Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng gave an interview to VnExpress about solutions to promote Vietnam’s cultural industries, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon 2024.
- Looking back on seven years of implementing Vietnam’s Cultural Industries Development Strategy, which results do you find most notable?
- At the end of 2023, the Prime Minister chaired a nationwide conference on the development of cultural industries to review the implementation of this strategy. Several key highlights were drawn, such as the increasingly deeper and more accurate awareness among authorities, citizens, and businesses of the role of the cultural industry. As a result, national-level indicators have achieved very positive outcomes.
The value added of cultural industries contributing to the economy reached 5.82% in 2018; 6.02% in 2019; and in 2022—after the two pandemic-affected years of 2020–2021—the sector began to recover, contributing 4.04%. The total output value of Vietnam’s cultural industries in the 2018–2022 period averaged 1,059 quadrillion VND (equivalent to about 44 billion USD).
Cultural industries are making a positive contribution to economic restructuring, job creation, and income growth for the population. In the 2018–2022 period, the number of economic establishments operating in cultural industries increased by 7.2% per year. In 2022, the country had more than 70,300 establishments with 2.3 million workers. Cultural industries recorded a trade surplus of 37 billion USD in 2018, increasing to 41.9 billion USD in 2022.
Cultural industries also play an important role in promoting the deep integration of Vietnamese culture into the world, enhancing the country’s image, identity, attractiveness, and cultural soft power. For example, Hanoi, Da Lat, and Hoi An have joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, providing a solid foundation for Vietnam to set its goal in the coming period of becoming a cultural industry hub that attracts and concentrates creativity in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam has been honored four times as the world’s leading heritage destination, demonstrating its outstanding global value and the appeal of cultural tourism. Cultural industries have a higher value-added ratio compared to production costs, contributing to resource efficiency, the promotion of cultural values and national identity, and the goals of sustainable development. If we know how to harness intellectual property and our diverse, rich cultural heritage, it will become an inexhaustible national resource.
- In many countries, cultural industries are an important part of the economy, generating significant foreign currency revenue through exports. In Vietnam, how is this issue approached?
- At the international level, UNESCO began discussing cultural industries in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, cultural industries and the creative economy are drivers of sustainable development. The cultural sector accounts for up to 6.1% of the global economy, with annual revenue reaching 2.25 trillion USD and nearly 30 million jobs.
In 2020, creative services exports brought in 206 billion USD for the United States, 174 billion USD for Ireland, 75 billion USD for Germany, 59 billion USD for China, and 57 billion USD for the United Kingdom. China led the world in exports of creative goods in 2020 with 169 billion USD, followed by the United States (32 billion USD), Italy (27 billion USD), and Germany (26 billion USD).
In Vietnam, culture has long been regarded as belonging to the ideological sphere and as the spiritual foundation of society. Resolution No. 5 of the 8th Party Central Committee (1998) on building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity was the first to mention economic policy and the exploitation of culture’s economic potential. Experts from the British Council and UNESCO were among the first to introduce the concept of cultural and creative industries in Vietnam.
During the 2007–2014 period, many international seminars on cultural industries were held under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, it was not until 2014, with the 9th Plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee, that the term “cultural industries” was officially included in Party documents and their development was set as a direction. Subsequently, in 2016, the Prime Minister issued the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Cultural Industries to 2020, with a vision to 2030.
Since then, awareness of the role of cultural industries has been further elevated. The recent first nationwide conference on cultural industries has served as a driving force for these sectors to take off.
- Compared with the goal of cultural industries becoming an important economic sector contributing 7% of GDP, current results remain limited. What is your view on this?
- Alongside initial achievements, we must frankly acknowledge that Vietnam’s cultural industries still have many limitations. There is currently no legal document (law or decree) governing state management of cultural industries. Specific and appropriate mechanisms and policies for attracting investment and developing resources to support and promote cultural industries are still lacking.
Investment resources are still dispersed and not yet focused on key subsectors with advantages and potential to create flagship products. The workforce in this sector is also lacking in both quantity and quality due to the absence of adequate incentive and attraction policies. The content and form of products in areas such as software, handicrafts, design, architecture, and fashion have not fully exploited local cultural characteristics to create uniqueness and competitive advantages.
A number of businesses still do not pay sufficient attention to copyright and related rights protection, so violations and infringements in recent years have directly affected creators and hindered investment in the sector. Vietnam is a promising market with a young, open population that is easy to reach, but habits and awareness of respecting, protecting, and developing cultural industry products have not yet been fully formed. Although financing for cultural industries has increased, it remains low compared to actual demand.
- South Korea has reaped significant benefits from culture, especially in film and music. How does Vietnam orient the development of its cultural industries, Minister?
- I believe Vietnam has the opportunity to become a cultural industry hub of Southeast Asia. To achieve this, we need to set the goal of developing cultural industries into an important economic sector contributing 7% of GDP. Cultural industry products and services must develop in a diverse and high-quality manner based on innovation, creativity, traditional cultural values, and respect for copyright, meeting both domestic demand and export needs.
We will study and improve the legal framework to unlock the development of cultural industries, with preferential policies on capital, encouragement for creativity, and support for startups. Three cultural industry hubs in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang will be established soon; the network of creative cities will be expanded to include Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, Kien Giang, Hue, and Da Lat.
The cultural sector will also promote exchanges, joint ventures, and cooperation with countries that have developed cultural industries such as South Korea, Japan, and China; and will add cultural industry indicators to the national statistical system to ensure appropriate investment policies and development roadmaps.
With a young, dynamic population that quickly adapts to global trends, priority sectors will leverage these advantages, such as film. In 2023, the film industry achieved strong commercial growth, with Vietnamese box office revenue reaching 1.08 trillion VND—a historic record.
Vietnam’s software and entertainment gaming sector in 2022 generated 148 billion USD in revenue, with a total workforce of 1.2 million people, making the country the second largest software exporter in the world. The Vietnamese gaming industry earned 665 million USD in 2022, ranking fifth in Southeast Asia and becoming a regional hub for game development and software export.
In addition, Vietnam will also develop performing arts, design, handicrafts, and cultural tourism, building product brands associated with local regions. I hope these industries will make an important contribution to revitalizing and developing the country’s culture.
