Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (standing) meets with representatives from the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund and fund donors in Hanoi on March 15 (Photo: VNA)

The meeting was held on the occasion of the 90th founding anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the 22nd anniversary of the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, and seven years since the “For Beloved Hoang Sa and Truong Sa” Club was established.

The Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, named after a liaison boy from the Mong ethnic minority group who was killed in 1949 during the resistance war against France, was set up in 1999 by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to support poor ethnic minority students.

Nearly 400 billion VND (17.3 million USD) has been donated to the fund to date, with nearly 90,000 annual scholarships presented to students from Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups as well as Vietnamese students in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Cuba.

The fund has benefited 1,200 students via different projects. Nearly 200 have graduated from universities and colleges and six have won scholarships to study abroad. The fund has also raised resources to build 18 schools, six roads, 39 bridges, and 166 houses for disadvantaged people.

In 2014, it established the “For Beloved Hoang Sa and Truong Sa” Club, with a view to supporting sailors and fishermen working on the country’s seas and islands.

Stressing that the younger generation and safeguarding sovereignty are both issues of critical importance, the PM spoke highly of creative and practical actions taken by the fund’s executive board and members, as well as the considerable material contributions from benefactors.

He noted that human resources are a decisive factor in every country’s development. Paying attention to the younger generation, especially those in remote and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, is therefore a major necessity to ensure that no one is left behind.

He expressed his hope that the fund will operate more effectively in the time ahead and mobilise more resources from society to carry out projects to assist vulnerable groups.

It is also necessary to educate young people on patriotism and national pride and inspire their aspirations for self-development and contribution to national development, the Government leader added./.

Compiled by BTA