According to the minister, culture embodies the nation’s enduring values cultivated over thousands of years of national construction and defense. It serves as a vital endogenous resource, shaping the intelligence, spirit, courage, and resilience of the Vietnamese people.
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Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung delivers a speech at the 14th National Party Congress. |
In particular, during times of national crisis or hardship, the spirit of great national unity, combined with Vietnam’s patriotic tradition, self-reliance, compassion, and respect for human values, along with the ability to inherit and creatively integrate the best of global culture, has forged an unparalleled strength, enabling the country to continue writing golden chapters in its history.
When culture operates under the Party’s direct and comprehensive leadership, with the people as both creators and beneficiaries, and intellectuals, artists, and cultural officials playing key roles, its intrinsic strength is transformed into political and social power, contributing to the great victories of the Vietnamese revolution and the country’s remarkable achievements over the 40 years of Doi moi (renewal) process.
Hung pointed out directions and solutions, emphasizing that cultural and human development serves as a foundation, a vital endogenous resource, and a key driver for the country’s rapid and sustainable growth in the new era.
Cultural development must be closely aligned with politics, the economy, society, national defense and security, and foreign affairs, as social progress ultimately stems from cultural advancement, with the flourishing of culture representing the highest form of development, Hung said.
He stressed that effectively promoting the national value system, cultural values, family values, and Vietnamese human standards is key to fostering creativity, strength, resilience, and intelligence, while inspiring patriotism and the nation’s strong aspirations for progress.
“In the new era, culture places the highest value on the people’s happiness and the nation’s enduring prosperity,” Hung said, noting that it is also a front, and that building and developing culture is a long-term revolutionary endeavor requiring both will and perseverance.
He emphasized the need to carefully balance opposing pairs: creation and prevention, tradition and modernity, preservation and development, and real-life and virtual spaces, in this work.
The minister urged a bold, all-encompassing shift in mindset and a shared vision for cultural growth, emphasizing the importance of promoting national, family, and human values while encouraging patriotism, compassion, responsibility, honesty, creativity, and discipline to achieve the nation’s development objectives.
It is necessary to create a healthy cultural environment where positive values can be nurtured, spread, and effectively protected against the negative impacts of the market economy and the digital space, he said.
He added that the renewal of mindset should be implemented by integrating human and cultural development goals into strategies, plans, and socio-economic development programs, strengthening the accountability of heads in cultural governance, and enhancing communication and education to foster societal consensus.
According to him, it is essential to improve institutions in a way that fosters, liberates, and mobilizes resources for cultural and human development, and to recognize investment in culture as investment in the country’s sustainable development and future. It is also important to view the development of cultural industries and creative economy as new growth drivers that directly contribute to GDP growth, job creation, promote scientific and technological advancement and digital transformation while ensuring cultural security and information safety. The nation must also pro-actively engage in international cultural cooperation, thereby strengthening the country’s soft power.
The development of Vietnam in the new era must put people’s daily lives at the center while building on the country’s collective strengths as the foundation for progress, he noted.
The minister affirmed that Vietnamese culture is the source of national identity and a form of soft power, helping the nation assert its resilience, promote its values, and establish a distinct position in the global cultural landscape.
Source: VNA