Hanoi (VNA) – The second edition of “Diem tua ban lang” (The fulcrums of villages), a programme to honour reputable people in border, sea and island areas, was held in Hanoi on June 16, gathering 200 delegates from 47 ethnic groups, representing 42 border and island provinces and centrally-run cities.

Among the delegates, the youngest was 28 years old and the oldest was 84. They included eight religious dignitaries and seven border guards.

The programme, jointly held by Tap chi Cong san (Communist Review) - the Party Central Committee-run magazine, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee's Standing Board, and the Border Guard High Command, aimed to recognise the important contributions that reputable people in the community have made to implementing the campaign of “all people unite to build new rural areas and civilised urban areas" and the movement of "all people participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation."

Its objectives also included creating a forum for reputable from border, sea and island areas to meet and exchange experiences, thus multiplying and spreading good examples to continue making more contributions to the development of each ethnic community.

Addressing the event, Politburo member, Standing member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Luong Cuong highlighted the contributions, devotion and sacrifice by ethnic minority communities in general and reputable people from ethnic groups in particular to peace and prosperity in the border, sea and island areas.

He affirmed that reputable people have played a significant role in “turning each person in the border areas into a living landmark”.

Cuong underlined the need for ministries, sectors, the armed forces and the administration of localities to consider promoting reputable people’s roles an important and regular task, while implementing support policies for the group in a timely, full and practical manner.

He asked the border guard and public security forces to keep a close contact with reputable people in the border areas.

The official hoped that along with setting good examples for their families, clans, villages and communities, the reputable people will actively popularise the Party and State’s policies and laws, contributing to eliminating outdated customs and superstition, and encouraging their relatives to join border management groups and coordinate with the border guard and public security forces to protect the country's borders.

Cuong recalled Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s sayings at a meeting with reputable people from border, sea and island areas on the occasion of the first edition of the programme in ⛦2018 that he expected the reputable people will always maintain their utmost trust in the Party and State and confidence in the nation’s good fortune, not letting bad people incite or doing anything that affects the great national unity bloc, thus becoming the true fulcrums of villages./.