Addressing a meeting in Hanoi on August 23 to mark 80 years of the cultural sector, the General Secretary affirmed that since its founding, the Party and President Ho Chi Minh identified culture as a vital front, with the 1943 Vietnamese Cultural Outline - the Party’s first manifesto on culture - laying out three foundational principles - Nationhood - Science – the People for cultural development. Since then, Party resolutions have consistently regarded culture as the soul of the nation, as soft power, and as a driving force for development.

The Party always attaches great importance to building culture within the Party and the political system, fostering exemplary conduct, integrity, and dedication to the people, and upholding a culture of rule of law, public service, enterprises, and business, he said, adding this is the foundation for spreading values throughout society, consolidating trust, creating consensus, and igniting aspirations for prosperous and happy development.

After outlining key lessons drawn from nearly a century of revolutionary practice for the entire cultural sector, General Secretary Lam emphasised that as Vietnam is entering a new stage of development, striving to become a developed, high-income economy, culture must all the more take the lead, guide and inspire, nurture resilience, strengthen confidence, and shape the nation’s soft power.

To do this, he requested the cultural sector to deeply grasp and concretise the Party’s viewpoints on culture, placing culture on an equal footing with economy, politics, and social affairs, and developing strategies, programmes, and projects with breakthroughs and adequate resources.

It’s important to build a healthy cultural environment starting from families, schools, and communities, prevent moral degradation and negative ideological shifts, and develop a safe and civilised digital culture, he said.

He underlined the need to develop cultural industries and the creative economy as a new pillar of growth; establish “cultural valleys” and creative industry clusters in major cities and tourism centres; and improve institutions, policies, and digital infrastructure for the production and distribution of cultural products.

Among other things, he requested fostering, honouring, and protecting the rights of intellectuals, artists, athletes, tourism entrepreneurs, and cultural workers, while encouraging and nurturing young talents.

The event, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, honours the glorious tradition and development history of the sector. Over the past 80 years, under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts, the leadership of the Party, and the management of the State, the sector has accompanied the nation through every historical milestone, making important contributions to the cause of national construction and defence.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam presented the Labour Order, first class, to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in recognition of the sector’s great contributions to national development over the past eight decades.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also presented the Labour Order, first class, to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, while 80 exemplary individuals were awarded Certificates of Merit from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

HCM City to celebrate National Day 2025 with diverse cultural festivities

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