Foreign tourists experience the unique traditional craft of making dó paper at the Sung village community tourism site in Cao Son commune. Photo: Bui Minh
Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW dated January 24, 2025, of the Politburo on international integration in the new situation identifies the requirement for proactive, comprehensive, deep, and effective international integration; maximizing domestic resources and leveraging external resources to serve national development. Following this, Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW dated January 7, 2026, of the Politburo on the development of Vietnamese culture further emphasizes the task of promoting the soft power of Vietnamese culture, making culture a truly endogenous resource and driving force for development.
Thoroughly understanding the major policies of the Central Committee, the Resolution of the First Provincial Party Congress, term 2025-2030, identifies the need to promote the cultural values of the ancestral land, enhance the effectiveness of international integration, and exploit resources to serve the goal of making Phu Tho one of the important growth poles of the Capital region, playing a central role in industry, services, and trade in the northern midland and mountainous region.
Proactively putting the resolution into practice, the issuance and implementation by Phu Tho province of the Project to organize the "Phu Tho Cultural Festival" abroad and the "Foreign Cultural Festival" in Phu Tho in the period 2026-2030 is not just a simple diplomatic activity, but also reflects a new development mindset: using culture as a bridge, using exchange and promotion as a foundation, and using cooperation and development as a goal.
Requirements arising from practical needs.
Phu Tho, the cradle of the Vietnamese nation, possesses a unique cultural value system of national and international significance. Two intangible cultural heritage sites recognized by UNESCO – the Hung Kings worshiping belief and Phu Tho Xoan singing – along with a rich system of historical relics, traditional festivals, and folk culture, have created a distinct identity for this land of national origin.
The new development space also brings together the unique cultural values of Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh. While Vinh Phuc stands out with its system of festivals, traditional crafts, historical relics, and various forms of folk culture in the midland region, Hoa Binh is the cradle of the world-renowned Hoa Binh Culture, preserving the distinctive values of Muong culture with Muong shamanism, Muong gongs, traditional festivals, stilt house architecture, and a rich treasure trove of folk knowledge.
This convergence creates a vast, diverse yet unified cultural space, a particularly valuable resource for building cultural diplomacy products of regional and international significance. This is also an advantage that not many localities possess in the process of building cultural brands and enhancing their position on the international stage.
In the context of increasingly fierce global competition, cultural appeal is becoming a crucial factor in determining the ability to attract investment, develop tourism, expand international cooperation, and build a local image. A locality with a distinctive cultural identity, widely recognized internationally, will have more opportunities to access development resources, connect with strategic partners, and enhance its competitiveness in the integration process.
Over the years, Phu Tho has established cooperative relationships with many localities in South Korea, Japan, China, Italy, Bulgaria, Laos, and many other international partners. However, cultural exchange activities are still mainly implemented as individual events, and a regular, strategic organizational mechanism has not yet been formed that is strong enough to create a lasting impact and spread influence.
This reality necessitates the development of a new, more systematic and professional model of cultural diplomacy, closely linking cultural promotion with international cooperation and socio-economic development.
Phu Tho Xoan singing is a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity - a valuable resource in the "Phu Tho Cultural Festival".
Two-way dissemination, one development goal.
According to Mr. Nguyen Dac Thuy, Provincial Party Committee member and Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the goal of the Project is to promote cultural diplomacy in a proactive, professional, and focused manner. Through this, it aims to widely promote the image of Phu Tho – the ancestral land and cradle of the Vietnamese nation – along with its unique historical and cultural values and dynamic development environment to international friends.
A highlight of the project is the simultaneous development of two complementary and mutually supportive programs: the "Phu Tho Cultural Festival" abroad and the "Foreign Cultural Festival" in Phu Tho. While the "Phu Tho Cultural Festival" abroad serves as a gateway to introduce the image of the ancestral land to international friends, the "Foreign Cultural Festival" in Phu Tho opens opportunities for local people to access, interact with, and experience the unique cultural values of the world.
The "Phu Tho Cultural Festival" abroad is organized as a comprehensive cultural diplomacy event. Here, typical cultural values associated with the Hung King era, the Hung King worshiping belief, Phu Tho Xoan singing, and other unique folk art forms of the northern midland and mountainous regions will be introduced to the government, businesses, and public of the host country.
The festival space also includes activities such as exhibitions, tourism promotion, introduction of OCOP products, traditional handicrafts, and unique cuisine; as well as organizing forums connecting investment, trade, education and training, youth exchange, and people-to-people diplomacy. Through these, businesses in the province have the opportunity to access international partners, expand markets, promote products, and seek new cooperation opportunities.
In particular, the overarching theme "Phu Tho - From the Ancestral Cradle to Future Vision" not only expresses pride in the birthplace of the Vietnamese nation but also conveys the province's aspiration for development, integration, and strong progress in the new era.
Conversely, the "Foreign Cultural Festival" in Phu Tho, themed "Identity - Exchange - Integration," will become a space for partner countries and localities to introduce their unique cultural values to the people of the province. Through art programs, exhibitions, cultural experiences, youth exchanges, and cooperation seminars, the people of Phu Tho will have the opportunity to directly access the diverse cultural colors of the world, broaden their understanding, strengthen friendship, and build a foundation for international cooperation.
It is noteworthy that both programs go beyond mere cultural exchange and are designed as a comprehensive external relations ecosystem. Culture is the starting point, but the ultimate goal is cooperation, development, and integration.
Unlocking soft potential, creating new momentum.
The Thai ethnic people of Mai Ha commune introduced their traditional handicrafts at the Hung Kings Commemoration Day - Hung Temple Festival and the Ancestral Land Culture and Tourism Week in the year of the Horse 2026.
The core philosophy of the Project is to use culture as a lever for development. Each cultural festival is not only a place to promote local identity but also an opportunity to promote investment, develop tourism, expand trade cooperation, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges. Through networking forums, business meetings, introductions to the investment environment, and promotion of development potential, culture is transformed into a practical resource serving socio-economic development. This is also the spirit that central agencies highly appreciate when recognizing Phu Tho's model as an innovative approach, using culture as an economic lever, and considering each cultural event as an opportunity for development.
The project also clearly demonstrates a two-way integration mindset by promoting the role of the Vietnamese community abroad as an important bridge between their homeland and the world. With their deep attachment to their roots, overseas Vietnamese are not only guardians and disseminators of Vietnamese cultural identity abroad, but also a force connecting investment, trade, education, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges. Through the activities of the festival, the Vietnamese community abroad will have more opportunities to promote the image of their homeland, introduce the development potential of the province, and contribute to building an increasingly broad international cooperation network.
It can be affirmed that Phu Tho not only organizes cultural festivals but is also gradually building a new generation model of local cultural diplomacy, where culture, economy, education, tourism, people-to-people diplomacy, and international integration are connected within the same development space.
From the Hung Kings era of nation-building to the era of integration and development, culture has always been a strong thread connecting the past with the present, the nation with humanity. In the flow of global integration, the strength of a locality is not only measured by its economic scale or growth rate, but also by its ability to spread cultural values and build empathy with international friends.
With the project to organize the "Phu Tho Cultural Festival" abroad and the "Foreign Cultural Festival" in Phu Tho, the ancestral land is opening up a new approach in foreign relations: putting culture first to pave the way for cooperation and development. When culture becomes a bridge connecting nations, the values forged from the Hung King era will continue to shine in the era of integration, contributing to enhancing the position of Phu Tho and Vietnam on the international stage, while opening up new spaces for development towards the goal of building a prosperous homeland and a happy nation.
Cam Ninh
Source: https://baophutho.vn/khoi-thong-suc-manh-mem-dat-to-255476.htm
