HCMC has recently promoted a strategy for the development of cultural industries and built an economy and culture with rich scientific values, creating a foundation for a creative economy to adapt to the digital era.
HCMC has made efforts to develop cultural industries, such as the organization of local and international art programs. (Photo: SGGP)
The HCMC People’s Committee has also launched a decision to approve a project on developing HCMC’s cultural industry until 2030. In the 2021-2025 period, HCMC will be developed into a cultural industry center in the country and region.
In the 2026-2030 period, the project will develop diversely, synchronously, modernly, and sustainably all cultural industries in the city; build prestigious brands in the regional and international markets to meet the standards of developed countries and deeply participate in the value chain of cultural products and services of the region thanks to the application of advanced technologies; and promote HCMC into a cultural industrial center in Southeast Asia.
The film industry is part of a project on developing HCMC’s cultural industry until 2030 to complete the dossier to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. HCMC is a cinema center in the country and home to many private film studios.
HCMC has accounted for 40 percent of the country’s movie market. The city currently has only two State-owned film studios, including Giai Phong Film Joint Stock Company and Nguyen Dinh Chieu Film Studio while the remaining film companies are private businesses creating jobs for thousands of people.
Over the past five years, HCMC has made efforts to develop cultural industries, such as the organization of local and international art programs including the Ho Do International Music Festival, Week of Vietnamese Music, Genfest Multi-Sensory Music Festival, the world tour “The Wild Dreams Tour” of Legendary music group Westlife, Inviolate World Tour featuring American guitarist Steve Vai (Steven Siro Vai), BridgeFest 2023.
Ho Do International Music Festival (HOZO Super Fest ) is expected to be an international art, cultural, and entertainment rendezvous in the city for music lovers.
The music festival is invested and organized by the municipal government with the goal of promoting Vietnamese music in the international music market as well as bringing the world’s music closer to Vietnamese audiences. The event is expected to affirm its position on the map of international music festivals and become a venue for domestic and foreign visitors.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen The Dung, former principal of the HCMC University of Culture said that the city has many advantages to develop cultural products and services, cultural industry, and creative industries of the country. Along with the economic restructuring policy, the city is focusing on developing it into a cultural center of Southeast Asia and a global attractive destination with unique cultural development by 2045. The evaluation of the development of a city is based on many factors, such as international strategy for cultural industry development or the goal of joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
According to Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Culture and Sports Nguyen Thanh Thuy, the goal of developing the cultural industry in HCMC aims to meet the people’s demand for entertainment, build brands of cultural products and services of the city, strengthen competitiveness between brands of HCMC in particular and the country in general, and international trademarks.
By staff writers - Translated by Kim Khanh