MOFA Conference on enhancing and elevating cultural diplomacy in the new era
WVR - On December 24, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a conference to consult with experts and representatives from several civil organizations. The aim was to exchange ideas and open up directions to further enhance and elevate cultural diplomacy in the new era.
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| Delegates attending the expert consultation conference on enhancing and elevating cultural diplomacy in the new era. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
The conference was attended by many former leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors, experts, and researchers in the fields of culture and foreign affairs. The event was chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, Ngo Le Van.
In his keynote speech at the conference, Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van stated that after nearly five years of implementing the "Cultural Diplomacy Strategy to 2030", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has submitted a mid-term report to the Prime Minister. The report emphasizes the need to continue inheriting valuable perspectives, goals, and principles while innovating in thought, approach, and implementation methods to meet the demands of the new phase.
The Deputy Minister assessed that cultural diplomacy has achieved significant results, with a shift in awareness across the entire system. Goals and tasks have been integrated into policies and foreign activities from the central to local levels, contributing to strengthening trust, promoting understanding, deepening relationships with partners, and enhancing national soft power.
Amid rapid and profound international changes, the Deputy Minister emphasized that cultural diplomacy should be strategically positioned with focus and priority, aiming for sustainable results and clear impact. He also urged delegates to concentrate on discussing guiding principles, objectives, priority solution groups, coordination mechanisms, and resource mobilization.
During the conference, delegates evaluated the implementation of the Cultural Diplomacy Strategy in recent times as having achieved important results, laying a favorable foundation for entering a new development phase. Many opinions suggested that elevating cultural diplomacy is an objective necessity, linked to the preparation for implementing major orientations in the near future and is an important component of comprehensive, modern diplomacy.
In the context of increasing competition in soft power, delegates stressed the need to strongly promote soft power, ignite the aspiration for national development in the new era, and affirmed that cultural diplomacy should become a national endeavor, involving the participation of both domestic and international entities, especially the overseas Vietnamese community.
Many opinions also suggested a shift from fragmented, ad-hoc approaches to strategic, long-term ones; particularly emphasizing the need to seamlessly integrate culture with diplomacy and culture in diplomacy, ensuring that each foreign activity has cultural depth, contributing to building trust, deepening relationships with partners, spreading Vietnamese cultural values, and enhancing national appeal.
Regarding priorities, delegates proposed clarifying priority directions such as linking cultural diplomacy with national image building, developing cultural industries and creative economy, enhancing multi-platform communication, and creating central products and messages. The conference also emphasized the need to mobilize substantial participation from localities, businesses, citizens, the overseas Vietnamese community, and creative forces; alongside a strong coordination mechanism to ensure unified objectives, implementation pace, resources, and overall effectiveness.
Based on discussions, delegates unanimously agreed that cultural diplomacy should be strengthened in the context of the draft documents for the 14th National Congress, which continue to affirm foreign affairs and international integration as crucial, regular tasks; while also identifying cultural and human development as foundational, important intrinsic strengths, and as resources, objectives, and drivers of development.
In the context of the Politburo's resolution on cultural development expected to be approved soon, the conference recommended considering the issuance of a Directive by the Secretariat on enhancing and elevating cultural diplomacy in the new era. This would ensure consistency and synchronization with the resolution, enhancing implementation effectiveness across the entire system; thereby telling the "Vietnam story", spreading Vietnamese cultural values globally, and effectively serving the country's sustainable development and international integration goals.
Concluding the conference, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van highly appreciated the candid, profound, and policy-suggestive consultations, affirming that these are important bases for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue researching and proposing comprehensive solutions to create clear transformations across the entire system.
