The delegation included Lê Đức Vịnh, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, and 32 outstanding delegates representing prestigious people across the province.

Deputy Director of Vinh Long provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Lê Đức Vịnh speaks at the reception

At the reception, Deputy Director Lê Đức Vịnh briefed participants on the ethnic and religious situation in the province. Following the administrative merger, Vinh Long province covers a total area of 6,296.2 square kilometres. The province currently has 30 communes in ethnic minority areas, none of which are classified as extremely disadvantaged.

The province is home to 12 legally operating religions, with 2,830 religious dignitaries, 5,311 religious functionaries and approximately 1.13 million religious followers, accounting for 33.4% of its population, practising their faith at 1,302 religious establishments. It also has 1,594 belief establishments reflecting distinctive cultural traditions, including 76 provincial-level and 17 national-level recognised relic sites.

Regarding prestigious people, the province currently has 412 prestigious people among ethnic minority communities, including 372 Khmer and 17 Hoa ethnic people. Of the total, nine are women and 45 are religious dignitaries.

Despite their different backgrounds and educational qualifications, these prestigious people share a common characteristic: they are widely respected and highly regarded by their communities as exemplary figures and role models.

Over recent years, the province has consistently paid attention to ensuring the full implementation of policies and entitlements for prestigious people in accordance with decisions issued by central authorities. In addition, the province has adopted a specific resolution providing financial support covering 100% of their health insurance premiums and partial funding for information dissemination and public communication activities.

During the first six months of 2026, the provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs organised visits and presented gifts to prestigious people from ethnic minority communities on the occasions of the Lunar New Year and traditional ethnic minority New Year festivals. It also distributed newspapers and visited those who were ill, with total expenditure exceeding VND 400 million.

Prestigious people have also been invited to attend conferences and training courses, where they contribute opinions to the formulation of local socio-economic development plans.

Representative of prestigious people addresses the reception

Speaking at the reception, representatives of prestigious people expressed their appreciation for the attention and support extended by the Party, the State and the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs to ethnic minority communities in general and prestigious people in particular.

They proposed that the Ministry continue allocating resources for the effective implementation of the National Target Programme; organise additional training courses to enhance prestigious people's skills in public communication and legal dissemination; support the preservation of traditional Khmer culture; and create favourable conditions for ethnic minority youth to access vocational training and employment opportunities and apply digital technologies in production and business activities.

Deputy Minister Y Vinh Tơr presents gifts to outstanding delegates representing prestigious people across Vinh Long province

Addressing the reception, Deputy Minister Y Vinh Tơr provided information on the organisational structure of agencies responsible for ethnic affairs at central and local levels. He also outlined the situation in ethnic minority areas and the implementation of the Party's guidelines and the State's policies concerning ethnic affairs and prestigious people.

The Deputy Minister highly appreciated the achievements and contributions of prestigious people from ethnic minority communities, particularly their strong sense of responsibility and active involvement in disseminating and encouraging the implementation of the Party's guidelines and the State's policies and laws.

He also acknowledged their contributions to preserving and promoting ethnic cultural identities, participating in movements for new rural development and sustainable poverty reduction, and providing input into the formulation of socio-economic development programmes and plans.

The Deputy Minister expressed his confidence that, with their prestige, experience and knowledge of local customs and traditions, prestigious people in the province would continue to serve as key figures in their communities and important bridges between local people and Party committees and authorities at all levels, making further contributions to their home province and ethnic minority communities.

Deputy Minister Y Vinh Tơr also requested the provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs to continue ensuring the full and timely implementation of policies and entitlements for prestigious people in accordance with the Prime Minister's Decision No. 12/2018/QĐ-TTg dated March 6, 2018, and Decision No. 28/2023/QĐ-TTg dated November 23, 2023.

He stressed the need to integrate these efforts with activities to recognise, honour and promote the role of prestigious people under the National Target Programme on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas.

The Deputy Minister further called on the Department to pay greater attention to training and information provision, create favourable conditions for prestigious people to promote their roles in various aspects of social life, and promptly recognise and commend outstanding prestigious people for their achievements.

He also urged the Department to strengthen inspection, monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation, as well as efforts to engage prestigious people and promote their role among ethnic minority communities throughout the province.