2026 marks a significant step in the process of perfecting Viet Nam’s cultural policy. On January 7, 2026, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on the development of Vietnamese culture. Less than four months later, the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 28/2026/QH16 (effective from July 1, 2026). With many specific and outstanding policies regarding financial resources, talent incentives, and the promotion of creative industries, these resolutions and solutions issued are expected to create a strong impetus for the development of the country's culture in the new phase.
Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the development of Vietnamese culture identifies the development of Vietnamese culture and people as the foundation, endogenous resource, and key driving force for the rapid and sustainable development of the country; it emphasises the leading role of the people, the leadership of the Party, and the management of the state.
Throughout various periods, the Party’s guidelines and policies have consistently affirmed that culture holds a particularly important position in the cause of national development. Especially during the 40 years of renewal, the Party has issued a series of resolutions on culture, notably Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW in 1987, Resolution No. 5 (8th Congress) in 1998, and Resolution No. 33 (11th Congress) in 2014.
These resolutions have played a significant role and had a profound impact in guiding the development of the nation's culture throughout this time. However, in practice, a certain gap still exists between the affirmed position and the resources allocated to the cultural sector, such as limited investment; ineffective mechanisms for mobilising social resources; and many cultural potentials and assets that have not been transformed into commensurate economic and social values.
Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW summarises practical experiences while inheriting and developing both the theory and practice of previous resolutions, aiming to meet the very high and new requirements when entering a new era, with the need for breakthroughs to develop the country rapidly and sustainably. The viewpoints and content in Resolution No. 80 contain the inheritance and development of cultural theory, as well as defining the goals and major tasks for building and developing culture through an objective assessment of the achievements and limitations of culture in recent years.
The world today is in the process of establishing a new order with very rapid, complicated, and unprecedented changes, most notably the competition between cultures, including the competition of values and the influence of the cultural industry, fundamentally changing behavioural norms and value systems. This poses a new and severe challenge to the development of our country's culture.
Resolution No. 80 has determined that the demands of national development in the new era require strategic and comprehensive breakthrough policies and decisions to overcome limitations and shortcomings, proactively seize opportunities, overcome challenges, and promote cultural development. Affirming the position and stature of Vietnamese culture befitting a socialist-oriented developing nation with a long-standing cultural and historical tradition, making a worthy contribution to the flow of human civilisation.
These concise contents are not mere wishes or appeals, but rather very new, high, and all-encompassing demands, an objective requirement of the nation’s history for culture in the new era. It is precisely from this aspiration and strategic vision that Resolution No. 80 has defined the guiding principles, objectives, tasks, and solutions for cultural development from now until 2030 and the vision until 2045.
Resolution No. 80 was issued in the context of the country entering a new phase with increasingly high demands for quality growth, competitiveness, and national standing in the international arena.
A new aspect of Resolution No. 80 is that, for the first time, culture is placed in a direct relationship with economics, innovation, national soft power, and global competitiveness. Accordingly, culture is not only a field that needs to be preserved and protected but is also recognised as a special resource capable of creating added value, jobs, revenue, and long-term benefits for society.
This approach is entirely consistent with the general trend of the world. At the World Conference on Culture Policy and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2022), UNESCO affirmed that culture should be viewed as an independent global goal, on par with the economic, social, and environmental pillars. While Resolution 80 defines the strategic direction for culture, Resolution 28 focuses on the implementation mechanism.
One of the notable breakthroughs of Resolution 28 is the direct removal of resource bottlenecks. The resolution stipulates that the state shall ensure a minimum annual expenditure of 2% of the total state budget for culture, gradually increasing according to practical needs, while encouraging the mobilisation of social resources to invest in culture.
This is the first time a “minimum” budget allocation for culture has been legally formalised by a National Assembly resolution. This not only demonstrates a strong political commitment but also provides a basis for monitoring implementation in practice.
Beyond public resources, Resolution No.28 expands the scope for mobilising non-state resources. For the first time, a model Cultural and Artistic Fund is being piloted at the central level and in some localities using a public-private partnership model, operating on market principles, accepting risks, and aiming to support potentially innovative ideas.
This is a significant step forward in cultural management thinking because artistic creation is not a field that can be measured entirely by traditional administrative or financial criteria. Many works of great value to society face difficulties in recouping investment. Accepting risks in investing in creativity will create opportunities for new ideas and experiments as well as provide momentum for breakthroughs.
In addition, Resolution No.28 paves the way for the formation of cultural creative industrial clusters and industrial zones. This is considered a crucial step in connecting the links in the creative ecosystem in a synchronised and professional manner, from research, design, production to product commercialisation. When creative entities, businesses, investors, and management agencies are placed in an effectively interconnected space, the ability to create new value from culture will be significantly enhanced.
To quickly implement Resolution No. 28, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra recently signed Decision No. 875/QD-TTg promulgating the plan for implementing the resolution. The plan assigns 7 key tasks for ministries, sectors, and localities to implement starting from July 1, 2026, clearly defining the tasks, progress, and responsibilities of each agency and unit, ensuring the resolution's implementation is synchronised, unified, and effective, while avoiding duplication and waste of resources.
It can be seen that in the previous period, the state mainly performed the functions of managing, allocating resources, and preserving cultural values. In the new approach, the state plays the role of creating a favourable environment for social resources to be connected, channelled, and disseminated. This is also the trend in cultural governance that many countries are choosing to maximise the creativity of the community.
However, expanding the space for culture to participate in socio-economic life also means the emergence of new challenges. International experience shows that many countries have faced the paradox: the cultural industry has grown strongly, but cultural life has become impoverished.
When revenue becomes the primary criterion, cultural products easily succumb to short-term trends, while values that shape aesthetics, cultivate character, and preserve identity risk being neglected.
Therefore, the challenge for the future is to ensure that, alongside accelerating the growth of cultural industries, economic and cultural values coexist on the same trajectory. This is also the measure of sustainable development in the cultural sector.
Thus, Resolution No. 80 not only identifies culture as a driving force for growth but also emphasises its regulatory role in that process. Culture participates in creating material wealth while simultaneously guiding growth to serve humanity. Culture creates economic value without sacrificing the core values that constitute national identity.
The success of Viet Nam’s cultural development policy in the new era will therefore not only be measured by the scale of investment or revenue of cultural industries. More importantly, it is the ability to create cultural products and services that are both competitive in the market and contribute to building Vietnamese values in the new era; creating a healthy cultural environment rich in identity and inspiring the nation's aspirations for progress.
