Attending the reception were leaders and officials from the Committee Office and Departments of International Cooperation, Legislation and Inspection.

At the reception, Mr. Bùi Thanh Hà expressed his pleasure to welcome Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt’s visit to Vietnam in order to learn about religious situation in Vietnam.

Mr. Bùi Thanh Hà briefed the guest on the religious situation in Vietnam as well as the guidelines and policies of the Party and State on belief and religion. According to Mr. Bùi Thanh Hà, currently, Vietnam recognized 37 religious organizations and 01 religious sect belonging to 13 religions, with over 24 million religious followers (about 27% overall population), 83,000 dignitaries and 25,000 worshipping places. Vietnam is a multi–religion country with many religious followers, the Government of Vietnam always respects and guarantees the right to freedom of belief and religion for citizens. Religions are equal before the law. Over the past time, the Vietnamese Government has also created favorable conditions for religious organizations to apply for state registration and recognition, build worshipping places, and open training schools for religious dignitaries…

On behalf of the delegation, Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt thanked the Government Committee for Religious Affairs for its warm welcome. Through a process of learning about religious situation in Vietnam, Mr.  Heiner Bielefeldt stated that Vietnam is a multi-religion country and in recent years, religion in Vietnam has achieved many remarkable developments. Religions in Vietnam have co-existed in harmony and there are no religious conflicts. He expressed his hope that there will be further opportunities to share information on Vietnam’s religion and discuss issues of mutual concerns./.

PH