Recently, with the participation of businesses and economic groups, the cultural industry market has become increasingly vibrant. We had an interview with Dr. Vo Tri Thanh - former Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management Research, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competition Research on this issue.
Sir, recently, many large corporations and enterprises have begun to participate in investing in the cultural industry. From the perspective of an economic expert, in your opinion, why did they choose this direction at the present time?
- Music performances are just a part of the creative economy, and we have been performing like that since 1980. But in recent decades, there has been a huge change in perception. Not only purely a culture, but it is also an economic development strategy with a sustainable, inclusive and creative development mindset.
Culture combined with economy can create strong spread. Cultural industry thanks to interaction and spread can create "soft power", creating the position of a country. There are many countries in the world such as the US, China, Korea... They have developed economies with the focus on cultural industry.
In Vietnam at present, the concept of cultural industry - creative economy is changing strongly, we see more clearly the meaning and role of cultural industry such as: Promoting the identity, heritage, tradition, capacity and qualities of Vietnamese people (skillful, creative, sophisticated...).
There are studies showing that Vietnam has comparative advantages and great competitive advantages, for example in the fields of fashion, architecture, especially interior design, handicrafts... In recent years, there have been films and concerts with revenue of several hundred billion VND. That is the heritage of the cultural industry. Or the music program held on the occasion of the A80 anniversary has shown the spreading of extremely strong spiritual strength.
From the change in thinking begins to lead to the change in policy. The cultural industry is actually a playground, a market that can develop strongly. That development is compatible with the development perspective and new policies of the Party and State.
Therefore, in reality, investing in the cultural industry at this time is investing in a huge market, extremely potential and meaningful. Especially in the current digital economy, digital transformation, digital technology and artificial intelligence AI.
How will expanding investment in the cultural industry affect the current Vietnamese economy, in your opinion?
- Studies have shown that this creative economic sector is very important. The first impact is GDP creation, the second is job creation, not to mention exports and imports, foreign currency. I would like to emphasize more on coverage: Investing in developing this sector will be very good for the regional economy, for example in rural areas, inner-city neighborhoods, vulnerable groups, small and medium-sized enterprises, etc.
Another important thing is that the creative economy industry is very suitable for young people: Enthusiastic, likes singing, performing, likes to be creative and express themselves.
Next is the story of startups. Starting a business in the field of artistic creation.
The cultural industry can help Vietnam shift to a development method that creates growth more based on creativity (no longer a labor exporting country with cheap labor, no longer having to make money mainly from muscular labor...). Today's young generation is quickly caught up with digital technology and creative technology. For example, recently, young singer Duc Phuc won the championship of the international music competition " Intervision 2025" with the song "Phu Dong Thien Vuong" by musician Ho Hoai Anh. very creative and also very traditional.
Thus, in addition to GDP, export and import of creative goods and services, it also promotes the spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity in each artist. The creative economy is both in line with the desire for inclusive sustainable development growth and has certain impacts on green transformation. In addition, the spread of this economic sector can create a healthy, positive sense of life through quality music and films.
But when the "big guys" get involved with impact, will it affect small businesses operating in the cultural sector or create monopoly, leading to unsynchronized development, sir?
- Large corporations with resources, both in terms of financial capacity and the ability to attract talented people... have many advantages, capable of creating great spillover value. Every market has monopoly and competition.
But the cultural market is a special market, with many different segments. The cultural market focuses on symbols, sounds, colors, graphics, images, flavors... that is, there is a great overlap. So it is necessary to position clearly. In addition to measures to combat competition competition competition (the principle of competition has many clauses), there must be solutions to promote creativity.
Specifically, if large enterprises participate in developing the cultural industry, they can limit competition by creating an ecosystem to attract individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises to participate, for example in organizing performances and film production. Because organizing performances or producing films involves many stages. Enterprises and affiliated organizations working together have a great influence.
Culture and art are personal creativity. Can economic groups apply the economic mindset to personal creativity?
- It is truly creativity associated with individuals, especially creativity in the field of culture and arts. But it's also a market. The market will have supply and demand, associated with creativity. This is a multi-dimensional relationship, complementing each other, so not everyone can be as big as they want to be.
Bigger still is the story of businesses. Especially in the field of creative economy, not only pure profit can be created. The vitality of the business, its image, brand value, and product value are all based on their culture. That culture must be associated with inclusive sustainable development, bringing benefits to everyone.
Economic thinking has now changed a lot, so businesses developing cultural industries will know how to respond to personal creativity.
Thus, can we believe that the cultural industry can become the main driver for growth or in other words, a pillar for the economy?
- The contribution of the creative economy is very meaningful, spreading and influencing more strongly than many other industries.
In particular, the power of culture and the arts is sometimes immeasurable. That is the national position, the brand image, the business value, the promotion of startups and the promotion of creativity of young people and Vietnamese people.
Cultural industries are not clearly specific such as agriculture, processing industry, real estate or construction... but the spread of cultural industries has a very profound and wide meaning, not only domestically but also globally. Of course, not every segment of the economy has an advantage, but in general, Vietnam's creativity and economic competitiveness are huge.
Therefore, in the future, it is possible to see the priority of development. Domestic enterprises must make a breakthrough in competition and creativity to have appropriate and adaptive support. Now policies and mechanisms have begun to exist. The rest is concentration.
Not only a driving force for growth, the creative economy can change Vietnam's position on the world creative map.
Thank you!
