Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, Jan. 21 (VNA)-- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nong Duc Manh on Tuesday delivered a speech at the closing session of the seventh plenum of the Party Central Committee.

Manh called for national unity in implementing the policy towards the ethnic minorities.

The Party leader said:

"We should consistently implement the policy towards the ethnic minorities in a great Viet Nam family by ensuring equality, great unity, mutual assistance and development within each ethnic group and among different ethnic groups, between ethnic minorities and the majority people, in order to promote development in all fields - political, economic, cultural and social - while maintaining national security and national defence in the areas inhabited by the ethnic minorities and highlands. Priorities should be given to socio-economic development investments in mountainous and ethnic minorities-populated areas, human resource development especially on-the-spot training in order to improve people's knowledge and management capacity of authorities, thus enabling the ethnic minorities to promote the local advantages and the spirit of self-reliance as well as drawing more assistance from the central Government and other parts of the country.

"In regard to the religious issue, we always respect the freedom of worship and religion, considering it a spiritual demand of a part of the population, implement the policy of respecting and ensuring the freedom of religion and non-religion, the practice of religious belief in line with law, implementation of unity among people of each religion and among different religions, as well as between religious and non-religious people. We should strictly forbid any activities that abuse ethnic minorities and religious issues to violate laws and the State policies, to undermine the national unity or cause social disorder to the detriment of national security.

In order to strengthen the great national unity, we should pay special attention to a fair solution and accomplishment of a common policy towards people of all walks of life as well as concrete policies towards each social class and stratum, people of both sexes and all ages, every ethnic group and every religion. It is of primary importance in the immediate future to work out policies on socio-economic development for hunger eradication, poverty alleviation, socio-political stability, further improvement of the population's living conditions both materially and culturally, and human resource development. These policies would directly help strengthen the socio-economic and political foundation of the great national unity. We affirm that ensuring great national unity is the cause of the entire nation, the entire political system, i.e the Party, the State, the Fatherland Front and social and mass organisations with Party organisations playing the key role."

In regard to the policy on land, the Party leader said:

"The Party Central Committee plenum worked out important supplements and amendments to the land policy and law, espcially those related to land use, the duty and authority of the State in its capacity as the representative to the ownership and management of land, on the rights and obligations of organisations, households and individuals who are granted the right to land use. The Party Central Committee's resolution on land issues will serve as an important basis for the National Assembly to make and issue a revised law on land in 2003. In the immediate future, it will actively contribute to the restoration of order and disciplines in the management and use of land in order to put land to the fullest possible use and best serve the national industrialisation and modernisation".