Cultural preservation deemed success

The nation’s programme on preserving and developing culture during the 2006-10 period has been successful, particularly in mountainous, disadvantaged and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, according to a review of the programme by the National Assembly’s Council of Ethnic Minorities.
The Het Cha festival of the Thai Trang ethnic minority group is among the results of efforts being made to preserve and develop the culture of ethnic minorities.
The council has discussed the programme and the investment efficiency of its projects.
The programme, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung with a total capital of more than VND4.5 trillion (US$252 million) in 2007, was devised to preserve and develop the typical cultural values of the country, aiming to upgrade 70 per cent of historical relics, 80 per cent of national-level artistic architectural relics and landscapes and preventing the degradation of about 1,200 other national relics.
It also focused on preserving and documenting the typical intangible relics of 54 ethnic groups. This involved work on lobbying for UNESCO recognition of five intangible cultural masterpieces to be classed as examples of world cultural heritage. Work was also carried out on preserving 20 villages and restoring 30 ethnic minority festivals and developing cultural life for local people.
The programme included nine key projects that had brought in encouraging results, said the council.
Projects of note include work on preserving and upgrading cultural and historical relics, a project to collect and preserve intangible cultural heritage of Vietnamese ethnic groups; preservation and research on a number of typical villages and traditional festivals of ethnic minority groups and a project to build and develop a cultural information system in remote and disadvantaged areas.
Other projects include work on supplying cultural information equipment and products for people in border and ethnic minority-inhabited areas and islands, a project to develop the public library network and a programme on supporting the film industry.
Under these projects, more than VND1 trillion was invested in upgrading 139 relics, and another VND21.4 billion in preventing the degradation of 700 other relics. More than 400 management officials at museums and relics received professional training.
In addition, more than VND32 billion was invested in 380 small projects to collect and preserve the intangible cultural heritage of 54 ethnic groups. This included work on preserving customs, supporting festivals and traditional professions. The cultures of ethnic minorities received more media coverage and many cultural performances were held across the country, helping to raise public awareness on cultural values.
Restoring
Under the programme, VND3.4 billion was invested in restoring 38 traditional festivals of more than 20 ethnic groups, while VND40.6 billion has been earmarked to preserve 20 traditional villages, focusing on preserving old houses, traditional work tools and crafts and cultural activities such as dances and folk games.
The programme has provided mobile information stalls and audio equipment for information centres at districts and provinces as well as opened training classes for local officials, creating favourable conditions to disseminate information about Government policies and raising local people’s intellectual standards, particularly in remote and disadvantaged areas.
During the past three years, the programme also supplied more than 500,000 books (including 1,195 different publications) worth VND16.7 billion for provincial and municipal libraries, and more than 400,000 books for district libraries worth VND15 billion. Help was also provided in building libraries, worth VND500 million each, in 20 provinces.
The programme to provide equipment for cinemas in remote and disadvantaged areas provided VND700 million to each participating locality.
The implementation of the programme during the past four years has helped to strengthen national unity and preserve political and social stability as well as disseminate the Party and State policies to remote and ethnic minority-inhabited areas.
It also helped to preserve and develop cultural values and raise public awareness of the value of cultural heritage.
The programme has also brought about positive economic results. Upgraded relics have attracted more tourists, helping to increase local budgets while creating jobs for local people.
However, shortcomings remained in implementing the programme, such as a lack of capital, manpower and professionally-trained staff, which slowed the progress of projects.
The use of cultural and information equipment provided to some localities has proved ineffective and not suitable, particularly in remote and mountainous areas where infrastructure is lacking.
The NA Council for Ethnic Minorities proposed the NA pay more attention to supervising the implementation of the programme and the Government quickly drafts the programme for the 2011-20 period, focusing on building and ensuring effective operation of cultural mechanisms, preserving cultural heritage, popularising cultural values and encouraging investment in cultural development, particularly in disadvantaged areas.