The Prime Minister's Decision No 1755 approving a strategy on developing cultural industries in Vietnam by 2020, with a vision towards 2030, which has created positive changes for cultural industries.

In 2022, Vietnam’s cultural industries gained encouraging achievements, making up 4.04 percent of GDP.

Experts at a seminar on July 9 discussing the strategy held by the National Institute of Culture and Arts and the Copyright of Vietnam agreed that cultural industries could make up 7 percent of GDP by 2030, with revenue from cinematography reaching $250 million, design $1 billion and fine arts $6 billion.

Musician Quoc Trung said the state still doesn’t have policies to support private businesses to develop cultural activities. Meanwhile, the industry needs huge investments.

“Talented creators not only can be found in public units, but also in non-state units. However, the noteworthy point is that they face discriminatory treatment. The creators in non-state units cannot enjoy preferential policies. This leads to limitations in creative competition,” Trung said.

Trung, the organizer of the Monsoon Music Festival, an international event, said that it is difficult for private enterprises to use state cultural institutions as they have to follow many administrative procedures. 

Trung added that state support should be distributed evenly among private and public units in order to ensure fairness, and the state should encourage private enterprises to contribute to the development of the cultural industry.

“Private businesses also pay tax and have social responsibility,” Trung said. “It is necessary to wear away the boundary in treatment between state and non-state creators in order to promote healthy competition."

Truong Uyen Ly from Hanoi Grapevine said the state needs policies on tax remissions for businesses, applied in the first years of operation.

The strategy on developing cultural industries stipulates that it is necessary to support businesses with specific figures, such as a specific tax cut percentage and for how many years.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa, head of the International Cooperation Agency, called for more investment in culture; financial tools and tax incentives to attract resources to develop markets; various funds (cinematography development fund, digital culture support fund, art support fund); and regulations for crowdsourcing.

Tinh Le