Making Culture an Important Endogenous Driving Force in the New Development Era

On the afternoon of October 7, a delegation from the Central Propaganda Commission led by Comrade Bui Hoai Son, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Commission, worked with the Standing Board of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee on the implementation results of Party resolutions, directives, conclusions, and documents in the field of culture and literature/arts.

Overview of the working session.

Receiving and working with the delegation were comrades: Bui Huy Vinh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Luong Duc Minh, Member of the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Commission; Nguyen Khac Hieu, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee; alongside representatives of various provincial departments, branches, and localities.

Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Commission Bui Hoai Son and Deputy Secretary of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee Bui Huy Vinh co-chair the working session.

According to the report, spatial merging has converged and intersected three distinct cultural streams within the province: the Ancestral Land cultural space featuring the Hung Kings Worship Belief and UNESCO-recognized Xoan Singing; the Vinh Phuc cultural region rich in festival traditions, craft villages, and Mother Goddess worship; and the unique Hoa Binh Muong cultural region featuring Muong gong art, stilt houses, and the Birth of Soil and Water epic.

This expanded development space offers immense potential while placing high demands on shaping a unified development of culture and people, ensuring harmony between heritage preservation and integration.

Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Commission and Head of the survey delegation Bui Hoai Son delivers concluding remarks at the working session.

Determining that “Culture is the foundation and driving force of development,” the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee strictly comprehended and executed Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo and Resolution No. 28-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee; issuing Plan No. 26-KH/TU and Action Program No. 26-CTr/TU to institutionalize policies on culture and arts.

The Provincial People’s Committee issued the Scheme for Developing Phu Tho Culture and People for the 2026–2030 Period, Vision to 2045, and the Cultural Industry Development Plan to 2030. The Provincial People’s Council enacted mechanisms supporting heritage preservation and grassroots cultural movements.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Bui Huy Vinh speaks at the working session.

Recently, the province focused on preserving and promoting signature heritage values such as the Hung Temple Special National Historical Relic Site, Hung Kings Worship Belief, Phu Tho Xoan Singing, Mo Muong, and Muong Gongs; linking culture with tourism, service development, and digital transformation.

Along with managing 608 festivals safely and transparently, the province maintains nearly 4,000 grassroots performing arts teams, while enforcing Directive No. 27-CT/TU on civilized lifestyles in weddings, funerals, and festivals.

Head of the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Commission Luong Duc Minh presents the report at the conference.

Innovation and digital transformation were accelerated through digitizing historical monuments and “red addresses”; notably the “Story of the Fiery Age” Scheme by the Ancestral Land Youth, which uploaded over 29,650 historical stories and digitized 25 red addresses.

Concurrently, local Party committees emphasized political and ideological orientation for artists, linking cultural activities with protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and combating erroneous, hostile views on cyberspace regarding local culture and history.

Regarding inspection and supervision, the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee established 26 supervision teams across 148 communes and wards; the Culture sector inspected 25 business establishments, promptly correcting violations.

Delegation members express opinions during the session.

During discussions, delegates candidly pointed out limitations: investment resources for culture and heritage restoration remain limited; grassroots cultural staff quality is uneven; performing arts personnel suffer shortages and aging; digital transformation and cultural industry product progress do not match potential; development gaps exist between regions alongside pressure from modern entertainment markets.

Speaking at the working session, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Bui Huy Vinh emphasized: Party committees and local authorities view culture as an endogenous strength, driving force, and foundation for sustainable development; culture must generate real economic value alongside educational roles.

The province aims to become a center for hosting national and regional cultural events, maximizing the Ancestral Land cultural space — the origin of the Vietnamese nation.

The Deputy Secretary outlined 7 core task groups for the coming time, focusing on raising Party leadership capacity, innovating propaganda, prioritizing budget allocations for cultural infrastructure, developing cultural industries, linking culture with tourism, addressing human resource bottlenecks, and enacting incentive policies for artistic creation.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Khac Hieu speaks to clarify points raised by the delegation.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Commission Bui Hoai Son highly praised 3 highlights in Phu Tho: institutionalizing Central directives, innovating mindsets to integrate culture into socio-economic strategies, and effectively combining distinct cultural spaces into invaluable assets.

Departmental and local leaders speak to clarify points raised by the working delegation.

To ensure Phu Tho transforms its deep culture into development power, the delegation leader suggested 5 key task groups: strongly innovating mindsets; realizing Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW with clear resources; shaping a new Phu Tho cultural identity under “Unity in Diversity”; shifting from “Preservation to Keep” to “Preservation to Develop”; and creating breakthroughs in cultural industries, digital transformation, and grassroots cultural care.

The Head of the survey delegation acknowledged all provincial proposals to synthesize and advise the Politburo and Secretariat on perfecting mechanisms, expressing confidence that Phu Tho will continue its breakthrough to make culture a vital endogenous driving force in the new era.

Dinh Vu