National costumes for men and women and a national flower were a hot topic of discussion at the ongoing National Assembly session.

Questions were raised by Nguyen Van Canh, a National Assembly deputy from Binh Dinh at the Q&A session on June 5.

Canh said in order to develop tourism, it is necessary to preserve cultural identity. There is a set of identifiers of Vietnam’s tourism, such as sea and island tourism. However, they are just a product line of tourism.

“There are no identifiers for Vietnamese characteristics. Foreign travelers don’t come back to Vietnam for subsequent times because Vietnamese characteristics have not been clarified to leave impression on them,” Canh commented.

National identities can be reflected in costumes, cuisine, landscapes, music and arts. Canh said Vietnam’s tourism has important identities, such as ao dai (long dress), Son Doong Cave, pho (a Vietnamese dish, which means noodle soup served with beef or chicken), Ha Long Bay, dan bau (monochord), and water puppetry.

“National Assembly’s library shows that no organization and no individual has had approval for national flower, national costumes, national wine and national music instrument. This hinders introduction of Vietnam’s country and people to the world,” Canh said, asking the minister to show his view about a set of identifiers of Vietnamese characteristics to help recover Vietnam’s tourism.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said it is necessary to build Vietnamese brands in certain agricultural and industrial sectors.

“This is a necessity. However, when we check legal documents, we have found that there is no regulation on the issue. This is a legal gap,” Hung said.

In fact, the issue of national flower and national costume was raised more than 10 years ago. In 2011, the government requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) to develop a set of national symbols, including a national flower.

At that time, the MCST proposed recognizing the lotus as the Vietnamese national flower. However, the problem was that it was unclear who or which agency had the authority to approve the proposal. No one had the competence to do this, as it was not specified in any legal documents.

The MCST also made suggestions regarding a national costume. However, it encountered the same problem. These issues have still not been resolved to this day.

Tran Thuong