Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Giang Seo Phu pays a working visit to Dongnai.

Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities addressed the meeting.

At the meeting, leaders of the province presented a brief report on the socio-economic situation in early nine months this year and implementation of programs, projects and policies towards ethnic minorities across the province. The total GDP in the early nine months is US$1.3 million, fulfilling less than 72% of the year’s plan, up 15.4% against the same period last year. The economic growth rate in 2008 is estimated at 15.5% against 2007. The average GDP per person is US$1,300 per year. As for economic structure, industry makes up 57.7%; service industry makes up 31.5% and agriculture, forestry, fishery makes up 10.6%.

Concerning implementation of programs, projects, and policies on ethnic minorities, Dongnai province has 11 administrative units with 171

The Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee reported more about ethnic minority affairs in the province.

 communes, wards, and towns. The population of the province is over 2.3 million people with 31 ethnic groups for the time being. Over past years, life of parts of ethnic minority and mountainous ethnic population has been improved with increasing rate of well-off households. Rate of poor households in ethnic minority population makes up 11.62%.  

The province has policies to encourage socioeconomic development and improve life of ethnic minority population, including having policies on education, health, culture-society, investing in construction of economic and social infrastructure with focus on works of traffic, irrigation, running water, schools, hospitals, training and using cadres who are of ethnic minorities, assisting legally, raising ethics’ awareness about law, having policies to assist emigration and alleviate poverty as well as implementing  projects 134,135,etc..       

The total number of households funded were 2,448. So far, the province supported construction of 1,364 houses (about US$1.3/house) for 1,834 households of ethnic minorities.  1,230 houses have been finished building. and transferred. Houses finished 50%-90% of building are 26 and ones finished 10%-50% are 34. 2,304 households have been funded to buy containers to store water and dig wells. Particularly in 2008, the province provided about US$630,000 to projects on development of infrastructure of 70  hamlets in severe difficulty of 41 communes, region 2 of the program 135 in phase 2 (2006-2010).

The Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Mot handed over keepsakes to the Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities.

Addressing the meeting with the provincial leaders, Giang Seo Phu highly appreciated efforts of the Party committees, authorities, ethnic minorities across the province at implementation of ethnic policies, programs and projects for ethnic minorities over last years. He also noted that in order to manage ethnic minority affairs in upcoming years the province should implement more activities to enhance cultural and intellectual standards of the people in combination with poverty alleviation, particularly in ethnic minority region, build an official staff of ethnic minorities. He also admitted proposals of the provincial leaders and requested the provincial People’s Committee to have official document to submit to the Government for consideration. 

Earlier, in the evening that day, Minister-Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Giang Sao Phu  paid a visit to the Vocational Training

Giang Seo Phu presented gifts to students winning prizes in the Young Professional Skill Contest 2008.

College 8 of Ministry of National Defense. He praised school’s contributions and efforts to task of training students who are of ethnic minorities and presented gifts to students winning high prizes in the last Young Professional Contest. He applauded the school’s model of combinative and multi-field training for people of ethnic minorities. This model can be a good form for Southern key provinces, and cities.

In five years (2003-2008), the school trained nearly 2,000 students who are of ethnic minorities. After school years, 657 of them graduated and 553 those ones got jobs, making up 84%.   

Reported by Le Lan, translated by Hoai Thu.