Attending the meeting were also Mrs. Hoàng Thị Thảo, Head of the  Department of Protestant Affairs; Mr. Nguyễn Ánh Chức, Head of the Department of Other Religions; and officials from the Departments of International Cooperation and Other Religions under the Committee.

At the reception, Mr. Dương Văn Khá welcomed the delegation.

On behalf of the delegation, Mrs. Jenifer Neidhart thanked the Government Committee for Religious Affairs for its warm welcome and expressed her wish to learn about the human rights situation and the religious life in Vietnam in recent years.

Mr. Khá briefed the guests on the religious situation in Vietnam as well as the guidelines and policies of the Party and State on belief and religion over the past time. He affirmed that Vietnam is a multi–religion country with many religious followers. The Vietnamese Party and State always pay attention to the people’s life and their need for belief and religion, as well as respect and guarantee their right to freedom of belief and religion. All religious organizations are equal before the law. Vietnam’s open-door policy in international relations has created favorable conditions for religions to operate and develop strongly in the country over the past years. Typically, Protestantism is one of the major religions in Vietnam with the number of followers increasing from 200,000 in 1975 to nearly 1.5 million now. In addition, the Vietnamese Government has also created favorable conditions for religious organizations to apply for recognition.

Some images at the reception: