Can Tho (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joineda gathering in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 6 to celebrate theChol Chnam Thmay – the traditional New Year Festival of Khmer people in thesouth, which falls from April 14-16 this year.

The majority of Khmer people in the south concentrate in nine MekongDelta localities of Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang, An Giang, Bac Lieu, CaMau, Vinh Long, Hau Giang, Can Tho. There are also Khmer people living in HoChi Minh City and southeastern localities.

During the festival, Khmer people conduct many traditional rituals suchas pagoda visiting and Buddha bathing, aiming to pray for favourable weatherconditions and good luck for family members, as well as showing gratitude toparents and ancestors.

Addressing the event, PM Phuc extended his New Year wishes to the Khmercommunity, which number around 1.3 million.

He underscored that Vietnam is a united country with a large number ofethnic groups. The Party and State always pay special attention to ethnicminority groups, including the Khmer.

He said that the Government has prioritised resources for many nationalschemes designed to support the disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minoritypeople, such as the sustainable poverty reduction programme and the new-stylerural area building programme.

The Government leader expressed his delight at improvements in the livingconditions of the Khmer community, as well as in education and human resourcesquality.

The political system in Khmer-inhabited areas has been reinforced with increasingnumber of Khmer officials. The solidarity among religions and ethnic groups hasbeen promoted, while political security and social order and safety have beenensured, he noted.

However, the PM pointed out that the socio-economic infrastructure systemin the southern region in general and Khmer areas in particular has yet to meetdevelopment requirement. The income and livelihoods of for part of community,especially those in remote and mountainous regions, have been unstable.

The human resource quality has yet to meet the requirementsfor industrialization and modernization, he said, adding that there are stillactivities of abusing religions to harm solidarity among Khmer people.

He requested ministries, sectors and regional localities toactively carry out policies related to ethnic and religious affairs, meetingaspiration of the groups.

It is necessary to give more resources to localities thatare home to ethnic minority groups to boost socio-economic growth and climatechange response, he said, stressing the need to encourage startups and jobgeneration so as not to leave any one behind.

The PM asked authorised agencies to promote thepopularization of policy and legal regulations among Khmer people, while creatingfavourable conditions for religious activities of the group.

On the occasion of the Chol Chnam Thmay, local authoritiesshould offer timely support to poor households, thus ensuring all Khmer peopleenjoy a warm festival, the PM said.-VNA