The Government leader extended his best wishes to the community as well as to Khmer dignitaries.

He noted that 2020 was a tough year for Vietnam due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the joint efforts of the political system, people, and enterprises, it recorded important and comprehensive achievements in both socio-economic development and pandemic control, becoming one of the 16 most successful newly-emerging economies in the world and enhancing its international position.

For the first time, a project and a national target programme were designed to boost socio-economic development in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, Chính said.

The success of the 13th National Party Congress as well as the second national congress of Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups also reinforced confidence among the country’s 54 ethnic minority groups in the Party and the State, he added.

The government leader expressed his belief that with the strict implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures, the Khmer people will have an enjoyable Chol Chnam Thmay festival and promote their cultural identity.

The PM also expressed his hope that the community will continue to promote patriotism and make more contributions to the country’s socio-economic development targets.

Also to mark the occasion, on April 13 a working group from the National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Minority Affairs, led by its Chairman Hà Ngọc Chiến, visited and extended greetings to the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, where more than 300,000 Khmer people, or nearly 32 percent of the population, live.

Chol Chnam Thmay is celebrated this year from April 14 to 16. Buddhist followers gather at pagodas to perform traditional rituals throughout the festival./.