At the reception, Vice Chairman Bùi Thanh Hà briefed the current religious situation in Vietnam as well as the guidelines and policies of the Party and State on belief and religion in the past time. According to the Vice Chairman, Vietnam is a multi–religion country with many religious followers; currently, about 95% of population have some forms of belief or religious life, including over 24 million religious followers (accounting for about 27% population), 80,000 dignitaries and 25,000 worshipping places and 43 religious training institutions. The Vietnamese Government always respects and guarantees the right to freedom of belief and religion for every Vietnamese; all religions are equal before the law; the Vietnamese authorities has also created favorable conditions for religious organizations to apply for State recognition.

On behalf of the delegation, Mrs. Ingrid Gisela Muller thanked the Government Committee for Religious Affairs for its welcome and brief of religious information in Vietnam. She also expressed her hope that the two sides would have more cooperation opportunities in the coming time.

According to the organization, Bread for the World is the globally active development and relief agency of the Protestant Churches in Germany. In more than 90 countries all across the globe, this organization has empowered the poor and marginalised to improve their living conditions. Key issues of its work are food security, the promotion of health and education, the access to water, the strengthening of democracy, respecting human rights, keeping peace and the integrity of creation.

TP