Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has approved a project designed to preserve and promote the culture of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam until 2020.
The project will be divided into two periods - from 2011 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2020.
It aims to use the strength of the community to promote ethnic culture; making cultural identities the spiritual foundation of the society, while also acting as the driving force for socio-economic development. The project also aspires to preserve cultural traditions in order to glorify time-honoured ethnic minority identities, strengthen national defence and security, while simultaneously combining economic development with ethnic cultural preservation.
By 2015, the project will aim to bring ethnic minority groups of under 5,000 people out of a disadvantaged situation by promoting specific culture heritages of these groups. Each district in ethnic-inhabited areas will be supported in developing at least one traditional craft, folklore or tourism activity, contributing to poverty alleviation and socio-economic development.
By 2020, 60 to 80% of cultural workers in ethnic-inhabited areas will be trained.
In addition, the Government and provincial People’s Committee will set up programmes to preserve and promote the culture of ethnic minority groups. These programmes will also socially educate people from other areas about the preservation and promotion of ethnic culture.