It was issued last Tuesday in response to a request of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST), Trần Hồng Hà.

The decree will be pursuant to the Law on Government Organisation dated June 19, 2015, a law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Government Organisation and the Law on Local Authority Organisation dated November 22, 2019; the Law on Cultural Heritage dated June 29, 2001 and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage dated June 18, 2009.

According to the decree, principles in managing, protecting and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritage are to ensure intangible cultural heritage and guide people and communities to realise their value and participate in preserving their identities for a comprehensive and safe social development and environmental protection.

The principles also ensure the cultural diversity of heritage will be respected along with the respect of the features of regional and local ethnic communities.

"Cultural heritage assets of different communities are equally respected," the decree says.

Việt Nam will prioritise the protection of intangible cultural heritage at risk of fading away or being lost, and those of ethnic communities living in far-flung mountainous, remote, border and island areas, according to one of the articles in the new decree.

The decree also focuses on prioritising the decision-making rights of the host communities for the long-term and continuous existence and practice of the heritage, in accordance with Việt Nam's laws on cultural heritage and international documents to which the country is a member.

For heritage inventory, those on UNESCO’s Representative List will be checked every six years, every four years for those in need of urgent safeguarding, and every three years for those in the national list.

Heritage inventory should be carried out for seven types of heritage such as language, folk literature, traditional performance, social customs and beliefs, traditional handicrafts, festivals and intellectuals.

Regulating the introduction of intangible cultural heritage and festival organising activities, the MoCST is assigned to give decide if a festival is held by two or more provinces. The ministry will also decide if it is organised at a national and international level in Việt Nam.

Chairman of the People's Committee of the provinces or central cities will have the right to decide if a festival is held in local area, according to an article in the decree. VNS