Fill the gaps early
At the second meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Cultural Development of Vietnam to assess the implementation of Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo on cultural development of Vietnam and deploy tasks in the coming time, General Secretary and President To Lam mentioned 4 gaps that need to be fully identified and soon overcome. Among them, the 4th gap mentioned is the institution and ecosystem of cultural industry development.
The Resolution sets a target for the cultural industries to contribute 7% of GDP by 2030 and 9% by 2045, while the current proportion is only about 4% of GDP. That gap shows that we still lack a synchronous ecosystem in terms of institutions, markets, data, human resources and mechanisms to mobilize resources to transform cultural creativity into new production capacity and growth momentum of the nation" - General Secretary, President said.
Institutions for the cultural industry are a "bottleneck". Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Huy Dung said: The cultural industry accounts for at least 7% of GDP annually as soon as possible, instead of waiting until 2030.
However, Mr. Dung also said that each cultural industry has been and is being regulated by one or more different specialized laws. Therefore, to ensure feasibility and synchronization in the Vietnamese legal system, the method of building the Law on Development of the Cultural Industry is built on the principle of approaching the cultural industry as a value chain to promote development from the perspective of developing a strategic economic industry, resolutely not causing additional administrative procedures.
From a business perspective, Mr. Dinh Ba Thanh - Chairman and founder of DatVietVAC (producer of the Anh trai say hi, Em xinh say hi series of shows) said that for many years Vietnam has proven its capacity to produce entertainment programs with great spread, attracting millions of viewers and creating strong effects on digital platforms. However, if only stopping at processing formats or exploiting revenue once from programs, the value created is still very limited. According to Mr. Thanh, businesses participating in the cultural industry need to have "special treatments".
And NSND Vuong Duy Bien - former Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Cultural Industry Development - was very frank when saying: While the policy of socialization has been identified for many years, the system of policies on public-private partnerships, exploitation of public assets, financial mechanisms or autonomy of cultural units still has large gaps, causing social resources not to be mobilized commensurate with their potential.
Therefore, according to Mr. Bien, the cultural market is polarized and fragmented. Large enterprises self-invest in building closed and isolated event complexes; on the contrary, small and medium-sized enterprises, considered the nucleus of urban innovation, are hesitant because of some obstacles when wanting to access public capital flows. Even excellent ideas have to accept stopping at short-term project scale, instead of forming sustainable value chains from innovation, investment to consumption.
Submitting to the National Assembly the Law on Development of the Cultural Industry in simplified order and procedures
In terms of institutions, there are indeed changes. For example, at the beginning of July 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 277/2026/ND-CP, specifically stipulating policies to support businesses and attract investment in the digital culture sector. However, the Decree also only stopped at a policy of preferential treatment and support that has not become a real boost.
DatVietVAC founding chairman Dinh Ba Thanh hopes that the Law on Development of the Cultural Industry will soon create "cultural industry unicorns".
If there is no cultural industrial unicorn, there will be no globally competitive cultural industry" - Mr. Thanh emphasized.
Early development of the Law on Development of the Cultural Industry is an urgent requirement. Notice No. 12-TB/BCĐTW dated July 30, 2026 identifies the cultural industry as a new driving force for growth, and at the same time requests to complete the draft law to submit to the 16th National Assembly at the second session in October 2026 according to simplified procedures.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the draft law focuses on major policies: Cultural intellectual property; cultural industrial infrastructure; human resources and talents; cultural industrial market; attracting foreign investment. The consistent approach is to follow the value chain, putting businesses and creators at the center, with the State playing a constructive and leading role.
The constructive role of the State in cultural industry development
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, competition between countries is currently not only taking place in economy and technology but also in cultural values and the influence of the cultural industry. Many countries have identified this as an important economic sector and prioritize building support policies.
South Korea enacted the framework law on promoting the development of the cultural industry in 1999. China, although not yet having its own law, has issued many sub-law documents to create a corridor for the development of this field.
Recently, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Financial Services Commission announced the establishment of the K-Culture Value-Up Fund worth 150 billion won, equivalent to 108 million USD. This is the largest public-private investment fund in Korea to date dedicated to the cultural and creative industries.
According to the plan, the Korean Government contributes 50 billion won from the budget; the Korea Development Bank and the Advanced Industrial Strategy Fund invest an additional 30 billion won. This capital is expected to attract more than 70 billion won from the private sector.
Notably, about 100 billion won, equivalent to two-thirds of the fund's size, is allocated to projects related to artificial intelligence and intellectual property. Fund management units must allocate at least 25% of capital to businesses applying AI in content creation or exploiting intellectual property in the fields of music, film, video games and video. The remaining about 50 billion won supports the production and distribution of traditional content.
In China, at the end of July 2026, this country opened data on cultural relics owned by the State to promote the exploitation and development of cultural intellectual property.
The fact that the two leading cultural industries in Asia simultaneously issued major policies on AI and intellectual property shows that the leading and constructive role of the State is increasingly clear. Vietnam therefore needs to soon complete the legal corridor, investment mechanism, credit policy, data and intellectual property protection to create momentum for the cultural industry to develop, avoiding slowing down in regional competition. Thu Minh
