(HBO) - On August 7, the Hoa Binh provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs held a ceremony to celebrate its 20th founding anniversary (August 8, 2003 - 2023). Attending the event were Hau A Lenh, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister-Chairman of the Government Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs; Nguyen Phi Long, alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee; Bui Duc Hinh, Standing Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the provincial People's Council; and Bui Van Khanh, Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee.

In 2003, more than 10 years after the province had been re-established, the provincial People's Committee submitted a proposal on the establishment of the provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority and Religion Affairs (now known as Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs) and got the approval from the Prime Minister in Decision No.164/2003/QD-TTg dated August 8, 2003. Under the leadership and direction of the Government Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, the Party Committee, the People's Council, the People's Committee, and the Fatherland Front Committee of the province, the provincial

Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs always accompanies local ethnic minority groups and effectively implements ethnic-related policies of the Party and the State, thus making important contributions to socio-economic development, consolidating the great unity bloc of the province's ethnic groups.

Thanks to the efficiency of investment and assistance from programmes, projects and policies for ethnic-inhabited and mountainous areas, by the end of 2022, Hoa Binh province had eight communes getting out of the extremely difficult status and being recognised as new-style rural areas. The rate of poor households in ethnic and mountainous communes decreased to 13.11%. People's lives are improved, and the traditional culture of ethnic minorities preserved and promoted. Speaking at the ceremony, Khanh praised achievements of generations of those involved in the ethnic work in the past 20 years. He asked the committee to closely coordinate with departments, agencies, People's Committees of districts and Hoa Binh city to actively advise the provincial Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee to build specific action programmes; and direct and organise the effective implementation of the master plan for socio-economic development in ethnic-inhabited and mountainous areas and the national target programme for socio-economic development in these areas for the 2021 – 2030 period.

Attention must be paid to mobilising resources, carrying out a reasonable solution of capital to invest in building and upgrading essential infrastructure to serve production and daily life; improving the social welfare system as well as the material and spiritual life of those in ethnic-inhabited and underprivileged areas; and supporting the development of education and training, and the improvement of

the quality of human resources who are ethnic minorities, he added.