On April 19, in Hue City, the sixth Ministerial Conference in charge of ASEAN’s Culture and Art took place, representatives of Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and China discussed relevant issues, and awarded the title “ASEAN City of Culture” to Hue.
Hue is the third city, after Cebu (The Philippines) and
Singapore, becoming ASEAN City of Culture. This is the land of history,
poetic and beautiful nature, also a place of reserving the value of
tangible and intangible cultural heritages, including relics of Hue
Citadel and Nha Nhac (Hue Royal Court Music) once recognized by UNESCO
as world cultural heritages. In recent years, many cultural events are
held in Hue. For example, Hue Festival, an international event, is held
every two years. The purposes of these events are to promote Hue
tourism, the image of Vietnam, Vietnamese people and culture; to expand
exchanges and cooperation to promote economic development; to contribute
to affirming the rich cultural identity of Hue, the city of heritage
and tourism of Vietnam.
Hue awarded title ASEAN City of Culture - Source: Image from baothuathienhue.vn
After receiving the title of “ASEAN City of Culture”, the Chairman of
Hue People’s Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Cao pledged to have a detailed
plan and program on introducing Vietnamese in general and Hue people in
particular the image of ASEAN community, at the same time promulgating
Hue culture to the region and the world. The targets of Hue after
receiving this tittle are to bring achievements into play, and to
promulgate the image of peaceful, civilized ASEAN community with happy
and comprehensively developed people. In the process of introducing,
promoting the image of ASEAN community, many activities of cultural
heritage value of preservation and promotion will take place in Hue, the
ancient capital, in the integration and development phase. At the same
time, exchanges, cooperation and community stability of ASEAN and the
region will be focused through regional tourism cooperation,
conferences, workshops, and cultural activities like cultural festivals,
exhibits, and trade shows.
Mr. Nguyen Van Cao also thanked the Government, the Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other
ASEAN countries and international friends for supporting Hue during that
time. He also expressed his wish of continuing to receive the attention
and support in promoting the image of the country, people and culture
from ASEAN community. By virtue of this, culture will be truly a
cultural bridge between nations and peoples with the aims of building a
world of peace, stability and prosperity, making Hue really a place of
cultural exchange. Thereby, promoting the conservation and promulgation
of cultural heritages, development of economy will be strengthened to be
worthy of the title "ASEAN City of Culture". In two-year term, Hue will
play its part in enhancing exchanges, cooperation with other cultures
and civilizations in ASEAN.
Leaders meet and have conversation - Source: Image from baothuathienhue.vn
With this great tittle, Hue also has to establish the cultural
identity of ASEAN. With the topic “raising the cultural role in the
stable development of ASEAN”, the ministerial conference focuses on
discussing and concretizing pledges given, strengthening ASEAN
community, and promoting partnership with other countries to share
experiences on developing art and culture. In terms of the role of
culture for sustainable development of ASEAN community, utilization of
knowledge, science, technology and art forms to improve the quality of
material and spiritual life in ASEAN, a wealthy and prosperous community
will be established in the near future.
