Vietnamese and US officials have exchanged information on religious affairs during a round-table discussion held in Washington, DC, as part of a visit by a delegation from the Vietnamese Government Committee for Religious Affairs to the US from September 11-13.
The discussion, attended by Bui Thanh Ha, deputy head of the committee, David Saperstein, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and Victoria Thoman from the Office of International Religious Freedom at the US Department of State, also aimed to promote mutual understanding between the two countries in this field.
Ha noted that the Vietnam–US relationship was growing strongly in various fields, and that it had seen Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visit the US in July 2015 and President Barack Obama visit Vietnam in May 2016.
Over the past few years, the two sides have paid much attention to the strengthening of co-operation on religious affairs and human rights, he said.
Vietnam has 24 million followers of fourteen religions, constituting 27% of the total population, noted Ha.
He highlighted Vietnam’s consistent stance of considering religion or belief a legitimate spiritual need for a large number of people, and considering religious people part of the bloc of great national unity.
Ha affirmed that the material and spiritual life of religious people in Vietnam has been improved, while the social activities of religious organisations have contributed to the maintenance of political stability supporting the nation’s socioeconomic development.
One of issues drawing the interest of US officials was the preparation of the Draft Law on Belief and Religion.
According to Ha, the preparation of the bill commenced in October 2014 and is scheduled to be approved in October 2016.
The bill includes a variety of new contents, including the expansion of the activities protected under the right to freedom of religion and belief, reflecting this right’s nature as an aspect of human rights, as stated in the Constitution.
