General Secretary To Lam: Investing in culture is investing in the future, in the source of national strength

General Secretary To Lam speaks at the ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Cultural Sector's Traditional Day - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the Central Propaganda and Education Commission Nguyen Trong Nghia, Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang... attended the 80th Anniversary of the Cultural Sector's Traditional Day at the Hanoi Opera House on the morning of August 23.

The 80th anniversary of the Cultural Sector's Traditional Day (August 28, 1945 - August 28, 2025) was solemnly held, with an opening speech by Minister Nguyen Van Hung, reviewing the glorious achievements of the cultural sector over the past 80 years.

Especially the congratulatory speech and direction of General Secretary To Lam .

General Secretary To Lam awarded the First Class Labor Medal to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

We cannot help but be grateful to the great cultural figures.

Congratulating those working in cultural affairs on a special occasion, General Secretary To Lam, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, sent his deepest gratitude to generations of officials in the fields of culture, information, sports , and tourism; artists, journalists, teachers, researchers, propaganda teams, mobile information teams, art troupes, library staff, museums, and relics.

And tour guides, tour operators; coaches, athletes; and millions of people doing non-professional cultural work in villages, hamlets, and residential groups...

General Secretary To Lam presents the First Class Labor Medal to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

Regarding the role of culture, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that right from the Party's inception, in the flames of revolution and with a premonition of the country's future, our Party and beloved President Ho Chi Minh identified the special position of culture.

And cultural workers also contribute worthy of their role.

The General Secretary said we will forever remember the first steps of cultural soldiers during the revolutionary movement, when every propaganda poster, every song, every newspaper page, every performance in the communal house yard or on the edge of a rice field turned into a flame.

During the General Uprising to seize power, in the early days of building the revolutionary government, we cannot help but be grateful to the great cultural figures who composed the National Flag, National Anthem, and National Emblem of the People's Democratic State.

During the resistance war against colonialism and imperialism, many generations of artists, information and propaganda officers, and grassroots cultural officers transformed themselves into the people, carrying their enthusiasm throughout the mountains, forests, plains, and cities. Many of them fell for the Fatherland.

The 80th anniversary of the Cultural Sector's Traditional Day was solemnly held - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

In peace, construction, development and innovation, culture is still the vanguard force on the ideological and spiritual front.

“Generations of heritage cadres have braved the rain and sun to preserve the communal house roof, the horizontal lacquered board, and each ancient brick; many library staff have diligently worked among the books; many artists have quietly practiced behind the stage; many reporters and photographers have recorded typical moments of life’s breath…”, said General Secretary To Lam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh awarded the First Class Labor Medal to Minister Nguyen Van Hung - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

Culture needs a healthy environment to flourish.

In his speech, the General Secretary also emphasized a number of lessons learned from revolutionary practice over the past century, sending them to cultural workers.

1. Every cultural achievement begins with firmly following the right path, respecting cultural laws and putting people at the center.

2. Identity is the root, integration is the branch.

3. For culture to flourish, it must have a healthy environment and adequate resources. Investing in culture is investing in the future, in the “source” of national strength.

4. Culture only exists forever when it is integrated into life. All policies must be directed towards the public, towards the community, towards each family, each neighborhood, village, school, agency, and business.

5. In the digital age, creativity is the main thread, innovation is the method, connection is the driving force.

General Secretary To Lam attends the 80th anniversary of the cultural sector's tradition - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

General Secretary To Lam viewed the exhibition of achievements of the culture, sports and tourism sectors displayed at the celebration - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

General Secretary To Lam and Minister Nguyen Van Hung awarded certificates of merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to outstanding individuals - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

Our country is entering a new stage of development with the goal of becoming a developed country. General Secretary To Lam affirmed that in that context, culture must go one step ahead, light the way, lead, foster courage, strengthen trust, and form national soft capacity.

The General Secretary requested the entire industry to focus on implementing well a number of tasks and solutions.

1. Continue to thoroughly grasp and comprehensively implement the Party's guidelines and viewpoints on culture; put culture on par with economics, politics and society.

2. Building a healthy cultural environment from family, school, and society; promoting the exemplary role of cadres and party members

3. Nurture, promote and honor intellectuals, artists, coaches, athletes, tourism entrepreneurs and cultural workers at all levels, especially at the grassroots level.

4. Developing cultural industries and creative economy to become new pillars of growth.

5. Preserve, restore and promote heritage associated with community livelihoods and sustainable development.

6. Create breakthroughs for mass sports and high-performance sports.

7. Restructuring, improving the quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism.

8. Strengthen cultural diplomacy and promote national image.

9. Promote comprehensive digital transformation in the industry.

10. Continue to fight against the plot of “peaceful evolution” in the fields of ideology and culture; resolutely protect the Party’s ideological foundation; build a “soft shield” of values, beliefs, and social norms; improve policy communication capacity; proactively inspire good things, and multiply good people and good deeds.

The General Secretary hopes that the intellectuals, artists, and "soul engineers" of the people, will continue to be persistent, courageous, and passionate in their creation; take life as the source, the people as the support, and truth, beauty, and reason as the guiding principle...

Artists perform the song "The Country is Full of Joy" at the celebration - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

In his opening speech, Minister Nguyen Van Hung affirmed that since the Party's leadership, culture has been identified as an important front.

Over the past 80 years, the cultural industry has created an epic poem with many emotional levels. Culture has nurtured the soul and national identity.

In recognition of the great contributions of the cultural sector to the nation’s revolutionary cause, the Party and the State have awarded the cultural sector many noble titles. Such as the Gold Star Order and the Ho Chi Minh Order; hundreds of units and thousands of cultural sector cadres have been awarded many other noble titles by the Party and the State.

At the ceremony, General Secretary To Lam, representing the Party and State leaders, awarded the First Class Labor Medal to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also represented the Party and State leaders to award the First Class Labor Medal to Minister Nguyen Van Hung.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also awarded certificates of merit to 80 outstanding individuals in the 2023-2025 period of the cultural sector.

Among them are names such as: Ms. Ngo Phuong Lan - President of the Vietnam Cinema Promotion and Development Association, People's Artist Xuan Bac - Director of the Department of Performance, singer Ha Myo, director Ly Hai, musician Giang Son, musician Dong Quang Vinh, People's Artist Thoai Mieu, director Phi Tien Son...

BIRD OF PARADISE - NGUYEN KHANH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-dau-tu-cho-van-hoa-la-dau-tu-cho-tuong-lai-cho-mach-nguon-suc-manh-dan-toc-20250823104014105.htm