Promoting the role of culture for the goal of sustainable national development

ASSOC. PROF., DR. TRAN THI MINH TUYET
Academy of Journalism and Communication

1. Introduction

Harmonious development among the “three pillars” of economic growth, social progress, environmental protection, and culture are the key foundations and conditions for sustainable development. Vietnam, a country with a long-standing cultural heritage, considers culture to be its most important “endogenous” strength. The 13th National Party Congress advocates “increasing investment in cultural development”(1), promoting cultural strength to serve the goal of sustainable development, which is the target orientation of Vietnam. Researching and finding comprehensive solutions to realize this policy is currently necessary.

2. Sustainable development and the role of culture in sustainable development in Vietnam

Development is a process of movement from low to high, from simple to complex, from less perfect to more perfect to create continuous progress of human society. There is a huge difference between growth and development. “Rude” growth, growth “regardless of conscience, regardless of the future” will push countries into a state of fierce social conflict and environmental disaster. The tragedy of such growth occurs in many countries, causing many intractable consequences. Therefore, sustainable development is a “vital” requirement, a goal that every country aims for.

Awareness is a process, and human awareness of sustainable development is no exception to that rule. In 1980, the “World Conservation Strategy” issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) which clearly states that sustainable development simply means the protection of the ecosystem, specifically preserving biological resources. By 1992, the United Nations Summit on Environment and Development organized in Rio de Janeiro, when setting out the Global Agenda for the 21st century, determined: Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. That development model is a harmonious combination of three aspects: rapid-but-sustainable economic development, gradually implementing “green growth”; society develops in the direction of progress, equality, and prosperity; Sustainable development linked with environmental protection, minimizing negative impacts on nature, rational exploitation, and effective use of natural resources.

As a member of the United Nations, Vietnam agrees with the United Nations’ view on sustainable development. The Communist Party of Vietnam has gradually made the goal of sustainable development an essential part of its renovation strategy.

From a theoretical perspective, the concept of sustainable development was officially used by the Communist Party of Vietnam since 1994 when it asserted: “Considering science and technology as the foundation of industrialization and modernization; ensuring sustainable development”(2). As Vietnam is a poor country and at risk of falling behind, rapid development is an urgent requirement, but the Party is always consistent in closely combining rapid development and sustainable development.

At the 11th National Party Congress, the Communist Party of Vietnam clearly defined the role of each type of development: “Sustainable development is the basis for rapid development; Rapid development creates resources for sustainable development. Rapid and sustainable development shall always be closely linked together”(3). The 13th National Party Congress emphasized the issue of “sustainable development institutions”, which means the institutions that ensure comprehensive, synchronous, and harmonious development of all areas of life to “create a new driving force for rapid and sustainable development of the country”(4).

In general, Vietnam’s perspective on sustainable development is both inherited from the world and also adapted, supplemented, and developed to suit Vietnam’s conditions.

Choosing the right development model is very important, and finding and promoting the driving forces to realize the model is equally important. Vietnamese and world history has proven: Culture is the “key” to implementing sustainable development strategies. Although there are many definitions of culture, in general, culture includes the material and spiritual values created by humans. Culture and sustainable development are two inseparable aspects, for the following reasons:

Firstly, culture is identity, the internal force that proves the existence of each nation

The conditions of existence create traditions and cultural identities so that each ethnic group does not “mixed” with other ethnic groups. The Vietnamese people have undergone many ups and downs of history and have still exist bravely because of their strong internal cultural force. On the contrary, the fierce but heroic history has crystallized the Vietnamese culture with outstanding traditions such as patriotism, solidarity, kind-heartedness, tolerance, high adaptability, and tangible and unique intangible cultural heritages. After the August Revolution, at the First National Cultural Conference (November 24, 1946), Ho Chi Minh affirmed the great role of culture: “Culture lights the way for the nation”(5).

Today, as the world integrates more deeply, the “interference”, and even “cultural invasion” occurs vigorously. Only nations and peoples that can maintain their cultural identity can survive and have enough capacity to select and absorb the quintessence of human culture for their development. On the contrary, if they cannot maintain their cultural identity, they will be “assimilated”, “obliterated” and will no longer have the opportunity to develop. As long as culture exists, the nation will survive. Therefore, preserving and developing culture is a “necessary” condition for the sustainable development of a nation.

Secondly, culture is the driving force that promotes all aspects of a nation’s activities in a healthy direction

The life of every country includes the basic fields of economics, politics, culture, society, military, diplomacy, etc. Culture is not only an area of the country’s life but also the “inner” power that plays a dominant role in the activities of other areas. The “hidden power” of culture impacts the following areas:

In relation to economics, culture determines economic performance. Karl Marx once spoke about the role of culture in agricultural production: “If farming is carried out spontaneously without conscious guidance, it will leave behind wasteland.”(6). This means that, without knowledge, or culture, to guide, all production activities will be ineffective and leave many environmental consequences. For the economy to develop sustainably, it must aim towards cultural values. Building corporate culture, business culture, entrepreneurial culture, etc., is essentially infusing culture into economic activities, making them healthy and humane.

Currently, the market economy is the prevalent economic model. To limit the downsides of the market economy, culture is needed to lead the way. In the era of knowledge economy, where economic development mainly depends on “intellectual capital”, culture plays an increasingly important role in economic activities. In many ways, economics is linked to culture, and building culture in the economy is a must for sustainable economic growth.

In relation to politics, culture determines the quality of politics. Ho Chi Minh clearly stated: “Culture, broadly understood, is also politics. Politics, deeply understood, is also culture”(7). A healthy political system is one that acts according to the rules, suits the people, follows the course of history, and aims at humanistic values. Knowledge and ethics - the two most important elements of culture - help prevent authorities from committing corruption. The core of political culture is leadership culture and management culture. Knowledge, skills, and the art of leadership and management need to be equipped and cultivated through education - a form of culture. Politics inevitably requires constant renovation and creativity, that is the nature of culture. In short, a true political system must be a cultural one. If that political system lacks a cultural foundation, it will certainly be weak, decadent, and broken.

In relation to society, culture is the foundation of social spiritual life. With the values of “truth”, “goodness”, and “beauty”, ethical values in culture play a role in regulating lifestyle, and personal ethics, compelling each individual to adjusts their behavior in line with social opinion and community responsibility, creating a democratic and disciplined society. Conversely, the decline of culture will lead to ethical deviation and consequently “social disorder”. Culture also fosters love, respect, and tolerance among people in society. A society regulated by culture will be a harmonious and humane society.

In relation to security, diplomacy, and culture - the “soft power” of a nation creates the position, image, stature, brand, and prestige of each country. Wisdom and knowledge help a nation “know itself, know others”, find ways to respond to risks, handle conflicts, and maintain peace - a prerequisite for common development. In the event of war, culture is the source of victory. When integrating internationally, culture creates attraction in the exchange process and helps that nation have the resilience to integrate.

In short, when culture penetrates deeply into social life, society will have a healthy development orientation, increasing the comprehensive strength of the nation.

Thirdly, culture contributes to building human qualities, making people the driving force of development

Culture and humans have a close relationship. Humans are the creators of culture, cultural values, and cultural activities that foster and perfect human beings. There cannot be culture without people and there cannot be human nature without a cultural environment. Humans are the subjects of social existence and at the same time, humans have culture which is the driving force of development. In human character, there are three basic elements: ethics, intelligence, and aesthetics, all of which are products of culture. In the Industrial Revolution 4.0, people with endless creative capacity are the most valuable resources for creating the position and competitiveness of a country’. Even though cultural products do not literally release people from hunger, thirst, or disease, they are the endogenous power that allows them to create history and drive historical progress.

Fourthly, culture makes an important contribution to protecting the environment - a core element of sustainable development

Centuries ago, Engels warned that nature would “take revenge” on humans if humans “ruined the natural world” as crudely as robbers. He wrote: “Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us”(8). Over the past century, the world economy has developed in a rapid manner, but environmental disasters have occurred more frequently and catastrophically. Therefore, industrializing the country and developing the economy is an essential step, but protecting the environment is an imperative task for each country.

To properly protect the environment, people need to love nature, be responsible for future generations and have knowledge about the environment, as well as the knowledge to prevent and overcome environmental disasters. Those qualities and abilities are gained through educational activities and culture. On the contrary, “unscrupulous, senseless”, greedy and irresponsible people will cause environmental disasters, causing severe consequences upon humanity.

Fifthly, culture creates a smokeless industry full of development potential

Since the second half of the twentieth century, culture has become an industry with diverse products of high economic value. The contribution made by culture to development is not simply a spiritual factor but also a material one, with economic value. The cultural industry was born based on the exploitation of several factors: human creativity, achievements of science and technology, market, and national cultural identity with key industries such as tourism, media, design, fashion, performing arts, printing, publishing, film, visual arts, broadcasting, entertainment industry, amusement, and computer software, etc. They are smokeless industries with high economic efficiency and great development potentials.

Vietnam, a country with a long-standing culture, many landscapes and attractive culinary culture, has many advantages for developing the cultural industry. Vietnam, while in a period of renovation, its cultural market and cultural industry are gradually forming, making a significant contribution to the country’s development. In all aspects, culture plays an important role in the sustainable development of the country and humanity.

3. The Party’s viewpoint in the renovation period on promoting the role of culture in national development

Based on an increasingly profound awareness of the importance of culture, during the renovation period, the Party passed a number of resolutions focused on culture. In 1998, the 5th Plenum of the 8th Central Committee issued Resolution No. 03-NQ/TW “On building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with national identity”, which affirmed: Culture is the spiritual foundation of society, both a goal and a driving force for socio-economic development. In comparison with the view of culture as just an area of national life in the pre-renovation period, it is asserted that culture is the spiritual foundation of society, which can penetrate into economic and social activities and is a renovative perspective.

The 10th Central Committee Conference, 9th term (2004) asserted that the synchronous development of the three fields of economy - politics - culture will create comprehensive and sustainable development for the country. Being increasingly aware of the influences of culture in all activities of social life, the 10th National Party Congress set the requirement: “Improve culture in all economic, political and social activities, and daily activities of the people, etc. Pay special attention to improving the culture of leadership and management, and culture in business”(9).

The 9th Central Committee Conference, 11th term (2014) affirmed the role of culture as a driving force for the sustainable development of the country, not merely a driving force of socio-economic development as in the 5th Central Committee Conference, 8th term.

The 12th National Party Congress (2016) continued to promote the role of culture: “Culture has truly become the solid spiritual foundation of society, an important endogenous strength to ensure sustainable development and firmly defend the Fatherland”(10). For the first time, culture is affirmed as an endogenous strength for sustainable development and the firm defense of the Fatherland.

The 13th National Party Congress officially affirmed: “the soft power of Vietnamese culture” and considered culture to be “a breakthrough driving force for socio-economic development and international integration”(11). The role of culture was further emphasized as a driving force in creating leaps in the development process and a strength for international integration.

The Communist Party of Vietnam’s view on the role of culture in the country’s sustainable development is affirmed by the head of the Party - General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: “developing culture in sync and harmoniously with the economic growth, social progress, and justice is a fundamental orientation of the process of building socialism in Vietnam”(12).

The Party’s continuous renovation in thinking about the role of culture, new understandings of culture, create a gradual renovation in the cultural management mechanism, creating conditions for the socialization of cultural activities. This increases resources to meet the increasingly diverse spiritual needs of the people. A lot of tangible and intangible cultural heritages are preserved, restored and recognized by UNESCO as world cultural heritage, thereby promoting tourism and attracting investment to Vietnam.

Culture in politics and economics has begun to be addressed. The cultural industry and cultural market have been born and are constantly thriving. Due attention is given to training and fostering a contingent of professional cultural workers. Cultural exchange and cooperation activities with other countries have developed strongly.

Alongside the achieved results, the development of culture in connection with sustainable development still has many weaknesses. Investment in culture is not commensurate with economic development. The development of cultural fields is not synchronized, favouring audio-visual culture and entertainment culture and culture with commercial aspects. Culture has not penetrated into economics, politics and social life, leading to predatory business practices, corruption, negativity and a selfish, insensitive lifestyle. The methods of cultural leadership and management are slowly being renovated and are still confusing. The disparity in cultural enjoyment between regions is still large. The work of promoting Vietnamese culture to the world is still monotonous, poor, and not very effective, while absorbing foreign culture is somewhat easy due to the “foreigner mentality”.

The above weaknesses have been mentioned many times but are slowly being overcome. The 13th National Party Congress admitted: “Culture has not been given equal attention with economics and politics, and is truly become an endogenous resource and driving force for the country’s sustainable development. The role of culture in building people has not been properly recognized”(13).

4. Solutions to promote the role of culture for the country’s sustainable development goals

To exploit cultural values as the most important resource for sustainable development goals, it is necessary to focus on the following solutions:

Firstly, raise awareness across the entire political system and the people about the power of culture for sustainable development of the country

Thinking and awareness always determine every action. The final product of culture is human beings, so it is difficult to have “instant” results. It is necessary to eliminate the perception that culture is just an “event planning task”, a “surface”, a field that “only spends money but does not make money”. When cultural power is not promoted, countercultural and unethical elements easily penetrate all areas of social life. Overcoming cultural and ethical decline is much more difficult and prolonged than economic recovery. Therefore, solutions taken for culture must first start with thinking.

We must clearly realize that in order to have a society with sustainable development, all activities in that society must be placed in the orbit of culture and aim towards cultural goals. It is necessary to focus on preserving Vietnamese cultural values in the context of the market economy, the development of social networks, and the globalization process. It is necessary to clearly define the importance of building a digital cultural environment to suit the digital economy, digital society, and digital citizens.

Secondly, renovate the Party’s cultural leadership methods and perfect cultural development institutions

In modern society, for culture to develop, it is necessary to have a complete and transparent legal system with effective and efficient sanctions. The 13th National Party Congress mentioned the need to “to synchronously perfect institutions of sustainable development”(14). To institutionalize the Party’s views on culture, it is necessary to review and classify cultural policy documents: what has been done, what has not been done, or what has not been completed, and what needs to be done to finalize, enact and implement. Instead of directly managing cultural units and cultural activities as before, the State should switch to controlling and regulating at the macro level by setting up a legal system and supervising its implementation.

Thirdly, build a Vietnamese cultural value system

Over thousands of years of building and defending the country, the Vietnamese people have created a system of values, including a cultural value system. The national cultural value system is both a “barometer” displaying the nation’s core values and also plays a role in regulating society.

However, the value system is not an immutable indicator. Changes in context definitely cause change in the cultural value system. Therefore, researching, identifying, and implementing the national cultural value system in accordance with the national value system, human standards, and the Vietnamese family value system is a crucial task to promote the power of culture for sustainable development of the country.

Fourthly, increase investment in culture and promote the potential cultural industry

Although the role of culture is increasingly recognized and promoted, in reality, investment funds for culture remains very “modest”. In localities, especially remote areas, investment rates are even lower. As a result, many localities lack resources to restore and renovate classified historical and cultural relics and to build essential cultural works to serve the needs of recreation, entertainment, and sports activities of the people. Therefore, it is necessary to increase investment in culture by at least 2% of total annual budget expenditure as outlined in the “Cultural Development Strategy to 2030”.

Currently, cultural industry development is a trend in the modern world and is also a measure to optimize the structure of the country’s industry, improve national culture, and promote the national culture to the world. During the renovation period, Vietnam’s cultural industry was born, however, it has not developed due to institutional problems and limited capital, operational and management experience. The state needs to give special attention and priority to the cultural industry to contribute to building a “green economy” and meet the growing spiritual needs of the people.

Fifthly, train a contingent of professional and quality cultural officials

For culture to be properly develop, it is necessary to have not only “financial capital” but also “human capital” knowledgeable about culture. The 13th National Party Congress proposed the policy to “train and develop a contingent of leaders, directors, managers, and consultants in the fields of culture and arts, especially key officials who are truly knowledgeable about culture, with qualities, capabilities, and the professional capacity to meet the requirements and tasks”(15).

To have a contingent of cultural officials of guaranteed quantity and quality, it is necessary to raise awareness at all levels and sectors about the role of cultural officials. It is also necessary to review the system of schools that train cultural officials, aiming to renovate and modernize the content and methods of training and fostering cultural officials in a way that is linked with practical reality and learning how from the world’s cultural and tourism practices.

There should be a mechanism to attract students to study cultural majors, especially children of ethnic minority communities. There are preferential policies for cultural officials, especially officials working in remote areas and ethnic minority areas. It is necessary to mobilize the participation of folk artists, village elders, and reputable people in the community to participate in organizing and running cultural activities. Paying attention to cultural workers, intellectuals, and valuing them is a way to nurture the “national vitality”.

Sixthly, strengthen cultural exchanges with the world

In terms of geographical area and economic potential, Vietnam is a small country but that does not mean that Vietnam has a “small culture”. President Ho Chi Minh once said that culture is closely related to survival conditions; therefore, there is no high culture, or low culture. As a nation with a long cultural tradition, Vietnam must confidently promote its cultural values to the world. In the process of cultural exchange, it is necessary to preserve and promote the true and core values of Vietnamese culture. Always respect differences, seek unity in diversity to learn from other peoples, and at the same time, be vigilant against the risk of “cultural invasion” and “peaceful evolution” in the cultural field to protect national sovereignty.

5. Conclusion

Finding solutions is difficult but implementing them is even more difficult. Only with real determination and consensus, can solutions effectively “come into” reality.

To achieve the set development goals, Vietnam needs to promote both the hard power of culture, which is the promising cultural industry, and the soft power of culture, which includes knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, etc. Culture is the endogenous vitality and soft power of a nation, so properly recognizing and engaging with culture is the “key” to sustainable development, opening up a bright future for the nation and contributing to enrich the culture of all humanity.

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Received: February 20, 2024; Revised: March 12, 2024; Approved for publication: March 22, 2024.

Endnotes:

(1), (11), (13), (14), (15) CPV: Documents of the 13th National Patry Congress, vol.I, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, p.116, 47, 84, 114, 146-147.

(2) CPV: Complete Party Documents, National Political Publishing House, vol.53, Hanoi, 2007, p.530.

(3) CPV: Documents of the 11th National Party Congress, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.99.

(4) CPV: Documents of the 13th National Party Congress, vol. I, ibid., p. 114.

(5) See: National Salvation Newspaper, No.416, November 25, 1946.

(6) K.Marx and F.Engels: Complete Works, vol.32, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1997, p.80.

(7) Cited by Dinh Xuan Lam, Nguyen Van Khoan: Lawyer Phan Anh, People’s Public Security Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.326.

(8) K.Marx and F.Engels: Complete Works, vol.20, ibid., 2002, p.654.

(9) CPV: Complete Party Documents, vol.65, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2018, p.285.

(10) CPV: Documents of the 12th National Party Congress, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2016, p.126.

(12) Nguyen Phu Trong: Some theoretical and practical issues about socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2022, p.27.