Culture is the endogenous strength for a country to survive and develop.

VHO - Since the Party's founding, in the 1930 Platform as well as documents and resolutions of the Party's platform, the issue of culture has always been placed in a position of top importance, associated with the issue of human development. Even before gaining power, our Party had proposed the policy of building and developing a new culture.

Mr. Pham Quang Nghi - former member of the Politburo , former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, former Minister of Culture and Information

The Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established before President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945 at the historic Ba Dinh Square. Among the 12 ministries of our country's first cabinet, there was the Ministry of Information and Propaganda, the predecessor of the later Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).

  During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Vietnamese culture carried the spirit of "singing to drown out the sound of bombs" and as General Secretary Le Duan summarized: "We defeated the US first of all by winning in culture". That is a very profound, correct, scientific and convincing conclusion. It is not only a summary of the victory of the resistance war against the US to save the country, but also a general summary of all victories in the long history of our nation's struggle to build and defend the country".

There have been about three hundred definitions of culture, yet they still cannot contain and encompass the full scope, position, and role of culture for humans and society. That alone speaks volumes about the great mission and role of culture.

During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Vietnamese culture carried the spirit of "singing over the sound of bombs" and as General Secretary Le Duan summarized: "We defeated the US first of all by winning in culture". That is a very profound, correct, scientific and convincing conclusion. It is not only a summary of the victory of the resistance war against the US to save the country, but also a general summary of all victories in the long history of our nation's struggle to build and defend the country.

There have been about three hundred definitions of culture, but they still cannot contain and encompass the full scope, position, and role of culture for people and society. That alone speaks to how great the mission and role of culture is. And that is also very true in the opening speech of the National Cultural Conference on November 24, 2021 by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: “Culture is the soul of the nation, expressing the identity of the nation. As long as culture exists, the nation exists…”.

At the National Cultural Conference held in Hanoi, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivered a very important speech. The General Secretary emphasized: “Since its founding, our Party has always attached great importance to the role of culture and paid great attention to the work of building culture in the cause of national liberation and nation building… The Party’s awareness of culture is increasingly comprehensive, complete and profound.

Our Party has determined: Culture is the spiritual foundation of society, both a goal and an endogenous strength, an important driving force for national development... The culture we build is an advanced culture, imbued with national identity...". That is the emphasis on the position, role, goal, and direction of building Vietnamese culture and people. Our cadres, party members, and people, especially those working in the cultural field, once again clearly understand and deeply understand the meaning and importance of culture for the cause of building and defending the Fatherland, not only in the current period, but also in the long term.

Culture is the endogenous strength for a country to survive and develop. Photo: TR.HUAN

  I want to emphasize that culture is the soul of the nation, the internal strength for the country to survive. If the economy gives us food and clothing, then culture gives us faith, courage and aspiration.

To build and develop Vietnamese culture and people to truly become the "foundation", "endogenous resources", "driving force" for rapid and sustainable development of the country in the new era, in Conclusion 156-KL/TW, the Politburo requires: Urgently perfecting institutions, mechanisms and policies; prioritizing additional resources to promote the development of Vietnamese culture and people in the new period; Mobilizing all resources and driving forces to build and develop culture and people; Strive for spending on culture to be no less than 2% of total state budget expenditure; Building a strategy for developing human resources, especially high-quality human resources and strategic-level officials; Having breakthrough solutions to promote the development of cultural industries to ensure the following factors: innovation, creativity, identity, uniqueness, professionalism, healthiness, competitiveness and sustainability; Building a digital cultural environment suitable for the digital economy, digital society and digital citizens; Actively integrate into international culture, absorb the quintessence of human culture and promote the promotion of Vietnamese cultural identity in the international community.

I want to emphasize that culture is the soul of the nation, the internal strength for the country to survive. If the economy gives us food and clothing, then culture gives us faith, courage and aspiration. As President Ho Chi Minh said: "Culture must light the way for the nation to go."

In the context of deep international integration, if we only focus on the economy and ignore culture, we will easily fall into the risk of losing our roots and dissolving. On the contrary, if we know how to promote the power of culture, linking culture with development, Vietnam will certainly have a worthy position on the world map.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/van-hoa-la-suc-manh-noi-sinh-de-dat-nuoc-truong-ton-va-phat-trien-163009.html