Promoting cultural, sports and tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Hong Kong (China)

At the beginning of the working session, Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong expressed his joy and welcomed the delegation for their visit and work at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Deputy Minister affirmed that the visit was a practical activity to thoroughly grasp the common perception of the senior leaders of Vietnam and China to deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

The Deputy Minister stated that the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and China is a relationship rich in tradition as the two governments signed the Cultural Cooperation Agreement in 1992. Based on the Cultural Cooperation Agreement between the two countries, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism periodically, based on specific cooperation needs, sign the "Cultural and Tourism Cooperation Plan" for each stage.

In addition, the two sides signed many international agreements and treaties during the visit of the high-ranking leaders such as: Agreement on building cultural centers of one country in the other country; "Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of cultural industry between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China"; "Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of copyright and related rights".

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong (right) had a meeting and worked with Head of the Hong Kong (China) Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yang Run Hung.

In cooperation with Hong Kong, the Deputy Minister said that Vietnam has always actively and proactively participated in major international activities organized by Hong Kong; proactively sent delegations to Hong Kong to work, explore bilateral cooperation opportunities and introduce the image of the country and people of Vietnam to the people of Hong Kong. Vietnam has organized many exhibitions of paintings and photos in Hong Kong. In 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will send a number of outstanding students in the arts to Hong Kong to study and improve their qualifications.

In the field of cinema, every year the Department of Cinema (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) sends films to participate in the Film Festival in Hong Kong and sends delegations to participate in related activities; sends films and nominates films to participate in the ASEAN Film Festival in Hong Kong.

In the field of tourism, Vietnam and China signed a Government-level tourism cooperation agreement in 1994; an agreement on cooperation in protecting and exploiting tourism resources of Ban Gioc waterfall (Vietnam) - Duc Thien (China) in 2015. The Vietnam National Tourism Administration (formerly the General Department of Tourism) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on tourism cooperation with Macau, Jiangsu province, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Shandong...

In addition, China is always the leading market sending tourists to Vietnam, accounting for a high proportion (average of about 30%) of the total number of international visitors to Vietnam, in which Hong Kong tourists always play an active role in contributing to the stable number of Chinese tourists in the top position of tourists to Vietnam.

Overview of the working session

In the field of sports, in addition to signing cooperation documents, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism maintains regular and good cooperative relations with China, including Hong Kong. The two sides support each other in multilateral forums. In 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sent a football team to compete and welcomed the Hong Kong football team to play a friendly match in Vietnam.

In order to develop cultural and tourism cooperation commensurate with the available potential, through the working session, Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong hopes that Hong Kong will continue to support cultural organizations, art troupes, and cultural and art training schools of both sides to carry out exchanges and cooperation.

Regarding cooperation in developing cultural and creative industries, Vietnam is focusing on promoting the implementation of the Strategy for Developing Cultural Industries in Vietnam to 2030, with a vision to 2045. With the orientations set forth by the Government, the Deputy Minister hopes to expand cooperation in developing cultural and creative industries with China, including Hong Kong, through researching and signing more cooperation documents. The two sides also need to regularly exchange, plan cooperation and implement many activities to materialize the plans set out.

In tourism, the Deputy Minister hopes that Hong Kong will create more favorable conditions for Vietnamese tourists when entering the country for tourism. Coordinate and exchange tourism policies between the two sides, coordinate in exploiting tourism routes, and build tourism products. Support the two sides' aviation transport enterprises to increase flights between Vietnam and Hong Kong, China based on market demand.

In the field of sports, the Deputy Minister proposed to increase sports exchanges between the two sides and asked Hong Kong to support Vietnam in training and educating human resources in strong sports.

Speaking at the meeting, Hong Kong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Director General Yang Yun-hung expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for the delegation. In response to Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong's comments, Yang Yun-hung said that these were valuable initiatives to foster cultural and tourism cooperation between the two sides.

After this working session, Mr. Duong Nhuan Hung hoped that the two sides would increase the organization of cultural promotion activities in Hong Kong and Vietnam. Through that, people would have more opportunities to understand each other's unique cultures. Along with that, Mr. Duong Nhuan Hung hoped that Vietnam and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would promote cooperation in cultural and creative industries through the joint production of a film, cooperation in fashion, etc.

Leaders of both sides believe that the friendly cooperation relationship in culture, sports and tourism will become more and more practical and effective.

Regarding tourism, Vietnam has many destinations that are favored and chosen by Hong Kong people in their travel itineraries, so Mr. Duong Nhuan Hung hopes that the two sides can research and deploy more cruise tours to meet the needs of tourists, contributing to increasing the number of visitors exchanged between the two sides.

Regarding the sports field, Mr. Duong Nhuan Hung also proposed that the two sides increase friendly matches in football and some other strong sports so that athletes have the opportunity to learn from experience.

At the end of the working session, the leaders of the two sides believed that the friendly cooperation relationship in culture, sports and tourism will become increasingly substantive and effective, contributing to promoting the cooperative relationship to new heights./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/day-manh-hop-tac-van-hoa-the-thao-va-du-lich-giua-viet-nam-va-hong-kong-trung-quoc-20240612143644226.htm