Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Nguyen Dinh Khang has called on ministry units to clearly define resources, responsibilities and timelines for each task, while accelerating digital transformation, public investment disbursement and institutional reforms in the final three months of 2026.

Khang chaired the ministry’s September leadership meeting on Sept. 29, attended by Deputy Ministers Y Vinh Tor and Nguyen Hai Trung and heads of departments and affiliated units.

166 government-assigned tasks, none overdue

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Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Nguyen Dinh Khang chairs the ministry’s September meeting.

During September, the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs focused on institutional reform, administrative procedure reform, digital transformation, national target programs, and ethnic and religious affairs.

The ministry issued two circulars and reviewed 34 legal documents, taking action on five of them.

All 58 administrative procedures under its authority have been publicly disclosed. Five internal procedures were newly introduced, 21 revised and eight abolished.

All 16 procedures containing documentation that could be replaced with land data have been restructured and simplified.

Digital transformation efforts have also continued, with specialized databases on ethnic and religious affairs being developed in preparation for connection and data sharing with the National Data Center.

Of 166 tasks assigned to the ministry through the government database system, 89 had been completed as of Sept. 28, while 45 remained within deadline and 32 had no specified deadline. None were overdue.

The ministry’s leadership has also issued 221 directives assigning 2,311 tasks.

Public investment disbursement was estimated at VND251.195 billion, or 47.65% of allocated capital, by the end of September.

The ministry has called for construction, project acceptance and payments to be accelerated during the remaining months of the year.

International engagement and cooperation have also been stepped up.

Among the highlights, Khang accompanied senior Vietnamese leaders on a visit to Russia and signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Russia’s Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs.

The ministry also organized a high-level delegation to work with the Holy See at the Vatican and in Italy, while implementing international conventions, treaties and agreements concerning human rights in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Clear tasks, resources and responsibilities

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Minister Nguyen Dinh Khang addresses the meeting.

Deputy Minister Y Vinh Tor asked ministry units to conduct a comprehensive review of their assignments, closely follow the ministry’s directives, and clearly identify resources, mechanisms, schedules and funding.

Tasks that have already received policy approval and have sufficient grounds for implementation should be proactively carried out rather than delayed because resources have yet to be identified, he said.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hai Trung called on units to focus on completing database development tasks, carefully review documentation and procedures, and coordinate with other ministries and agencies.

He also urged them to make effective use of existing data and avoid creating unnecessary administrative procedures.

On religious affairs, Trung called for the rapid completion of a decree guiding implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion, which is expected to be submitted to the prime minister for consultation on Oct. 10.

Concluding the meeting, Khang praised the sense of responsibility and efforts of the ministry’s departments and affiliated units in carrying out their duties in September and during the first nine months of 2026.

He nevertheless called for shortcomings in administrative reform, digital transformation, public investment disbursement and inter-agency coordination to be addressed.

Khang assigned the Department of Legal Affairs to clarify authority and responsibilities in decentralization and delegation of powers.

The Digital Transformation Center was tasked with developing an implementation plan for the prime minister’s Decision 171 on the data architecture framework, while the Department of Policy was instructed to assess the state of digital transformation in ethnic affairs, identifying what has and has not been completed and the resources required.

Ministry units were also instructed to tighten procedures for drafting and submitting official documents, ensuring that proposals contain sufficient political, legal and practical grounds and clearly demonstrate their necessity.

Khang called for documents to be concise and focused, with clear lead agencies and coordination responsibilities.

He also instructed units to proactively develop work plans for the final three months of the year, ensuring compliance with regulations and effective implementation.

Thuy Hong