Full text of the important speech of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the National Cultural Conference

On the morning of November 24, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee Secretariat held a national cultural conference to implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. At this conference, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivered an important speech. Nghe An Newspaper respectfully introduces the full text of the speech.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivers a speech at the conference. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA

Dear leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front,

Dear delegates,

Dear comrades,

Today, in Hanoi Capital -"a place where the souls of mountains and rivers of thousands of years settle";"a place where the culture and civilization of the nation converge, crystallize and shine";"Capital of conscience and human dignity";"City for Peace";"gallant and elegant";"civilization and heroism";... we solemnly organize the National Cultural Conference to implement the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party on the cultural field. This is a jobvery meaningful in many ways;I am very happy andexcitedto attend this Conference. The reason I say so is for 3 reasons:

- The important position and role of culture: Culture issoulof the Nation, speak upidentityof the Nation.Culture exists, the nation exists,...

- For 75 years now (since November 24, 1946), today is the first time there has been a National Conference on Culture on such a large scale.

- Meeting after the Party Congress, National Assembly, Government, Front, Internal Affairs Bloc; and there will be a Conference in the near futureon foreign affairsandon Party building and rectificationIn the spirit I still say: "First call, then support", "One call, hundreds respond", "Top and bottom are of one mind" and "Continuous throughout".

First of all, I would like to send to the delegates, distinguished guests and all comrades my warm greetings, sincere regards and best wishes. I wish our Conference great success.

Dear comrades,

As we all know, Culture is a very broad category, which can be understood from many different angles with many different approaches, very rich and diverse. Up to now, in the world there are nearly 200 different definitions of Culture. But in general, it can be understood in two senses: broad and narrow.Broad meaning:Culture is the level of spiritual and material development of mankind in each certain historical period (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Dong Son culture, wet rice culture,...).Narrow meaning:Culture is the spiritual activities of a society, including the following areas: education, science, literature, art, ethics (lifestyle, behavior, interactions between people,...). Culture also includes cultureobject(historical relics, cultural works, cultural heritage, cultural products: Pyramids, communal houses, pagodas, temples,...) andintangible(folk songs, folk songs, folk songs, festivals; customs and practices of each country, region, ethnic group, locality...). The culture we discuss here is mainly in a narrow sense.

But whether in a broad or narrow sense, when we talk about culture, we are talking about the quintessence, the most quintessential, distilled, crystallized, and molded into the best, noblest, most unique, very humane, benevolent, humane, humane, progressive values ​​(a cultured person, a cultured family, a cultured nation; a cultured lifestyle, a cultured way of life, a cultured way of behaving,...). And what is evil, mean, despicable, illegal, despicable actions... are uncultured, uncultured, and anti-cultural. Human happiness is not only in having a lot of money, a lot of property, delicious food, beautiful clothes, but also in the richness of the soul, living in the midst of love and compassion, reason and justice.

Vietnam is a country with more than 4 thousand years of history, having gone through countless changes and ups and downs caused by nature and humans, it has accumulated, created and promoted many values ​​and cultural identities of its own, forming the soul of the nation; at the same time absorbing and contributing to the common culture of humanity. Deeply aware of the position, role, meaning and importance of culture in the development of our country and our people, therefore, right from the beginningPolitical platformIn the first Party Congress in 1930, our Party mentioned the issue of developing national culture; and in 1943, when the country had not yet gained independence, our Party proposed"Outline of Vietnamese culture", which clearly states that "The cultural front is one of three fronts (political, economic, cultural)", and advocates cultural development in three directions:National - Science - Mass.The Party's viewpoints and guiding thoughts in this important document created a new vitality to gather intellectuals, artists, and people to promote the role of culture, unify awareness, ideology, and organization, arouse the nation's aspirations in the struggle for national independence, prepare the spirit and strength for the success of the August Revolution, and establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia, in 1945.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivers a speech at the conference. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA

During the nine-year resistance war against the French colonialists, with the slogan"Culturalizing resistance, resistance culturalizing", "building a new life",Vietnamese culture has truly become a spiritual driving force to mobilize all resources for the resistance war, contributing significantly to the Dien Bien Phu victory "famous in five continents, shaking the earth" in 1954.

After the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu, our whole country focused on carrying out two strategic tasks: building socialism in the North and fighting for national reunification. Our Party has always paid attention to cultural work, encouraged and motivated artists and cultural forces to promote their role in building and developing a new culture and new people. The Third National Congress of the Party in 1960 determined the goal of the socialist revolution in culture and applied those perceptions to building an advanced and practical Vietnamese culture, serving the cause of socialist revolution, constantly improving the material and spiritual life of the people. Our Party has emphasized the development of literature, art, press, publishing, radio, cinema, libraries, museum conservation, enhancing the ideological, combative and popular nature of those works. At the same time, our Party has also paid special attention to mass cultural work, building cultural activities and institutions at the grassroots level, improving people's knowledge, building a new cultural life, reforming old habits and lifestyles, and building new habits and lifestyles.

The Party's leadership during the period from 1960 to 1975 contributed to promoting the role of Vietnamese culture in carrying out its tasks.both nation building and resistance war,mobilized all military branches and cultural forces of the entire people to participate in the resistance war against the US, to save the country, to win the Great Victory of Spring 1975, to unify the Fatherland, and to bring the country back together. The earnest and profound appeal of President Ho Chi Minh:"We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country, than become slaves! Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom!"; "Vietnam is one, the Vietnamese people are one! Rivers may dry up, mountains may wear away, but that truth will never change!"has become the sacred way of life of every Vietnamese person, the sacred soul of Vietnamese culture!; "When the enemy comes, even women will fight!"; even "Even with the hem of their pants, they will fight!" (Ms. Ut Tich). At the same time: "Trample the enemy to the black ground, abandon guns and swords, and be as gentle as before!".

The 4th National Congress of the Party highly appreciated the contributions of the Vietnamese culture, literature and arts sector in the resistance war against the US to save the country and affirmed: Our country's culture and arts deserve to be ranked among the top."The pioneering position of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal cultural and artistic movements worldwide in today's era"Our beloved President Ho Chi Minh is not only a genius leader, a great teacher of the Vietnamese Revolution, an outstanding soldier of the international communist and workers' movement, but also aOutstanding cultural figure, awarded the world's glorious title"World cultural celebrity"!(withNguyen Du, Nguyen Trai, Chu Van Anand just yesterday added:Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ho Xuan Huong).

From 1975 to 1985 was a pivotal period of transition from war to peace, our country had to overcome a series of consequences of war, restore devastated economic, cultural and educational facilities; unify institutions and cultural systems nationwide. The people of the whole country shared the same fate, absolutely believed in the leadership of the Party to overcome the challenges caused by the socio-economic crisis and the complex international situation at that time.

Entering the period of renovation from 1986 to present, under the leadership of the Party, we have carried out synchronous and comprehensive renovation in all areas of social life, from economics, politics to culture, society, security, national defense and foreign affairs. Particularly in the cultural field, our Party has had many very important resolutions, decisions and directives to focus on building and developing culture in the new period. On the basis of summarizing the achievements in the cultural field in the early years of the renovation period, our Party issued Resolution 4 of the 7th Central Committee and especiallyResolution of the 8th Central Committee, Session VIII, 1998on building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity. These are resolutions of strategic significance on developing Vietnamese culture in the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country. Our Party has chosen 8 areas to focus on, the most important of which is the issue of human development with a focus on building ideology, ethics, lifestyle and building a healthy cultural environment.

InPlatform for national construction during the transitional period to socialism in 1991 and Platform (supplemented and developed in 2011),Our Party has identified, built and developed Vietnamese culture.advanced, rich in national identityis one of the basic characteristics of the socialist regime that we are building.Platform(supplemented and developed in 2011) clearly states: Building an advanced Vietnamese culture, imbued with national identity, comprehensively developed, unified in diversity, imbued with the spirit of humanity, democracy, and progress; making culture closely linked and deeply permeating the entire social life, becomingsolid spiritual foundation, important internal strengthof development.

Next isResolution No. 33 of the 9th Conference of the 11th Central Executive Committee in 2014on building and developing Vietnamese culture and people, meeting the requirements of sustainable national development. In this Resolution, our Party continues to affirm the viewpoints and tasks stated in Resolution 5 of the 8th Central Committee; at the same time, it supplements and emphasizes a number of new issues, affirming the goals, roles and tasks of culture. Regarding the general goal, our Party clearly states: Building a comprehensively developed Vietnamese culture, aiming attruth - goodness - beauty,imbuenational spirit, humanity, democracy and science;makeculture musttruly become the solid spiritual foundation of society, an important endogenous strength,ensure sustainable development and firmly protect the Fatherland, for the goal of a rich people, a strong country, democracy, equality and civilization. Our Party emphasizes that culture must be placed on par with economics, politics and society; clarifyThe characteristics of advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity are nationality, humanity, democracy and science;emphasizeThe focus of building culture is to build people with good personality and lifestyle.… In this Resolution, our Party has identifiedsome new missionsis constructionculture in politics and economics; develop thecultural industryand perfecting the cultural market. The 12th Politburo issued Conclusion No. 76-KL/TW on continuing to implement Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW of the 11th Party Central Committee on building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable national development.

To briefly reiterate this is to affirm that: Since its founding, our Party has always attached great importance to the role of culture and paid great attention to the work of cultural construction in the cause of national liberation and nation building, especially in the transition period to socialism. The Party's awareness of culture is increasingly comprehensive, complete and profound. Our Party determines:Culture is the spiritual foundation of society, both a goal and an endogenous strength, an important driving force for national development;identifyDeveloping culture synchronously and harmoniously with economic growth and social progress is a fundamental orientation of the process of building socialism in Vietnam.demonstrate the superiority of our regime.

To speak profoundly and concisely as Uncle Ho said:"Culture lights the way for the nation"!The culture we build is a cultureadvanced, rich in national identitywith the core content of national independence and socialism; Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought play a leading role in the spiritual life of society;Inheriting the fine cultural traditions of the Nation while selectively absorbing the achievements and cultural quintessence of the world, striving to build a civilized and healthy society for the true interests and dignity of human beings, with increasingly high levels of knowledge, ethics, physical strength, lifestyle and aesthetics.At the same time, our Party affirms: People are the subject, holding the central position in the development strategy; cultural development and human development are both the goal and the driving force of the innovation cause; education - training and science - technology development are the top national policies; environmental protection is one of the vital issues, the criterion of sustainable development; building happy and progressive families as healthy and solid cells of society, and achieving gender equality is a criterion of progress and civilization.

Our Party affirms: The focus of building and developing culture is buildinghuman beingand constructionhealthy cultural environment; focus on the relationship between culture and politics, culture and economy; build culture in the Party and in the political system; build civil servant culture, public service culture, especially public service ethics, focus on exemplary behavior of cadres and party members. Our Party has also determined that the subject of building and developing culture isThe Party leads, the State manages, the People are the creative subjects; intellectuals and artists play an important role.; Emphasize maximizing resources from the State and society, from within the country and abroad to develop culture.

Thus, our Party's awareness of building and developing culture in the renovation period has been gradually supplemented, developed and increasingly perfected, comprehensive and profound. This is a very basic premise for us to thoroughly grasp and organize implementation in practice.

Conference scene. Photo: Van Diep/VNA

Dear delegates, dear comrades,

Looking back at the achievements in the field of building and developing Vietnamese culture under the leadership of the Party, especially in the recent 35 years of renovation, we have the right to be proud of the great contributions of culture to the cause of national salvation and construction. The outstanding achievements that need to be affirmed are the increasingly comprehensive and profound awareness of culture in all fields and types; cultural products are increasingly diverse and rich, meeting the new and multifaceted requirements of society. Many traditional cultural values ​​and cultural heritages of the nation are inherited, preserved and developed. Culture in politics and in the economy has initially been respected and promoted effectively and positively. Cultural industry and cultural market have made progress. International exchange, cooperation and integration activities have made new developments. Building Vietnamese people is gradually becoming the center of the socio-economic development strategy. The fight, criticism, and pushing back against the bad, the evil, the backward, and against wrong views and behaviors that harm culture and lifestyle are emphasized. Many bright examples in the patriotic emulation movement and the movement"The whole people unite to build a cultural life"has been praised and spread into social life, strengthening people's belief in the cause of building culture in particular and building and developing the country in general.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to warmly welcome, congratulate, commend and thank the great contributions of the entire Party, the entire people, all cadres, party members and especially the intellectuals, artists and forces participating in the cultural front in the recent past.

However, in addition to the achievements, we also need to look directly at the limitations, shortcomings, inadequacies, and weaknesses in the cultural field, find out the causes and solutions to overcome them. The outstanding limitations and weaknesses that have been mentioned many times over for a long time are that culture has not been deeply recognized by all levels and sectors and has not received adequate attention commensurate with economics and politics; it has not really become an endogenous resource and driving force for the country's sustainable development. The role of culture in human development has not been properly determined, and still tends to be heavy on functions.entertainment. The development of cultural fields is not uniform, one-sided, formalistic, and not deep or substantial. There is a lack of large-scale cultural, literary and artistic works that reflect the scope of the renovation cause and have a positive impact on the construction of the country and the development of people. The cultural environment is still polluted by social evils, corruption and negativity. The gap in cultural enjoyment between regions and areas is still large. Cultural life in ethnic minority areas, remote areas, border areas and islands still faces many difficulties. Many precious cultural heritages of the nation are at risk of being degraded, lost, or even destroyed. Cultural leadership, direction and management are still confused and slow, especially in institutionalizing the Party's viewpoints, policies and guidelines on culture. Investment in culture is not adequate, still scattered, and not very effective... The quality and quantity of staff directly involved in cultural work have not met the requirements of cultural development in the new period. The work of introducing and promoting Vietnamese culture abroad is not strong; the reception of the quintessence of human culture is still limited; there is not enough importance and active measures to preserve, protect and promote the good and unique cultural values ​​of the nation; sometimes imitating foreign countries in a ridiculous, offensive, and unselective way (to put it harshly, "uncultured", "anti-cultural").

The above-mentioned weaknesses and shortcomings have been slow to be resolved despite being mentioned repeatedly in many Party documents and resolutions. These weaknesses and shortcomings have caused negative consequences and impacts on socio-economic development, human development and our cultural environment.

The above limitations and shortcomings have both objective and subjective causes, in which the subjective cause is still the main one. Especially in leadership and management, we have not yet fully, deeply and comprehensively understood the Party's cultural guidelines, especially in the current period of innovation. The methods of cultural leadership and management have been slow to be innovated, not adapting in time to the movement and development of culture in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization and international integration. The institutionalization and organization of the implementation of the Party's cultural guidelines are still lacking in synchronization, determination and effectiveness. Organizational work and cadre work in the cultural field still have many shortcomings. The responsibility of Party committees at all levels, organizations in the political system, and of cadres and Party members for leading and directing cultural development is not high. We need to deeply analyze these causes to find ways to overcome them, in order to further promote the revival and development of Vietnamese culture in the coming time.

Dear delegates, dear comrades,

With a vision from now until 2045, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnamese culture is also facing new opportunities and challenges. The great and historic achievements in the past 35 years of renovation have created new positions and forces, strengthened the nation's overall strength and international prestige; the people's trust has been increasingly enhanced, creating important premises for building and defending the Fatherland, developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity. With all modesty, we can still say that:Our country has never had the foundation, potential, position and international prestige as it does today.. This is an extremely great advantage for us to strengthen national pride, determination to innovate and revive Vietnamese culture in the new period. On the other hand, the shortcomings and shortcomings in the process of socio-economic development and cultural construction in the past are also major barriers to cultural development. The impact of globalization, international competition and the struggle in the field of culture and ideology will also be more fierce and complicated. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital technology, digital society, digital culture, ... have both brought opportunities and created new challenges in building and developing culture. At the same time, we are also facing challenges of traditional and non-traditional social security, especially climate change and epidemics, first of all, coping, adapting and living with the Covid-19 pandemic, both protecting people's health and developing the economy and society.

Faced with new opportunities and challenges, the objective requirement of our country's revolutionary cause is to continue to build, preserve and develop an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity, which is truly"spiritual foundation", "development motivation",and"light the way for the nation"; promote the cultural values ​​and strength of the Vietnamese people, arouse the aspiration to develop a prosperous and thriving country, create the combined strength of the entire nation to take advantage of opportunities, overcome challenges, and successfully achieve the goal of making our country a developed country.socialist-oriented developing countryin the mid-21st century

It can be said that cultural developmentis one of the key issues, a prominent content in the Documents of the 13th National Party Congress.. This isFor the first time in the Party Congress documents, our Party comprehensively and deeply mentioned the cultural field., from the Congress theme to the viewpoints, goals, major orientations, key tasks, and strategic breakthroughs. The Congress documents emphasized one of the core and consistent guiding viewpoints:"Strongly arouse the spirit of patriotism, the will of national self-reliance and the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country. Promote the combined strength of the entire political system, of Vietnamese culture and people,... combine national strength with the strength of the times; maximize internal strength, take advantage of external strength, in which endogenous resources, especially human resources, are the most important".

To continue to build, preserve, revive and develop the nation's culture, we need to focus on doing it well.some key tasksfollowing:

One is,To further arouse the spirit of patriotism, self-reliance, solidarity, and the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country of the entire nation; to highly promote the cultural values, strength, and dedication of all Vietnamese people, to create endogenous resources and breakthrough motivation to successfully implement the country's development goals by 2025, 2030, and vision to 2045 set forth by the 13th National Party Congress.

Second,Building Vietnamese people in the period of innovation, development and integration with appropriate standard values, associated with preserving and promoting Vietnamese family values, cultural values, and national values; skillfully combining traditional values ​​with modern values:Patriotism, solidarity, self-reliance, loyalty, honesty, responsibility, discipline, creativityThese values ​​are nurtured by Vietnamese family culture with core values:Prosperity, happiness, progress, civilization;nurtured and developed by advanced Vietnamese culture, imbued with national identity with a system of values:Nation, democracy, humanity, science;on the foundation of national values ​​and also the noble goal of our nation:Peace, unity, independence, rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization, happiness.

Third,Comprehensive and synchronous development of cultural fields, cultural environment, cultural life: Preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, absorbing the quintessence of human culture, while improving the quality and effectiveness of creating new cultural values. Building a healthy and civilized cultural environment associated with the uncompromising struggle against evil, badness, unculture, and counterculture; protecting valuestruth - goodness -America. Improve people's cultural life; build a joyful, healthy and happy cultural life; overcome the gap in development level and cultural enjoyment between regions of the country.

Fourth,promote the role of creative subjects and cultural beneficiariesare the people; respect and protect the diverse expressions of culture, of people, ethnic groups, regions and areas; develop extensive and substantial cultural movements; improve conditions, increase the level of cultural enjoyment of the people, and ensure fairness. Promote and enhance the pioneering role of intellectuals, artists, and cultural workers.

Five is,Focus on building the Party and the political system in terms of culture and ethics; resolutely fight against corruption and negativity, so that our Party and the political system of our country are truly ethical and civilized, representing the conscience and dignity of the Vietnamese people. Build culture in leadership and management; promote the exemplary role of cadres and party members, especially strategic-level cadres and leaders, following the ideology, ethics and cultural style of President Ho Chi Minh. Enhance the role and leadership capacity of the Party; the effectiveness of State management; the active participation of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations in the cause of cultural development.

Sixth,Build a digital cultural environment suitable for the digital economy, digital society and digital citizens, adapt culture and regulate the country's sustainable development in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Urgently develop cultural industries and build a healthy cultural market.

To revive and develop culture and build Vietnamese people in the above direction, in the coming time, we need to focus on implementing the following solutions resolutely and effectively:

First of allcontinue to improve awareness and leadership capacity of the Party and State management in the cultural fieldto meet the requirements of cultural development, building Vietnamese people in the period of socialist-oriented market economy development, promoting industrialization, modernization and increasingly deep international integration. Continue to innovate the Party's leadership method and the State's management to ensure unity of thought and action in building and developing culture from the central to the grassroots levels. Party committees and authorities at all levels must deeply understand and fully grasp the Party's viewpoints and guiding thoughts on Culture and on that basis develop programs and implementation plans, mobilizing maximum resources for cultural development. Overcome the "economic only" ideology, focusing only on the economy with little attention to culture. Must seriously grasp the viewpoint"culture must be placed on par with economics, politics and society"The recent 13th National Party Congress determined: The overall development strategy of our country in the coming time is to comprehensively and synchronously promote the innovation process, develop rapidly and sustainably; ensure close connection and synchronous implementation of tasks, including:Economic development is central; Party building is key; cultural development is the spiritual foundation; ensuring national defense and security is essential and regular.This is a very basic guiding viewpoint that needs to be seriously and resolutely implemented in the tasks of all sectors and levels.

Regarding state management, it is necessary to promptly overcome the slow institutionalization of the Party's guidelines, viewpoints, and policies into laws and specific, feasible policies on cultural development and human development. Promote the reorganization of the cultural management apparatus from the central to grassroots levels. Develop and promulgate appropriate mechanisms and policies, paying attention to the specific characteristics of cultural and artistic activities. Raise the investment level reasonably from the state budget, while at the same time unlocking social resources, domestic and foreign resources for cultural development. In the process of diversifying cultural activities, the State needs to focus on investing in the mainstream of revolutionary culture to serve as the core and lead, and provide the main inspiration in cultivating pure, healthy thoughts, souls, and emotions, contributing to building the spiritual foundation of society.

Second is to build and train a team of cadres directly involved in cultural work commensurate with the requirements and tasks of developing Vietnamese culture in the new period;Quickly overcome the patchwork and arbitrary situation in arranging cadres for cultural work, both at the central and local levels. Our Party has repeatedly emphasized: "Cadres are the root of all work". Cultural leadership and management not only requires political qualities but also professional qualifications, understanding of intellectuals and artists, broad vision, and the ability to mobilize and persuade people of all walks of life to participate in the work of building and developing culture. Special attention is paid totraining, fostering, and building a team of intellectuals and artists working in culture, literature, and art. This team plays an extremely important role in the cultural cause in particular and in the revolutionary cause in general. Uncle Ho once advised: "To fulfill their noble duty, artists need to practice revolutionary ethics, improve their spirit of serving the people, maintain a modest attitude; must truly integrate with the masses, strive to study politics, and improve their profession" (Ho Chi Minh:Complete Works, vol. 10, page 647). Innovate the treatment and employment policies for artists and cultural workers. Honor their talents and contributions to the development of the country's culture. In addition to focusing on improving the cultural life at the grassroots level, it is necessary to pay attention to building and developing high-level culture, striving to have many great talents in various forms of culture and art, with works of great stature, deeply reflecting the great renovation reality of the country, having positive significance in building the culture and people of Vietnam today.

Third, pay more attention to preserving, embellishing and promoting national cultural values, tangible and intangible cultural values ​​of regions and areas.of ethnic minorities, combined with absorbing the cultural quintessence of the times. Developing the "soft power" of Vietnamese culture, contributing to enhancing the overall national strength in the coming time. Currently, our country has up to 166 museums, including 4 national museums with more than 3 million artifacts; 3,486 total national relics, including 1,626 historical relics; 105 special national relics; 288 national intangible cultural heritages (Hanoi alone has 21festival); 27 tangible and intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO are"world cultural heritage"(Bac Ninh province alone has two world cultural heritages.PeopleQuan Ho songsandCa Tru)... That is an extremely precious asset left by our ancestors for thousands of years, not available everywhere; we have the responsibility to preserve, cherish and promote it. If not, we are guilty of history, ungrateful to our ancestors. Before passing away, Uncle Ho still advised: "If you want to love your Fatherland, you must love folk songs!" (Musician Tran Hoan with the very touching song "Uncle's advice before leaving"; "In the middle of Moscow, I heard the folk song").

Fourthly, focus on building a healthy culture of behavior in society, promoting positive values ​​of family and social traditions and customs;promote the spirit of mutual love and solidarity; respect for affection, justice and social morality ("Many silk covers the mirror, people in the same country must love each other"; "Gourd, love the squash, although different, but on the same trellis"; "Love others as you love yourself"; "A healthy leaf covers a torn leaf"; "A little torn leaf covers a lot torn leaf"; "When one horse is sick, the whole stable does not eat grass"; "Respect the elderly to achieve longevity"; "Respect the elderly, the elderly will give you years"; "Brothers are like arms and legs"; "Respect the elders, give way to the juniors"; "My wife is hungry and ragged, I love her, but let others wear brocade and incense"; "If husband and wife are in harmony, they can drain the East Sea; if friends are in harmony, they can drain the East Sea"; "Be clean when hungry, be fragrant when ragged"; "Honesty is the father of evil spirits"; "Respect teachers and respect morality"; "A greeting is better than a feast"; "Buy a reputation for thirty thousand, sell it for three coins"; keep the "family tradition", keep"Countryside"(poem by Nguyen Binh in 1936); keep the faithful love (poem)"Viet Bac"by poet To Huu in 1954)... Building civilized codes of conduct in public agencies, in the community, especially in cyberspace, among artists, etc...

Resolutely and persistently fight against embezzlement, corruption, and negativity; fight against the degradation of political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, "wipe out individualism", the root cause of all corruption, negativity, and deterioration in the cultural sectors and agencies doing cultural work. Focus on implementing regulations on setting examples for cadres and party members. Seriously implement the Resolution of the 4th Central Conference of the 11th and 12th terms and especially the Conclusions and Decisions of the recent 4th Central Conference of the 13th Party Congress on building and rectifying the Party and the political system.

Dear delegates and comrades,

Our national cultural conference today is an important occasion for our entire Party, people and army, especially those working in cultural affairs, intellectuals and artists of the whole country, to more deeply, comprehensively and synchronously grasp Ho Chi Minh's thought and the guidelines, policies and viewpoints of our Party, especially the viewpoints of the 13th National Congress of the Party on building, preserving and promoting the unique values ​​of an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity. Together, we have a deeper, more complete and more comprehensive understanding of the role and especially important position of culture in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland, as well as in realizing the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country, worthy of the cause of innovation and the glorious historical tradition of a thousand years of civilization of the Nation.

I sincerely hope that, after this Conference, our cultural work will have a new transformation, progress, be even stronger, more effective, marking a new milestone on the path of reviving and developing Vietnamese culture in the new era. I believe that, with a Country, a Nation that respects culture, respects talents, has a rich tradition of patriotism and revolution; a united, hardworking, creative People; a team of intellectuals, artists and writers who are dedicated, talented, and highly responsible to the People, to the Party, to the Fatherland and the future of the Nation; With the drastic and synchronous participation of the entire political system, we will certainly overcome all difficulties, overcome all challenges to revive and successfully build an advanced Vietnamese culture, imbued with national identity, continue to bring glory to the Nation, to the Race, create an unparalleled strength to build our Fatherland to be increasingly prosperous, our People to be increasingly happy, our Country to be increasingly prosperous, worthy of the thousand-year-old tradition of civilization and heroism of a heroic Nation, on par with the world's great powers. And only then can we say that our Conference today has practical significance and is a great success in substance.

I wish the Party and State leaders, delegates, comrades and all our people health, happiness and success.

Thank you very much!

_____________________

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong