New perspective
Sports are associated with development. ASIAD and the Olympics are two top arenas, where high-performance sports reflect the competition of major economies.
At the Olympics, the race mainly takes place between superpowers such as: the US, China, Japan; while at ASIAD, it is the competition of leading Asian economies such as: China, Japan, South Korea”.
These are the three leading powers in achievements at ASIAD 19. Major economies have an advantage in solving many problems of high-performance sports, from investment, application of science and technology, development of high-quality human resources to mobilizing sponsorship.
Head of the Vietnamese sports delegation at ASIAD 19 - Mr. Dang Ha Viet (Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Training and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) - shared this when looking back at the Games.
In 80 years of formation and development, Vietnamese Sports has had methods of investing with State funds to improve professional training, coaching, competition with high achievements and popularize sports, strengthen physical fitness with sports for everyone.
However, sports development is also associated with improving the quality of tournament organization. Many tournaments in Vietnam are gradually becoming professional, becoming products that attract fans, athletes and sponsors, creating revenue.
In 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnamese Sports sector for the first time organized the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum. From here, the opportunities and challenges to develop Vietnam's sports economy are seen more clearly, no longer unfamiliar.
For Vietnam, it is necessary to see the sports economy as an important economic sector. At that time, social awareness will change, leading to policy adjustments by businesses and people towards this field.
Although not yet identified as an independent economic sector, sports production and business activities are developing strongly, with the effective participation of many domestic and foreign businesses" - a representative of the Central Economic Committee (now the Central Policy and Strategy Committee) stated at the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum in 2023.
Sports economic development needs policies
The Strategy for Development of Vietnam's Physical Education and Sports to 2030, vision to 2045 approved and promulgated by the Prime Minister on October 15, 2024, mentioned the content of the sports economy. For the first time, the above issue is raised to become a task to be implemented in the Strategy through each stage.
There are 8 contents and tasks proposed regarding Vietnam's sports economy in the Strategy. Above all, resolving mechanisms and policies to create a transparent environment to help the sports economy develop is a practical requirement.
The sports economy may be macro, but looking at reality, it will help sports have good resources for development. We see that countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia... do well in the sports economy. Policies, mechanisms and ways of working to position sports products provided to consumers and then make profits are effective methods" - Mr. Dang Ha Viet once said.
Vietnamese sports are increasingly developing. Therefore, a content proposed in Conclusion 70-KL/TW of the Politburo on the development of physical education and sports in the new period with specific orientations for the sports market is: "Strengthening resources for the cause of physical education and sports. Reviewing and completing planning, developing a network of synchronous institutions and sports facilities, gradually modernizing and meeting international standards.
Prioritize investment in a number of key facilities for high-quality training and coaching; modernize training centers, training and fostering facilities for athletes, scientific research facilities and sports medicine.
