Many Highlights in 2024
Speaking at the conference, Member of the Party Central Committee cum Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung emphasized that 2024 is a pivotal year in achieving the objectives set forth in the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party, as well as the Resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government. The year presents a mix of opportunities and challenges.
Amid this context, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has identified the theme for the year as “Be Proactive – Accelerate – Achieve Goals,” consistently adhering to and rigorously implementing Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP of the Government. The Ministry has also followed the eight directions and key tasks outlined by the Prime Minister during the 2023 year-end review conference for the sector. With a spirit of seriousness and receptiveness, while avoiding complacency or neglect in the face of challenges and difficulties, the entire sector has successfully fulfilled its responsibilities. Notably, several areas of work have yielded positive outcomes, with measurable achievements and numerous highlights, as emphasized in the aforementioned report.
There have been many highlights across various fields of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism over the past year. With a resolute determination to create breakthroughs in the development and completion of institutional frameworks, translating the Party’s and the State’s policies, guidelines, and laws on the development of culture, sports, and tourism into actionable measures, the Ministry has achieved significant progress in 2024. Specifically, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism took the lead in reporting to competent authorities for the approval of one Law and one Program, provided feedback on one Law, issued five Decrees, and approved two Master Plans and one Sectoral Development Strategy. Additionally, the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism issued 16 Circulars under his jurisdiction.
A significant highlight is the issuance of Conclusion No. 70-KL/TW by Politburo on January 31, 2024, regarding the development of sports and physical activities in the new era. Additionally, the National Target Program for Cultural Development for the period 2025-2035 has been introduced, providing a crucial foundation for cultural advancement under the perspective that investing in culture is investing in sustainable development in its broadest sense. Furthermore, the 2024 Cultural Heritage Law, passed by the National Assembly on November 23, 2024, introduces numerous new provisions, maximizing support for the preservation and promotion of heritage values with the aim of “transforming heritage into assets” and tightly integrating it with socio-economic development.
The efforts to build a cultural environment in tandem with fostering cultural individuals have been moving in the right direction, focusing on grassroots areas as the core and placing the people at the center to preserve and promote cultural values. These initiatives have been systematically implemented, starting with pilot programs and gradually expanding. Fifty out of 63 provinces and centrally governed cities have successfully developed and promoted various models to preserve cultural identity, customs, traditions, and the nation’s noble heritage. The core values of culture, family, and the admirable qualities of the Vietnamese people have been widely practiced and disseminated.
The preservation and promotion of cultural heritage values continue to achieve new milestones. In 2024, an additional 9 sites were recognized as special national relics, 32 sites were designated as national relics, and 55 intangible cultural heritages were inscribed on the national registry. Notably, Vietnam gained two more UNESCO-recognized heritage listings.
National and regional cultural and artistic events continued to be organized, closely aligned with political missions and the task of fostering a vibrant cultural environment at the grassroots level.
Notably, the cultural industries have made breakthrough marks with large-scale programs that possess great appeal and significant social impact. In the fields of Film and Performing Arts, there have been many remarkable cultural industry products, such as the 2024 Hanoi Creative Design Festival, the 1st International Jazz Festival – Nha Trang 2024, and the “sold-out” performances of the programs “Anh trai vuot ngan chong gai” (Brother Overcoming Thousands of Obstacles) and “Anh trai say hi” (Brother Says Hi). These are vivid examples of the successful implementation of the Prime Minister’s Directive to promote the development of cultural industries.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung delivered a speech at the Conference.
In the field of sports, Vietnam’s sports system is based on two pillars: sports for all, with the campaign “The Whole Nation Engages in Physical Exercise Following the Example of President Ho Chi Minh” in the spirit of “Strong people – Prosperous nation.” In 2024, it is estimated that 37.5% of the population nationwide will regularly participate in physical exercise (an increase of 0.8% compared to 2023). Additionally, 27 national mass sports festivals and competitions will continue to be held throughout 2024, attracting over 20,000 athletes. These events play a key role in discovering and nurturing talent for the development of high-performance sports.
In high-performance sports, Vietnam achieved a remarkable total of 482 gold medals, 360 silver medals, and 372 bronze medals at international sports events. The Vietnamese women’s volleyball team made history by winning the bronze medal at the Women’s Volleyball World Cup for the first time and securing the gold medal at the Asian Volleyball Cup for the second time. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese women’s futsal team excelled by winning the ASEAN Championship.
In the tourism sector, 2024 witnessed a strong recovery following the pandemic, which was recognized by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as a bright spot in the nation’s economic and social landscape. The number of international tourists visiting Vietnam reached the target of 17-18 million, while domestic tourists were estimated to reach 110 million visits. Total revenue from tourism is projected to be around 840 trillion VND. Vietnam was honored as the “World’s Leading Heritage Destination” and, for the fourth consecutive year, was named the “Leading Destination in Asia.”
Proactively, flexibly, creatively, and decisively carrying out the tasks for 2025
Regarding some key tasks for 2025, Minister Nguyen Van Hung stated that this year holds exceptional significance in achieving the socio-economic development goals outlined in the 13th Party Congress Resolution and the 5-year socio-economic development plan for 2021-2025. Closely following the leadership and direction of the Party Central Committee, the Government, and the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will base its decisions on the actual situation, providing proactive, flexible, creative, and decisive guidance. The Ministry will ensure that tasks are carried out effectively, with focus, concentration, and in alignment with the overall direction.
Specifically, the Ministry will focus on streamlining and restructuring the organizational apparatus, ensuring the stable operation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism after the restructuring plan is approved by the competent authorities. The goal is to ensure that the agencies, units, and organizations involved in the restructuring operate smoothly, effectively, and efficiently from the outset, without disrupting work or other normal activities. The Ministry will continue to implement the Party’s resolutions on personnel work, enhancing the quality of civil servants in the fields of culture, sports, and tourism.
The Ministry will also continue to advise on the comprehensive and timely institutionalization of new Party policies in the culture, sports, and tourism sector. Efforts will be focused on completing the draft Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Advertising Law, to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval in the 9th session (May 2025). The Ministry will draft and submit to the competent authorities the detailed regulations of the 2024 Cultural Heritage Law, ensuring timely submission, as well as decrees related to specific policies, training systems, and special schemes in the fields of culture and sports. Additionally, the Ministry will prepare and submit to the Prime Minister for approval the feasibility report for implementing the National Target Program on Cultural Development for the 2025-2035 period.
The Ministry will continue to focus on preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, the core values, and the unique identity of the Vietnamese people, while also enhancing the significance of cultural heritage. It will apply new technologies in cultural and artistic activities, and emphasize advanced elements in the development of culture, ensuring it is modern, civilized, and deeply imbued with national identity.
With persistence, we aim to create and build a healthy cultural environment, which serves as a solid foundation for nurturing the Vietnamese people to embody the spirit of “self-reliance, self-confidence, self-strength, and pride in our nation.” Priority will be given to building culture within each family, community, village, neighborhood, organization, unit, and corporate culture. Additionally, efforts will be focused on perfecting traditional customs and practices that elevate the role of the people as the main subjects, initiated by the people, and carried out by the people with voluntary participation.
The implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Cultural Industries through 2030, with a vision toward 2045, will be carried out after being approved by the Prime Minister. The focus will be on enhancing the competitiveness and integration of the cultural market, developing potential cultural industry products that have room for growth, and encouraging creativity in culture and the arts that align with Vietnam’s identity and the spirit of the times. In the development of cultural industries, the government plays a key role in policy creation, businesses are responsible for execution, and the creative community takes on the role of designing products and content.
Furthermore, the movement “The Whole Nation Engages in Physical Exercise Following the Example of President Ho Chi Minh” will be further promoted. Investments will be made in the development of public sports; localities will be guided to organize sports congresses at all levels in preparation for the 10th National Sports Games in 2026. Focus will be placed on preparing the Vietnamese sports team for participation in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 33) in Thailand, the 4th Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, the World Games in China, and other international sports events in 2025.
The development of the Vietnam Tourism System Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2045, will also be rolled out. This includes creating and implementing communication and tourism promotion programs in key target markets for Vietnamese tourism. The goal for 2025 is for the tourism sector to welcome and serve 22-23 million international tourists and 120-130 million domestic visitors. The total revenue from tourism is estimated to reach 980-1,050 trillion VND.
TTĐT
Photo: BVH