The Deputy PM also called on local authorities to solve problems about cultivated land, housing and safe water supply for ethnic minorities during a conference on socio-economic development and political security in the Central Highlands on April 10.

Ministries, related offices and local authorities have to manage infrastructure projects effectively, making sure transportation, irrigation and hydro-electricity systems were efficient, Mr Dzung said. No less important is the need to ensure the provision of allotted forest with food provision schemes for ethnic minority people, land for production and housing and clean water supply to ethnic minority communities were also a priority, Mr Dzung added.

For the next five years, Deputy PM Dzung said the region should better cash in on the region's basaltic soil for industrial crops.

"As the nation's richest and largest basaltic land region, the Central Highlands should continue to tap this potential to plant rubber, which has brought in high profit in the past years," said the Deputy PM.

Last year, the nation planted only 500,000 ha of rubber, 200ha lower than the set target.

To take advantage of more than 5 million ha of forests in the region, Tay Nguyen’s local authorities should continue to carry out policies of allotting forest to ethnic minorities who will receive a payment of VND50,000 per hectare of forest and get support for food housing and land reclamation.