Cultural industry: form and imprint
Building on its position as the country’s leading economic and cultural center, Ho Chi Minh City is taking energetic measures to make culture a new engine of development. From the Cultural Industry Development Strategy for the period 2020-2035 to the Cultural Industry Development Project for 2030, Ho Chi Minh City has demonstrated its determination to build an advanced, integrated and creative culture, in harmony with urban economic development. It is on this basis that the cultural industry will become a flagship sector, thus strengthening the image of Ho Chi Minh City on the regional and international creative scene.
Over the past five years, efforts to develop the cultural industry in Ho Chi Minh City have left many traces, paving the way for a breakthrough. A series of artistic programs reflecting Ho Chi Minh City are multiplying: the Ho Chi Minh City International Music Festival (Ho Do), two seasons of the Vietnamese Music Week, the GENfest music festival (Multisensory Music Portal)… Ho Chi Minh City also hosts many major national and international musical events, such as The Wild Dreams of Westlife at Thong Nhat Stadium; legendary guitarist Steve Vai’s Inviolate World Tour at Nguyen Du Stadium (first stop in Southeast Asia); and BridgeFest 2023…
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen The Dung, former rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture, said: “Ho Chi Minh City has many assets to develop cultural products and services, cultural and creative industries across the country. The city focuses all its resources on development (including cultural resources) and aims to become a cultural hub of Southeast Asia by 2030 and an attractive international destination by 2045, with distinctive cultural development. »
The film industry is considered a key sector in the roadmap for the development of the cultural industry, thus contributing to finalizing the application for membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Ho Chi Minh City currently plays the role of the country’s cinematic center, standing out for its strong socialization over the past two decades. The city accounts for about 40% of the country’s film market (Hanoi accounts for about 30%), with dozens of vibrant film studios and private production facilities, creating jobs for tens of thousands of workers.
Along with organizing events and developing creative industries, Ho Chi Minh City pays special attention to building and upgrading a system of modern cultural institutions to meet the needs of the population, while creating a creative space for artists. The city is implementing the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony, Musical and Ballet Theater, in the new urban area of Thu Thiem, with a capacity of more than 1,700 seats; the inauguration of the Circus and Multipurpose Theater of Phu Tho, with an area of 10 000 m² representing a total investment of 1,395 billion VND and equipped with numerous equipment meeting international standards; the transformation of the General Science Library of Ho Chi Minh City into a digital library, digitizing approximately 6 million pages of digital documents. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City has developed an information portal linking the entire public library network, connected to the library through 22 websites; consultation of documentary resources via this portal is extended to the community; strengthening links between university libraries and high school libraries; and promoting the collection and digitization of ancient, rare and indigenous documents.
These moves demonstrate that Ho Chi Minh City is not only setting simple economic goals, but also positioning its identity, brand and soft power, reinforcing the belief that culture can become the driving force for the city to reach regional and global levels.
Pioneering restructuring of sport
Ho Chi Minh City is recognized as one of the main sports centers in the country. At the conference of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on taking stock of the first six months of the year and setting goals for the last half of 2025, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Nam Nhan shared his views on the development of physical education and sports in the city in the new context: from the post-merger organizational structure to the modern management model mass sports networks.
Ho Chi Minh City will have to carry out a visionary strategic mission: to become a major sports hub in the country and contribute to the development of Vietnamese sport in the new era. This is also one of the sports development goals stated in the political report of the 4th Congress of the Party Committee of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City (period 2025-2030). Consequently, it will be a question of investing in improving performances, making the city a major sporting hub in the country and guaranteeing conditions conducive to the organization of regional and international sporting events and activities.
Pioneering international sports events (such as International Athletics, Marathon, Golden Racket Table Tennis Tournament) and current activities (such as International Martial Arts Festival, Vietnam Badminton Open and Vietnam Sports Dance Festival) have revolutionized the sports economy in Uncle Ho City. These events not only attract athletes from many countries, but also generate significant revenues through sponsorship contracts, sports products and services, and attract international tourists, thus contributing to a significant increase in the city’s budgetary revenues. For example, the 2024 World Teqball Championship, hosted for the first time by Ho Chi Minh City, is a large-scale international sporting event. According to statistics from the organizing committee, this event reached 470 million potential customers worldwide, an increase of 400% from the previous year, and was broadcast by media in 74 countries, breaking a record for teqball. The total media value reached $2.1 million, an increase of more than 200% from the previous event in Bangkok, Thailand. These figures not only reflect the effectiveness of the media, but also clearly demonstrate the economic value that an international sporting event can bring to Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Dr. Ly Dai Nghia, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Sports Training and Competition Center, major sporting events held in Ho Chi Minh City generate significant economic benefits through the promotion of sports tourism. Ho Chi Minh City can seize this opportunity to develop more effectively in the fields of sports tourism, water sports economy and related services. In addition, ancillary sectors such as advertising, media, retail, medical services and sports rehabilitation will benefit from rapid growth, thus contributing to the enrichment of the economic landscape of sport in the city.
From the cultural industry to sport, Ho Chi Minh City clearly displays its determination to restructure and modernize in depth to become a creative, dynamic and integrated “super-city”. Parallel investments in new industries, modern cultural and sports infrastructure and a system of policies promoting socialization have paved a sustainable path for the city. It is not only a preparation for the future of a knowledge economy, but also a confirmation of the identity and “soft power” of Ho Chi Minh City, the main economic, cultural and sporting center of the country, which aims to become a creative hub of Southeast Asia by 2030 and a global destination by 2045, thus realizing the international aspirations of a young and dynamic “super-city”.
Ms. NGUYEN THI THANH THUY, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City:
Space and market for the creative community
In addition to organizing branding events, Ho Chi Minh City is also a market that attracts literary and artistic activities. New models of creative spaces not only reflect the diversity of cultural and artistic approaches, but also contribute significantly to the development of local creative communities, thus spreading their influence regionally and internationally.
Mr. NGUYEN NAM NHAN, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City:
Sport for social and economic value
After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City will have more resources, institutions and endogenous strength to build a modern and unique sports center with national influence. This step is part of the vision of the Vietnamese sports sector for the years to come: moving from the model of “sport for medals” to that of “sport for social and economic values”, and evolving towards an Olympic sport, professionalized and modernized.
NGUYEN ANH-THIEN THANH
Source : https://www.sggp.org.vn/tphcm-ba-dot-pha-phat-trien-sieu-do-thi-bai-9-tung-buoc-khang-dinh-thuong-hieu-trung-tam-van-hoa-the-thao-dang-cap-post817595.html
