From the fever of the show "Brother": Investment in culture is still scattered and lacking in uniformity

(Dan Tri) - Experts and artists say that investment and funding for the cultural industry in Vietnam is not small, but it is still scattered and lacks uniformity, so it is not really effective.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) stated that the music reality TV shows Anh trai say hi and Anh trai vu ngan cong gai have created a bright spot for the performing arts industry, when looking back at the cultural sector's activities in 2024.

Coming out of the show, the shows Anh trai say hi and Anh trai vu ngan cong gai have recently become popular, causing social networks to explode. The concerts (live music nights) of "Anh tai" and "Anh trai" always attract a large audience of 15,000-30,000.

From the phenomenon of the two shows "Brother", the issue of effective investment and funding for the development of the cultural industry is once again discussed and concerned. Especially when Vietnam is entering the period of "New Era - the era of national development".

On December 9, a scientific workshop with the theme of Investment and funding for culture: International experience and lessons for Vietnam was held, recording many outstanding opinions, pointing out the difficulties and inadequacies in investing and funding for the cultural industry in Vietnam.

Experts and delegates attending the workshop also presented experiences and lessons learned in investing and funding culture.

The workshop was organized by the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in coordination with the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District.

Concert 3 of "Anh trai say hi" at My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi, on the evening of December 7 attracted tens of thousands of spectators (Photo: Organizing Committee).

Investment and funding for culture face difficulties and shortcomings

Mr. Do Quang Minh - Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - said that in Vietnam, current cultural policies mainly focus on cultural, social and political goals, while economic goals have not received due attention.

This makes the design of State investment and financing tools inappropriate and incomplete.

The implementation of investment projects and funding for culture also faces many difficulties due to the lack of a clear legal framework, and the lack of coordination between state agencies and businesses in the cultural field, leading to ineffective exploitation of resources.

Speaking at the workshop, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong - Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VNICAS) - also said that in Vietnam, the implementation of investment projects and funding for culture faces many difficulties due to the lack of a clear legal framework and support from the government.

According to her, coordination between state agencies and businesses in the cultural field is still lacking, leading to ineffective exploitation of resources.

In addition, the lack of publications and scientific conferences in this field also makes it difficult for researchers, managers and potential investors to find in-depth information.

This not only limits access to knowledge, but also reduces opportunities for networking and collaboration among stakeholders. As a result, many potential initiatives and projects are not effectively developed or implemented.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong - Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts - shared at the conference (Photo: Organizing Committee).

From the perspective of artist, cultural enterprise, musician, and music producer Quoc Trung, the State invests and supports culture a lot but it is not really effective.

"Investment is often spread out, lacking focus and synchronization. In particular, there is a lack of specific goals and objective evaluation of investment efficiency.

Without proper assessment, we will not be able to build appropriate strategies and accurately identify targets and areas for investment.

All these factors lead to a situation where, although the State has been investing, cultural workers and artists still feel deprived and have no opportunity to access or use those investment resources," said musician Quoc Trung.

Meritorious Artist Cao Ngoc Anh - Deputy Director of the Youth Theater - also said that the performing arts sector currently has many shortcomings. Specifically, this sector is not synchronized from institutions to infrastructure and human resources.

"Institutions serving the performing arts sector are still lacking and weak. In the capital Hanoi, theaters that meet international standards can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Currently, only the Hanoi Opera House and the Hoan Kiem Theater meet group A standards in the world; the rest are too old to satisfy high-quality art programs.

Outdoor venues with capacity for large music shows must also take advantage of stadiums and gymnasiums," Meritorious Artist Cao Ngoc Anh said.

Musician and music producer Quoc Trung (Photo: Organizing Committee).

Investing, funding culture: Money and more

At the workshop, experts and artists presented investment and cultural funding policies of successful countries in developing cultural industries from France, Greece, Japan, Korea, China... and made policy suggestions for Vietnam.

Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong took the French cultural management model and French cultural investment policies as lessons for Vietnam.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong said that the French Government provides large funding sources for cultural projects, museums, theaters and art organizations, with the view that culture is a public good that needs state support.

State funding/investment, public funding remains the mainstay for cultural institutions in France, demonstrating the state's commitment to supporting culture as a public good.

"This investment comes from different levels of government, including central and local governments.

For many public cultural institutions, in addition to the central government budget or investment and support accounting for about 30% such as schools, museums, theaters, the remaining 70% comes from the local budget divided into many levels (such as regions, provinces, cities)," Ms. Phuong said.

According to the Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, in addition to direct investment, indirect state support for the cultural sector, through French tax policies, has contributed to bringing in significant financial resources, through VAT reduction, tax incentives for donations, tax credits for creative cultural industries and tax exemptions for cultural heritage.

These policies aim to ensure the sustainability and development of France's rich culture, while encouraging public and private investment in the arts.

In particular, in addition to investment and support from the state, France promotes a mixed finance model. Public cultural organizations in France have a flexible combination of public finance, investment, private funding, self-generated revenue and other sources of funding and support.

This model helps organizations maintain financial stability while fulfilling their cultural mission and expanding their reach to more diverse audiences.

Experts share experiences on investing and funding culture at the workshop (Photo: Organizing Committee).

Mr. Jérémy Segay - Regional Audiovisual Attaché of the French Embassy in Vietnam - cited specific examples from France's public mechanism in supporting cinema. Specifically, French television companies must reinvest in the production of television series.

In addition to financial resources, musician Quoc Trung believes that we need to focus on investment issues in building and improving infrastructure and the capacity of the creative team.

According to musician Quoc Trung, the gap and empathy between management agencies and creative artists is currently quite large, creating a barrier that hinders development.

"In addition, Vietnam needs to consult and cooperate more with foreign experts on creative industry development strategies. With advanced and sustainable development and management policies, we build a creative industry.

In addition, it is necessary to raise awareness among state management officials so that they can be more sympathetic, cooperate effectively, and together create an environment that promotes creativity," musician Quoc Trung added.

Citing evidence from cultural investment activities in countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, Dr. Ha Huy Ngoc (Vietnam Economic Institute) said that we need to strengthen research and selectively absorb the world's cultural and scientific quintessence to perfect and enrich Vietnam's cultural and knowledge treasure.

At the same time, we also need to bring the quintessence of Vietnamese culture to the world, contributing to supplementing the quintessence of human culture; fighting against unhealthy cultural products from outside entering Vietnam.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/tu-con-sot-show-anh-trai-dau-tu-cho-van-hoa-van-dan-trai-thieu-dong-bo-20241210123505764.htm