Dong Son culture bronze jar of Nam Hong Royal Museum recognized as national treasure in early 2023
The draft revised Law on Cultural Heritage, which is being prepared for submission to the National Assembly, includes a new provision: prohibiting businesses from profiting from national treasures.
The rationale of the law drafting agency is to help prevent the risk of loss, destruction or illegal trading of national treasures, and to prevent the risk of exploiting the title of national treasures for personal gain.
But does this regulation really help to best promote the value of national treasures?
Stop profiteering
Regarding the above regulation, a representative of the Department of Cultural Heritage said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism only proposed profit-making business activities according to the definition of "business" in the Enterprise Law.
The new regulation does not prohibit the civil sale, transfer, exchange, donation, or inheritance of national treasures owned both publicly and privately in the country according to the provisions of law.
The new regulation is provided in Point c, Clause 1, Article 40 of the draft Law on Cultural Heritage (amended). To have this regulation, the Investment Law must also be amended and supplemented.
That is to add more industries and professions prohibited from investment and business, specifically "Business of buying and selling national treasures" and amend Appendix IV of the Investment Law from "Buying and selling national relics, antiques, and treasures" to "Business of buying and selling relics, antiques".
According to the Department of Cultural Heritage, the regulation prohibiting the trading of national treasures will help prevent the risk of loss, destruction or illegal trading of national treasures; prevent the risk of exploiting the title of national treasures for personal gain; and help ensure that cultural heritage is preserved and passed on to current and future generations.
However, the drafters of this law also admitted that the disadvantage of the new regulation is to limit the right of disposal of the owner of national treasures.
But considering the pros and cons, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism still decided to propose including a regulation banning the trading of national treasures.
The draft revised Law on Cultural Heritage also stipulates that "Relics and antiques under common or private ownership may only be transferred, exchanged, donated, inherited, and traded domestically in accordance with the provisions of law."
That means all Vietnamese relics and antiques are not allowed to be transferred, exchanged, given away, inherited, or traded abroad. The old law did not prohibit this. This is also a regulation that many antique collectors are interested in giving their opinions on.
The Emperor's golden seal is a private collection - Photo: Department of Cultural Heritage - Photo: BTC
If it is banned, then do not ask for the title of national treasure.
Public policy expert Nguyen Quang Dong - director of the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development (IPS) - agrees with the ban on trading state-owned national treasures, but should not ban trading privately owned national treasures.
The reason is that this prohibition would limit the discretion of the owner of the national treasure, as the law's drafters also recognized.
In addition, allowing the purchase and sale of privately owned national treasures, according to Mr. Dong, will motivate those with money to buy valuable Vietnamese antiques from abroad and bring them back to the country, while the State still has budget difficulties for this.
There should be policies to encourage the private sector to participate in preserving and promoting cultural values through antiques.
Regarding the argument of banning the trading of national treasures to prevent the risk of exploiting the title of national treasures for personal gain, Mr. Dong said that the title is only one of the factors that make up the price of national treasures, and the rest is decided by the market.
The fact that investors can make a profit from national treasures should not be a reason to ban the business, but the State should be concerned with how to collect good taxes from this business.
Public policy expert Nguyen Quang DongThe owner of a private museum with national treasures told Tuoi Tre that he strongly agrees with the ban on trading Vietnamese antiques and relics abroad.
However, the purchase and sale of national treasures should not be banned domestically. Allowing the purchase and sale will motivate private collectors to invest in protecting and promoting the value of antiquities.
He also suggested that antiques in Vietnam but of foreign origin should not be banned from being sold abroad.
He cited the case that if France also banned the sale of non-French antiques abroad, we would not be able to buy the Emperor's golden seal to repatriate as we did.
Mr. Cao Van Tuan - owner of the Indochina Museum of Culture and Arts in Hai Phong City - also does not support the regulation banning the trading of national treasures in the country.
According to Mr. Tuan, if this regulation is in place, he believes that many private collectors with valuable antiques will not register for recognition as national treasures.
Mr. Tuan reminded lawmakers about the case of the ancient village of Duong Lam, who were upset and demanded the return of the national heritage title given to this village because the regulations accompanying the title caused too much inconvenience and misery to the people's lives.
Not only does Mr. Tuan not support the ban on trading national treasures, he also proposed that the State should have a policy of financial support for private museums in general and support for museums that are preserving and promoting the value of national treasures in particular.
Information from the Department of Cultural Heritage shows that the country has 265 treasures and groups of artifacts recognized by the Prime Minister as national treasures.
Of these, 13 treasures and groups of artifacts are national treasures that are privately owned. The recognition of national treasures and groups of artifacts that are privately owned has only appeared in recent years.
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