"Cultural and sports institutions in many localities are both redundant and lacking"

On May 12, in Quang Ninh, the 2024 Cultural Conference took place with the themePolicies and resources for the development of cultural and sports institutions.

The workshop was organized by the Committee for Culture and Education in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Central Propaganda Department, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attracting more than 300 delegates.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member and Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, emphasized that cultural and sports institutions play a particularly important role in building and developing national culture. This is where creative activities, popularization, practice and enjoyment of cultural values ​​take place; where the aesthetic and physical abilities of all classes of people are trained and enhanced, helping Vietnamese people to be physically healthy, mentally beautiful, and comprehensively develop in morality, intelligence, physical fitness and aesthetics. At the same time, this is also an important address in preserving and promoting good traditional cultural values ​​and spreading new cultural values ​​of the times and of the nation...

Overall, comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang said that the system of cultural and sports institutions at all levels has initially met the needs of the majority of people.

However, besides the remarkable achievements, the planning and operation of the current cultural and sports institutions system still reveal many limitations and inadequacies, leading to "a situation of both excess and shortage of cultural and sports institutions occurring in many localities".

Investment funds to develop cultural and sports institutions are still limited, carried out in a "drop by drop" manner; technical equipment and facilities in some places are outdated; land funds are scarce and do not meet requirements.

In order to remove difficulties, obstacles, and clear bottlenecks in policies and resources for developing cultural and sports institutions, the Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics suggested that delegates attending the workshop focus on discussing a number of contents on: Completing legal documents, which provisions are still valid, which provisions have been surpassed by practice, are no longer suitable, and need to be adjusted and supplemented; Planning cultural and sports institutions, it is necessary to add specific indicators on the development of cultural and sports institutions to the content of the overall planning for local socio-economic development; Managing, using, and exploiting cultural and sports institutions so that they have vitality; Investing funds, mobilizing social resources; investing in facilities and equipment for cultural and sports institutions appropriately, focused, and effectively, avoiding the situation of both shortage and waste; The organization, personnel and human resource training, treatment policies, allowances and training for artists and actors participating in traditional art forms must be consistent with reality.

At the workshop, comrade Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, pointed out a number of shortcomings: The State's investment policy for the National Library of Vietnam is not suitable. Information resources serving users have not developed much digital data or databases to buy online access rights; The Vietnam Exhibition Center for Culture and Arts has seriously degraded and needs investment to repair and upgrade to meet the needs of development and organize large international cultural and sports events; Performing arts facilities have not received synchronous investment in facilities and have small capacity...

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung proposed to develop a number of specific mechanisms and policies to delegate authority in the fields of investment, construction, land management...

Leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that it is necessary to focus on perfecting the system of legal policies on culture and sports in a synchronous manner with related laws such as building the Law on Performing Arts, comprehensively amending the Law on Cultural Heritage (amended), considering and approving the National Target Program on Cultural Development for the period 2025-2035...

Concluding the workshop, Comrade Tran Thanh Man, Politburo member, Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, agreed on solutions to perfect institutions, policies and ensure resources for the development of cultural and sports institutions, focusing on 5 groups of issues: Perfecting institutions and policies. Reviewing legal documents, supplementing and amending relevant legal provisions to clarify the concepts and connotations of "cultural and sports institutions", "cultural and sports establishments"; Planning cultural and sports institutions. Perfecting planning in the direction of synchronization, modernity, identity, efficiency, ensuring fairness and meeting the needs of the people; Building priority policies in mountainous areas, islands, border areas, remote areas, ethnic minority areas; Attaching importance to and implementing socialization with the motto "The State and the people work together"; Mobilizing resources to participate in building grassroots cultural and sports institutions; Research and revise the treatment regime for artists and actors participating in traditional art forms...