This will be an important socio-political event in Vietnamese society, underlining that Vietnam is a unified nation comprising many ethnic groups who stand by each other in national construction and defence, said Giang Seo Phu, head of the government’s ethnic minorities committee.

It confirms that the Vietnamese State and the Party are consistent in their policies regarding ethnic issues and national unity, Phu said.

The official said that the event will give the Party and State the opportunity to honour the great contributions the ethnic communities made to the victory of the Vietnamese revolution and the renovation process, as well as to review and modify their ethnic policies.

A national congress will now be held every ten years from 2010, with the participation of 1,700 delegates, representing 53 ethnic minorities from across the country.

The two previous congresses of this kind took place in both parts of Vietnam in 1946.

VietNamNet/VOV