During its conference in Ho Chi Minh City on January 18, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs said these two key tasks should be carried out in combination with widespread dissemination of information on the Party's policies and viewpoints concerning religious issues and the State's laws.

It also emphasized the need to train officials in charge of religious affairs and cooperate with other ministries and agencies in the implementation of religious activities.

The year 2006 was a year of remarkable religious events. Among those activities were the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the establishment of the Therevada Khmer Buddhist Institute in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, and the publication of a "White Book" on religions.

Also in 2006, Vietnamese authorities granted certificates for the operation of five religious organisations. The country was also removed from the US's list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom.

The year 2006 also witnessed the ordination of 1,188 clerics and the appointment of 1,051 others of the six big religions, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism and Islam. In addition, 896 places of worship were built or repaired.

At the conference, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs also reviewed three years of implementing the Government's action plan guided by the ninth Party Central Committee Resolution 25/NQ-TW on religious work.

It acknowledged important and obvious changes in religious affairs, including the promulgation of a system of laws, policies and mechanisms for religious activities and the active participation of religious followers in social and cultural activities.

VNA/VOVNews