Culture - endogenous resource for socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas

Our Party and State always pay attention to and direct the preservation and promotion of the cultural values of ethnic minorities throughout the process of leading and governing the country with the motto "Ethnic minority culture is an important part of the unified and diverse Vietnamese culture."

The policies and guidelines issued and implemented in recent times have made important contributions to preserving and promoting national cultural identity, creating conditions for ethnic minorities to develop their socio-economy .

Thanks to that, ethnic minority and mountainous areas have had many positive changes. The socio-economy has developed, the education level and intelligence of the people have been raised, the material and spiritual life has been improved, traditional cultural values have been preserved and promoted, social order and security have been ensured, equality and great national unity have been achieved, etc., contributing significantly to the overall development of the country.

Towards comprehensive and sustainable development of ethnic minority areas

Implementing Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period, Phase I (2021-2025), Project 6 "Preserving and promoting fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development" has been deployed nationwide by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Regarding the Project, Mr. Trinh Ngoc Chung, Director of the Department of Culture of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, affirmed: The Project consists of 19 component tasks, implemented synchronously nationwide, aiming at the goal of restoring, preserving and promoting traditional cultural identity; linking culture with sustainable tourism development; improving the level of cultural enjoyment and spiritual life of the people; contributing to the successful implementation of Resolution No. 88/2019/QH14 of the National Assembly and Resolution No. 12/NQ-CP of the Government.

The work of preserving and promoting traditional culture of ethnic minorities in the 2021 - 2025 period has created positive and clear changes in many aspects, contributing to strengthening national unity, enhancing pride and awareness of preserving traditional culture in the community; improving cultural enjoyment and developing sustainable community tourism, linking culture with livelihoods, helping many households escape poverty.

This also arouses the creative spirit of ethnic artisans, teaches the younger generation, and forms a successor force in cultural preservation work; creating a solid foundation for the implementation of Project 6 in the 2026 - 2030 period, towards comprehensive, inclusive, and sustainable development of ethnic minority areas.

The conservation and restoration of tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the organization of typical traditional festivals of ethnic minorities have been researched, restored and preserved.

Many festivals have been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, contributing to restoring regional cultural identity; many of which, such as Gau Tao Festival (H'Mong), Gong Festival (Central Highlands), Then - Tinh Dan Festival (Tay, Nung, Thai)... have become unique cultural and tourism highlights.

All levels and sectors have built models for experiencing and learning about unique cultures, "connected heritage" models associated with community tourism development, and models for building grassroots cultural life have been built, becoming products in tourism exploitation and development; paying attention to supporting the restoration and embellishment of relics, preserving historical and cultural values typical of ethnic regions, contributing to building spiritual tourism products for the locality.

Folk culture clubs and traditional art troupes are supported to be established and maintain regular activities, attracting a large number of artisans, village elders, village chiefs, and ethnic youth to participate.

Many localities open training classes to teach intangible culture and community tourism skills, helping to improve practical capacity, preserve and exploit local cultural values.

Regional and national cultural, art and sports festivals are held periodically, creating a forum for exchange, honoring and introducing the cultural identity of ethnic minorities to the general public.

Combining cultural preservation with community tourism development, typical tourist destinations in ethnic minority areas have been renovated and upgraded with infrastructure and tourism products, many of which have formed sustainable community tourism models, combining traditional cultural preservation with livelihood development, such as Na Hang village - Tuyen Quang, Lac village - Hoa Binh, Plei Oi - Gia Lai, Sin Suoi Ho - Lai Chau...

The preservation of typical traditional cultural villages and hamlets is supported by investment, both as "living museums" preserving national culture and as unique cultural tourism destinations, contributing to creating jobs and increasing income for people.

The above results significantly contributed to increasing the rate of 93.8% of villages having community houses, 66.1% of villages having traditional cultural and artistic teams operating regularly, exceeding the targets set by the National Assembly Resolution (80% and 50%). The Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village continues to affirm its role as a center for exchange, preservation and promotion of ethnic cultural values, associated with sustainable tourism development.

Over the past time, the Village has organized hundreds of national-scale events, attracting hundreds of thousands of domestic and foreign visitors, creating a strong influence, arousing national pride, promoting Vietnamese culture to friends around the world.

It can be said that Project 6 of the National Target Program under Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg has achieved many outstanding and substantial results with strong influence, affirming the role of culture as an important endogenous resource for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas - Director of the Department of Culture of Vietnam's Ethnic Groups Trinh Ngoc Chung affirmed.

Preserve and promote traditional cultural values sustainably

In order to restore, preserve and promote traditional cultural values sustainably; build a healthy, diverse and creative cultural environment associated with community tourism development; improve spiritual and cultural life, contribute to the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposes key tasks and implementation items for the 2026 - 2030 period, including many groups of activities.

In particular, the investment - construction activity group includes 5 tasks: Preserving and promoting typical traditional cultural villages and hamlets; preserving and restoring special national relics and typical relics of ethnic minorities; building and renovating cultural and sports institutions and equipment of village and hamlet cultural houses; building and developing community tourism spots and special tourist destinations in ethnic minority areas; supporting the construction of ecological museums in ethnic minority areas.

The support and development activities group has 10 tasks: Restoring and preserving the cultural identity of ethnic minorities; organizing festivals, cultural exchanges, sports, and tourism in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; preserving and promoting traditional festivals and forms of folk cultural activities; researching and performing intangible cultural heritage, preserving the language and writing of ethnic minorities; organizing training, teaching, and fostering expertise and skills for artisans, communities, and officials; supporting equipment, community bookcases, and means for grassroots cultural and sports activities.

The next tasks are: Supporting the maintenance and development of cultural clubs and traditional art troupes; building a model of cultural preservation associated with tourism development, a model of specific ethnic sports; building an information system - database of Vietnamese ethnic minority culture; propagating, promoting and promoting ethnic minority cultural tourism on media platforms.

In the period of 2026 - 2030, the work of preserving and promoting traditional cultural values needs to continue to innovate methods, increase focused investment, promote socialization, and apply digital technology, aiming at the goal of: "Preserving identity - Sustainable development - Improving the cultural life of ethnic minorities in Vietnam"; effectively implementing national target programs, especially the National Target Program on Cultural Development for the period of 2025 - 2035.

In addition, the Government and the National Assembly agreed on the policy of integrating 3 National Target Programs: New Rural Development, Sustainable Poverty Reduction, Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas into a common National Target Program for early approval and continued implementation, aiming to fundamentally solve the problems of the most difficult areas, ensuring that all policies converge towards a common goal, for a better life for the people - Director of the Department of Culture of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups Trinh Ngoc Chung stated./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/van-hoa-nguon-luc-noi-sinh-phat-trien-kt-xh-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-post1074389.vnp