Preserving cultural identity to contribute to the sustainable development of the country in the era of national growth

(Fatherland) - On the afternoon of December 14 at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) organized a Conference - Workshop "65 years of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage". Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong attended and spoke at the Workshop.

Attending the Conference - Workshop were former Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien, generations of officials working in cultural heritage conservation, experts and scientists from the National Cultural Heritage Council, Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, research institutes, leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Department of Culture and Information of provinces and cities.

Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong speaks at the Conference - Workshop

Protecting and promoting cultural heritage values ​​in the new period

Speaking at the Conference - Workshop, on behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong acknowledged and commended the achievements that the cultural heritage sector has achieved in recent years, especially in 2024, the year celebrating 65 years of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage.

Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong emphasized that from the first documents on cultural heritage protection, such as Decree No. 65 signed by President Ho Chi Minh in 1945, the Ordinance on protection and use of historical and cultural relics and scenic spots in 1984, the Law on Cultural Heritage in 2001, amended and supplemented in 2009, to the Law on Cultural Heritage No. 45/2024/QH15 recently passed by the National Assembly, institutional work and awareness of cultural heritage conservation have been increasingly improved and developed.

"This process strengthens our confidence and entrusts us with the great responsibility to protect and promote the value of cultural heritage in the new period: Preserving cultural identity to contribute to the sustainable development of the country in the era of national growth...", Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong affirmed.

According to the Deputy Minister, cultural heritage conservation is a field of cultural activity that is different from other fields that have been formed and developed before. Our ancestors have preserved and passed down achievements, tangible and intangible cultural heritages, and invaluable documents. The awareness of cultural heritage conservation is based entirely on science, made up of subjects such as history, archaeology, anthropology, law, architecture and fine arts, manufacturing and construction techniques, and other technical and technological subjects.

"Therefore, the work of preserving cultural heritage cannot help but require multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge. It is no coincidence that in the history of preserving and restoring relics in the world, there has been the participation of archaeologists, historians, philosophers along with architects, engineers and painters... It is necessary to understand heritage and make efforts to deal with it on the basis of a cultural approach...", Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong emphasized.

Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Le Thi Thu Hien speaks at the Conference - Workshop

To continue improving the quality and effectiveness of activities to protect and promote the value of cultural heritage in the coming time, the Deputy Minister suggested that the whole industry focus on continuing to implement the Resolutions of the Party Central Committee, Projects, Action Programs of the Government, and the Plan to implement the Minister's Directive on strengthening state management of a number of cultural and artistic activities, festivals, protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage, and restoring and developing tourism.

In addition, it is necessary to focus on research, consultation, and improvement of institutions, mechanisms, and policies on cultural heritage, especially developing documents guiding the implementation of the 2024 Law on Cultural Heritage, creating a favorable legal corridor for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​to be effectively implemented in practice.

Remove policy barriers, harmonize the relationship between conservation and development, exploit cultural resources, encourage active participation of society, create motivation to promote soft, endogenous power of culture for socio-economic development.

Continue to effectively implement the Program for preserving and sustainably promoting the values ​​of Vietnamese cultural heritage, period 2021 - 2025; Program for digitizing cultural heritage, period 2021 - 2030; National target program on cultural development, period 2025 - 2035, promote digital transformation, apply information technology in documenting the document system and building a national database on cultural heritage.

Actively and proactively integrate and cooperate internationally to mobilize resources and learn from the experiences of preserving cultural heritage of countries around the world, keeping up with the international trend of conservation associated with sustainable development in the current global context.

Strengthen training and fostering to improve professional qualifications and skills and innovate the thinking of civil servants and public employees in the industry about the position, role and development trends of the career of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage.

Conference-Seminar View

Efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of humanity

Speaking at the Conference - Workshop, Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Le Thi Thu Hien said that over the past 65 years, since Decree No. 65/SL was signed by President Ho Chi Minh, along with the process of building and defending the Fatherland, the cause of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage has been increasingly paid attention to and valued by the Party, State and People, leaving many marks and achievements. Currently, there are more than 40,000 relics and nearly 70,000 intangible cultural heritages inventoried nationwide.

Internationally, Vietnam has affirmed itself as one of the member countries actively participating in UNESCO Conventions (ratifying 4 out of 6 UNESCO Conventions), contributing experience as well as demonstrating efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of humanity.

"Cultural heritage has been contributing significantly to the economic and social development of localities and to the overall development of the country. However, in addition to outstanding achievements, on the path of development, we need to identify some difficulties and challenges to overcome together," Director Le Thi Thu Hien affirmed.

The Conference - Workshop "65 years of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage" is a forum to continue affirming the achievements of the cause of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage for the cause of national construction and development and defense, preserving and developing an advanced culture with strong national identity, and at the same time summarizing experiences in the work of managing, protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage.

At the Conference - Workshop, many presentations and perspectives of experts, scientists, and former leaders of the Department of Cultural Heritage looked back on the 65-year journey of protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage, with proud milestones: Management activities on relics - Issues raised; Policies on culture and cultural heritage from a general to specialized approach; The position of cultural heritage in the process of national development; Protecting and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritage in Vietnam, looking back on the journey; 65 years of the Vietnamese museum system, innovation and challenges...

Former Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Van Bai (Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council) shared his joy and pride in contributing to the glorious mission of preserving, protecting and promoting the cultural heritage values ​​left by our ancestors.

"The current resources of the Department of Cultural Heritage are much stronger, and social awareness of the role of cultural heritage has also fundamentally changed; the phenomena of encroachment on relics and heritage have been pushed back and limited... In particular, with many efforts, the legal corridor in this field is increasingly consolidated and improved," Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Van Bai emphasized.

Delegates attending the Conference - Workshop

The Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council also expressed that, with the invaluable heritage treasure and important resources of the industry, he hopes that in the coming time, the cultural heritage industry will continue to mobilize abundant resources, promote the public-private partnership model so that heritage has a place in social life, brings livelihood to the community, and helps the community coexist with heritage.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, former Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, said that over the past 60 years, state management activities on relics have achieved many encouraging results, many relics have been preserved, renovated and restored, many relics/world heritages have become attractive tourist destinations attracting domestic and foreign tourists, contributing significant revenue to the local and national budgets, relics have been playing an active role in developing the cultural industry, developing tourism in our country, contributing to economic development, creating jobs for the community, strengthening social equality, protecting the environment and maintaining a peaceful social environment to meet the United Nations' sustainable development goals.

However, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung noted that the new context also poses new issues for relic management activities to ensure the sustainable existence of relics. Accordingly, it is necessary to apply digital technology to relic management in the new period of "the era of national development" to help solve problems related to relic management, protection, restoration, prevention of relic encroachment, handling the theft of artifacts at relics and coordinating with relevant agencies in activities to preserve and promote the value of relics/cultural heritage more quickly and effectively. "To do so, it is necessary to have the next generation of cadres and employees with sufficient qualifications and capacity and equipment suitable for each stage of science and technology development. Hopefully, entering the new era, the cultural heritage industry will move forward steadily, reaping many new achievements" - Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung expressed./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/gin-giu-ban-sac-van-hoa-de-cong-phan-phat-trien-ben-vung-dat-nuoc-trong-ky-nguyen-vuon-minh-cua-dan-toc-20241214185716167.htm