Ho Chi Minh City: Cultural integration, not just cultural import

Many artists in Ho Chi Minh City believe that the strategy to promote Vietnamese culture to the world is still limited and not worthy of the country's rich cultural identity. It is necessary to promote it for integration, not just import.

Conference scene. Photo: Nguyen Le

On the afternoon of August 15, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee held a conference to collect opinions from the city's artists and writers on the draft Political Report of the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress, term 2025-2030.

As the first person to give her opinion at the conference, writer Bich Ngan, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, was concerned that in the past 30 years, our culture has been imported more than integrated, and there has been no real promotion strategy, while countries like Korea and China have had ways to promote culture for 50 years.

“Although it is slow, we need to have a strategy to promote culture, especially literature and art, to the world in a systematic way. We integrate culture, not just import it,” said writer Bich Ngan.

Writer Bich Ngan, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, gave a speech at the conference. Photo: Nguyen Le

According to writer Bich Ngan, countries store and preserve cultural resources in a very systematic way. This is a priceless treasure left for future generations, shaping the cultural identity of the nation.

“For cultural practice activities, it must be professional, while we mainly do it in a mass movement, not deep enough, and have not created a strong and lasting effect. Vietnam in general, and Ho Chi Minh City in particular, have many talented and dedicated artists, but the way they express and convey cultural values is not professional enough to integrate with the world,” writer Bich Ngan frankly admitted.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association, gave an example of cultural practices in the field of music, typically the case of Nguyen Van Chung. He did not graduate from university with a music degree but was still privileged to become a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association because of his achievements in the music field.

Through this, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem proposed that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture should pay attention to human training, and should have strategies and methods for human training. Cultural activities must create products with high diffusion, creatively arouse and promote the cultural depth and cultural diversity of the nation.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association, gave her comments at the conference. Photo: Lien Vo

“We must train people to practice culture, create cultural products that go beyond the scope of Ho Chi Minh City, cross national boundaries to bring Vietnamese culture to the world,” Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem emphasized.

Also contributing his ideas at the conference, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tan Phat, member of the Vietnam Writers Association and member of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, said that currently, most professional and public artists cannot live on their salaries. Therefore, the city needs to soon have a solution to implement the goal of professional artists living on their salaries in order to wholeheartedly focus on developing culture and arts.

“In particular, the city needs to soon have solutions, proactively integrate internationally, exchange culture, art, promote, and learn the quintessence of world culture. There are priority tasks such as sponsoring translation and exhibitions. Certainly, if we can do this, culture and art will have breakthroughs like economy, sports and tourism,” said Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tan Phat.

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thanh Nghi spoke at the conference. Photo: Nguyen Le

Speaking at the conference, Party Central Committee member, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thanh Nghi commented that the opinions of the city's artists were very frank, responsible, and profound, focusing on core issues such as the role of leadership, human resource training, conservation policies, strategies for promoting culture to the world, policies for artists, etc. Through this, the role, strengths, and limitations of the city's culture, literature, and arts were clarified. From there, the city has a more correct orientation to build a project to develop a worthy cultural industry with deep integration, making culture a strength of the city.

Comrade Nguyen Thanh Nghi emphasized that Ho Chi Minh City is a major cultural center, a place where the cultures of the nation and the world converge and exchange. Despite certain difficulties, the city always cares about culture and people's lives, thereby creating a foundation for cultural and social development.

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thanh Nghi took a souvenir photo with artists and representatives. Photo: Tung Ngo

According to comrade Nguyen Thanh Nghi, artists play a very important role, Ho Chi Minh City is proud to have a rich and creative community of artists. The outstanding characteristics of the city's artists are dynamism, creativity, and pioneering in many fields. The city identifies cultural and social development in sync with economic development, which is a decisive factor for sustainable development. Through this conference, the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee will synthesize, research, and absorb the maximum opinions of artists to serve the process of leadership, direction, and management of the fields of culture, literature, and art.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/tp-ho-chi-minh-hoi-nhap-van-hoa-chu-khong-chi-du-nhap-van-hoa-712788.html