Southern provinces celebrate Khmer festival

In Soc Trang province, home to nearly 400,000 Khmer people, leaders of the Southwestern Region Steering Committee and provincial authorities met with 350 representatives of Khmer war invalids, martyrs’ relatives, heroic mothers, monks and nuns in the locality.

At the get-together, the Khmer people said they are pleased with the State investment in Khmer-inhabited areas, helping improve their living standards and reduce poverty.

Thanks to social welfare policies, since 2012, more than 2,300 Khmer households have escaped from poverty while 89 percent have gained access to electricity supply and nearly 70 percent have used safe water.

At the event, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Vo Minh Chien pledged to continue mobilising sources for developing socio-economic infrastructure in ethnic-inhabited regions.

The province will promote vocational training for young Khmer people and provide jobs for new graduates, he affirmed.

Meanwhile, over 530 Khmer officials, monks and people in Tra Vinh province also gathered to celebrate the festival.

The delegates expressed their confidence in the guidelines and policies of the Party and State, saying they are making efforts to contribute to the province’s development.

According to Lam Minh Lien, head of the province’s Ethnic Board, last year, more than 26,400 poor households, mainly Khmer ones, were provided with homes while over 1,000 others received accommodation and production land.

Around 3,000 young Khmer people were given vocational training and jobs. Thanks to these efforts, the province’s poverty rate dropped by 4 percent.

The cultural and religious life of the Khmer people has been preserved and developed, he said.

On this occasion, the authorities of Vinh Long and Binh Phuoc provinces also visited and presented gifts to local Khmer people.