, cultural preservation and religious affairs.
Dr Tran Van Ha from the Institute of Anthropology under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, who has studied policies on ethnic minorities in some Southeast Asian nations, said all ethnic policies of the countries aim to consolidate community and national solidarity. Building national cultural characteristics is considered important in developing national unity.
Vietnam needs to focus on building national cultural identities and sustainably developing ethnic groups’ culture. It is also necessary to create development policies for each region and policies for specific ethnic groups, he noted.
At the workshop, participants discussed the socio-economic development framework for ethnic minority areas in Vietnam for 2016-2020. They said the country needs to build a sustainable infrastructure system, develop production, trade, services, tourism, science and technology while also making special policies on poverty elimination, credit and employment for ethnic minorities.
Existing policies should match the socio-economic development plans of regions nationwide, including border regions which are home to many ethnic minorities and adjacent areas, so as to devise appropriate policies.
Dr Dang Thi Thu Hoai from CIEM said resources should be gathered instead of being scattered in different fields and programmes like at present. She added ethnic minority policies over the years have resulted in positive outcomes, helping to improve ethnic minority and mountainous areas.-VNA
VNA
