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CULTURAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN

VIETNAM

LAUREN SALTIEL*

1. INTRODUCTION
In 2011 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) launched the Culture for Development
Indicator Suite1 (CDIS) program in Vietnam.2 The goal of the CDIS
initiative is to gather information about how culture impacts
development by evaluating twenty sub-indicators3 across seven
dimensions of civil society—economy, education, cultural heritage,
communication, governance, social, and gender equality.4 While
preliminary results from the Vietnam test program were made

* J.D. 2014, University of Pennsylvania Law School. Thank you to the editors
of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law for your work in
the publication of this Comment.
1 “An indicator suite is a collection of indicators from different dimensions

[of a policy area, here culture], which are brought together in a thematic way
[here, in relation to the concept of culture and development] in order to better
understand . . . [that] policy area . . . .” UNESCO, CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT
INDICATOR SUITE: ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 8 (2011) [hereinafter CDIS: AF], available
at http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/
Conv2 005_CDindicators_Analytical_en.pdf.
2 The program was developed in 2009, and the initial phase is set to run

through 2012. See UNESCO, TOWARDS A UNESCO SUITE OF INDICATORS ON

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: LITERATURE REVIEW (2010), available at
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Conv2
005_CDindicators_Literature.pdf (reviewing main works on cultural indicators
over past fifteen years). The program is also being run in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, and Uruguay. Culture for Development
Indicators: Country Tests of the Culture for Development Indicators, UNESCO,
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/cultural-diversity/diversity-
of-cultural-expressions/programmes/culture-for-development-
indicators/country-tests/ (last visited Dec. 9, 2012).
3 For a list of indicators, see the table at Culture for Development Indicators:

Seven Connected Dimensions, UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/

culture/themes/cultural-diversity/diversity-of-cultural-
expressions/programmes/culture-for-development-indicators/seven-
dimensions/ (last visited Dec. 11, 2012).
4 CDIS: AF, supra note 1, at 9. See Section 2 for a discussion of the evolution

of the development framework in international law and policy.

893

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available in 2012,5 as of yet there is no mechanism in place with

which to interpret this data.
To aid in this analytical effort, this paper will evaluate the
relationship between cultural governance6 and development in
Vietnam by providing an analysis of the country’s cultural policy
and legal framework and its successes and failures in promoting
sustainable human development. Section 2 of this paper provides
an overview of the international legal framework underlying the
“culture for development” paradigm. Section 3 explains the
evolution of cultural policy in Vietnam before outlining the current
legal and policy landscape relevant to heritage and non-heritage
based cultural sectors. Finally, Section 4 provides an evaluation of
Vietnamese cultural law and policy as a means for promoting
sustainable human development and offers suggestions for more
effective policy making in the future.

2. CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF THE

INTERNATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK
Though the importance of culture in global relations7 and the
right to cultural participation8 were formally recognized by the

5 Preliminary result presentations were made available in March of 2012.

Culture For Development Indicators, UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/

culture/themes/cultural-diversity/diversity-of-cultural-expressions/
programmes/culture-for-development-indicators/ (last visited Dec. 9, 2012).
6 The governance dimension of the CDIS “encompasses normative and policy
frameworks, institutional capacities and cultural infrastructures.” UNESCO,
UNESCO CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT INDICATOR SUITE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF
THE TEST PHASE IN VIET NAM 44 (2012), available at
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Conv2
005_CDIS_test1_Vietnam2_PPTen.pdf.
7 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) was born November 16, 1945 to promote:
peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations
through education, science and culture in order to further universal
respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and
fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world,
without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of
the United Nations.
UNESCO CONST. of 1945, art. 1(1) (2012), available at
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002161/216192e.pdf#page=7.
8 The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the right of every

individual to the “realization . . . of the . . . social and cultural rights indispensible

for his dignity and the free development of his personality,” as well as the right to
“participate in the cultural life of the community.” Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc. A/810, arts. 22, 27 (1948), available

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international community in the 1940s, it was not until the 1980s

that a human-centric concept of development took hold in global
discourse.9 In 1988, UNESCO launched the World Decade on
Culture and Development, the objective of which was to encourage
the international community to “acknowledg[e] the cultural
dimension of development; affirm[] and enrich[] cultural identities;
broaden[] participation in culture; [and] promot[e] international
cultural co-operation . . . .”10 Over the course of that decade, the
international community introduced a number of initiatives that
explored the interrelation between economic and human growth,11
the importance of protecting cultural diversity and promoting
cultural industries, and the impact of globalization on the
development process.12
In 2000, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly adopted
the U.N. Millennium Declaration, which asserts the U.N.’s
dedication to ensuring even and equitable development in a

at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml. Individual cultural

rights were further protected in the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights adopted in 1966. See International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3 (including the right to
cultural participation as an universal cultural right).
9 UNESCO, THE POWER OF CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT 10 (2010) [hereinafter

POWER OF CULTURE], available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/

001893/189382e.pdf. At the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies in
1982, the international community acknowledged that “[c]ulture constitutes a
fundamental dimension of the development process . . . [t]he aim of [which] . . . is
the continuing well-being and fulfilment [sic] of each and every individual.”
UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies, Mexico City, Mex., July 26–Aug.
6, 1982, Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies, ¶ 10 (1982), available at
http://portal.unesco.org/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_A274FC8367592F6CEEDB92E
91A93C7AC61740000/filename/mexico_en.pdf.
10 Proclamation of the World Decade for Cultural Development, U.N. Doc.
A/RES/41/187, ¶ 2 (Dec. 8, 1986), available at http://www.un.org/documents/
ga/res/41/a41r187.htm.
11 See e.g., UNDP, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1990, iii, (1990), available at

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990/chapters (aiming to put

people “at the centre of all development”). See also UNESCO—World Bank
Intergovernmental Conference, Florence, It., Oct. 4–7, 1999, Culture Counts:
Financing Resources and the Economics of Culture in Sustainable Development (Feb.
2000), available at http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/
WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2000/11/17/000094946_00110405591265/Render
ed/PDF/multi_page.pdf (aiming to “promote the expansion of economic analysis
in, and resources available for, culture in sustainable development programs”).
12 UNESCO WORLD COMM’N ON CULTURE & DEV., REPORT OF THE WORLD

COMMISSION ON CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: OUR CREATIVE DIVERSITY (1996),

available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001055/105586e.pdf.

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globalizing world.13 In this Declaration, the international

community committed to achieving eight Millennium
Development Goals, a list from which culture was noticeably
absent.14 The place for culture in this strategy, however, became
apparent through a number of UNESCO Conventions and
Declarations signed during the subsequent decade.
In 2001, the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity,
adopted by all 185 UNESCO member states, recognized cultural
diversity not only as one of the “roots of development”15 but as
“the common heritage of humanity,”16 further expanding the idea
of “world heritage” outlined in the 1972 Convention for the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.17 It also
broadened the definition of culture,18 reaffirmed the human right
to cultural diversity, called for international cooperation and
policymaking towards these ends, and outlined the role of
UNESCO in the implementation of these mandates.19
The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible
Cultural Heritage20 recognized the cultural contributions of
indigenous communities and the importance of intangible heritage,

13 United Nations Millennium Declaration, U.N. Doc. A/55/L.2 (Sept. 8,

2000), available at http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm.

14 CDIS: AF, supra note 1, at 6.

15 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, art. 3 (Nov. 2, 2001),

available at http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13179&URL_DO=DO
_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
16 Id. at art. 1.

17 The 1972 UNESCO Convention considers that “parts of the cultural or

natural heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as

part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole . . . .” UNESCO Convention for
the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, at pmbl. (Nov. 21,
1972), available at http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13055&URL_
DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. It is also the 1972 Convention that
establishes the World Heritage Committee and World Heritage List.
18 The 2001 Convention defines culture as “the set of distinctive spiritual,

material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that
it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together,
value systems, traditions and beliefs . . . .” UNESCO Universal Declaration on
Cultural Diversity, supra note 15, at pmbl.
19 Id. at art. 1.

20 The Convention went into effect in 2006, pursuant to the requirements set

forth in Article 34. UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage (Oct. 17, 2003) [hereinafter 2003 Convention], available at
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=17716&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.

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thereby further reinforcing an ever-expanding notion of culture.21

Finally, the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of
the Diversity of Cultural Expressions sought to reinforce the
importance of culture to sustainable development as well as
“ensure[] all citizens, especially artists, cultural professionals [and]
creative practitioners that they can create, produce, disseminate
[and] enjoy a diversity of cultural goods and services.”22
The principles set forth in these Conventions have since been
recognized and reinforced by numerous other U.N. bodies23 and,
together, these Conventions, resolutions, and reports serve as the
basis for the current development framework. The consensus in
the international community is that development practices must be
more human-centric, employing culturally-aware solutions by
local actors to the political, social, economic, and environmental
issues that stand in the way of promoting the enrichment of human
choice and capabilities.24 The following section provides an
analysis of Vietnam’s cultural law and policy in light of these
principles.

3. THE CULTURAL POLICY FRAMEWORK IN VIETNAM

Vietnam’s involvement in the CDIS program is emblematic of
the Nation’s efforts since the late 1990s to adopt culture-centric
development policies.25 While this shift of focus in cultural policy
is relatively recent, the Vietnamese government has recognized the
important role of culture in the social, political, and economic
development of the Nation since before the unification of North
and South Vietnam in 1976. Thus, in order to understand the
current policy framework, it is necessary to consider how it

21 Id. at pmbl.
22 UNESCO CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT INDICATOR SUITE: PRELIMINARY
RESULTS OF THE TEST PHASE IN VIET NAM (2012), available at http://
www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Conv2005_CD
IS_test1_Vietnam2_PPTen.pdf.
23 CDIS: AF, supra note 1, at 7. See also Culture for Development Indicators: Key

Documents, UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/

cultural-diversity/diversity-of-cultural-expressions/programmes/culture-for-
development-indicators/resources/key-documents/ (last visited Feb. 25, 2014)
(listing other relevant U.N. documents).
24 POWER OF CULTURE, supra note 9, at 9.

25 See U.N. COUNTRY TEAM VIET NAM DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 4, CULTURE AND

DEVELOPMENT IN VIET NAM (2003), available at http://www.undp.org/content/

dam/vietnam/docs/Publications/4962_Culture_and_Development.pdf (arguing
that culture is a key element in Vietnam’s quest for sustainable development).

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evolved through the Nation’s history. The following sections

provide a brief history of cultural policy in Vietnam as well as an
explanation of the current legal and policy framework governing
the State’s cultural sector.

3.1. Background

3.1.1. Establishment of Cultural Policy Infrastructure

In 1945, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), under the
control of Ho Chi Minh, established The Democratic Republic of
Vietnam (DRV).26 The following year the National Assembly
adopted the Country’s first constitution, which established the
institutional foundation of the modern state.27 The constitution
pronounced “absolute equality before the law” for all people
regardless of “race, gender, prosperity, class or religion.”28 It also
enumerated rights of education, “expression, commerce,
association, thought, and of movement both within the country
and abroad” and established the ministerial and local
administrative body system through which cultural policy would
eventually be created and administered.29
While the first constitution failed to mention cultural rights, the
1959 Constitution explicitly provided the right of all nationalities
“to preserve or reform their own customs and habits, to use their
spoken and written languages, and to develop their own national
culture.”30 It also called for “the constant improvement of the
material and cultural life of the people” and protected the
“freedom to engage in . . . cultural pursuits.”31 Thus, by 1959, the
State had not only formally adopted a rights-based approach to

26 The DRV is generally known as North Vietnam. Independence was not

officially won, however, until the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954, ending
both the First Indochina War as well as French colonial rule in the region. JAMES S.
OLSON & RANDY ROBERTS, WHERE THE DOMINO FELL: AMERICA AND VIETNAM 1945-
1995 44 (5th ed. 2008).
27 Stein Tønnesson, Ho Chi Minh’s First Constitution (1946) 3 (1998)

(unpublished manuscript), available at http://www.cliostein.com/documents/

1998/98%20lec%20ho%20chi%20hanoi.pdf.
28 Id. at 3.

29 Id. at 4.

30 CONST. OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIET., Dec. 31, 1959, art. 3.

31 Id. at pmbl., art. 34. The 1959 constitution also outlined a more detailed

framework for governance and a clear explanation of the relationship between

State bodies.

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cultural diversity, but it had also established a framework that

supported the cooperation between national and local actors.
Aside from this treatment of culture in the constitution, the
government passed a number of laws and policy initiatives relating
to the management of culture in pre-unified Vietnam. In
November 1945, the CPV passed Decree 65, forbidding “the
destruction of temples, historical sites and documents relevant to
the Nation’s history,” and providing for the establishment of a
government body—the Vietnam Oriental Institute—responsible for
protecting the Nation’s antiquities.32 The CPV further expanded
the State’s cultural management infrastructure with the
establishment of the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI)33
in 1955 to oversee the management of culture and museums in
Vietnam,34 and the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies in
1971, to aid in cultural research, education, and policy
development.35
For the Communist government, the State management of
culture provided an opportunity not only to physically take back
Vietnamese heritage, but also to present it in a way that reinforced
a new nationalist identity and supported the revolutionary effort.
Over the course of the Indochina Wars, the DRV government
established a number of national museums throughout Northern
Vietnam36 that celebrated the struggle for national independence

32 Margaret Barnhill Bodemer, Museums, Ethnology and the Politics of

Culture in Contemporary Vietnam 65 (May 2010) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,

University of Hawai’i), available at http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/
people/alumni/pdfs/2010-bodemer.pdf.
33 Id. at 66. The Department of Museums absorbed the Vietnam Oriental

Institute upon its establishment. Id. MOCI still serves as the national
governmental body that oversees the numerous cultural sectors in Vietnam today,
though it has since been renamed the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
Id. at 22, n.13.
34 Incorporated into MOCI was a Division of Museums and Preservation

charged with “’transform[ing] museums into treasures of the state’ in order to

serve the work of scientific research, educate the Vietnamese people about the
revolutionary tradition, and introduce Vietnam to international countries.” Id. at
66–67 (internal citations omitted).
35 Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS), DOCNET SOUTHEAST

ASIA, http://www.goethe.de/ins/id/lp/prj/dns/ppa/en9414957.htm (last

visited Feb. 25, 2014).
36 In 1959, the DRV established the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution

and the People’s Army Museums in Hanoi, both of which presented a

chronological telling of the story of the Vietnamese Revolution. Bodemer, supra
note 32, at 69–70. In 1966, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum opened, which also
took a chronological approach to displaying Vietnamese artistic heritage. Id. at 70.

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and local traditions as part of the same narrative.37 However,

while the State embraced the diverse cultural heritage of Vietnam,
the cultures that were given attention were those of the people
who supported the resistance effort.38 This political fact is further
demonstrated by the selective preservation policies discussed in
the following section.

3.1.2. Cultural Policy and the End of the Subsidy Era

In 1976, North and South Vietnam were unified as the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam (SRV) under control of the CPV. After
decades of war and a decrease in foreign aid in the late 1970s,
Vietnam suffered economic decline, the effects of which were
exacerbated by the subsidy-based economic policy then in place.39
Since the Government was the primary funding source for the arts
and cultural sector,40 Vietnam saw little progress in this area in the
decade following unification, despite reaffirmation of national
dedication to heritage protection in the 1980 constitution.41
One notable exception in this period of cultural policy
stagnation was a joint effort between Vietnam and UNESCO to
preserve the Hue Monument complex.42 In 1982 the Hue–
UNESCO Working Group was formed,43 despite the fact that
Vietnam would not ratify the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage
Convention until 1987.44 As part of the project, MOCI45 worked

37 The aid of the Soviet Union, both financial and in terms of human capital,
was essential in these efforts. Id. at 72.
38 Id. at 67.

39 Tran Van Binh, Social and Cultural Changes in Vietnam With the New Market
Economy, 15 NATURE SOC’Y & THOUGHT 335, 336 (2002).
40 Huong Le, Economic Reforms, Cultural Policy: Opportunities and Challenges to

the Arts and Culture in Vietnam in the Age of Globalization, 38 J. ARTS MGMT. L. &
SOC’Y. 5, 7 (2008).
41 The 1980 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam mandates that

“historical or revolutionary monuments, cultural relics, works of art and beauty-

spots shall be maintained, restored, protected and their impact fostered” and that
“[d]ue attention shall also be granted to preservation and museum work.” HIẾN
PHÁP [CONSTITUTION] Dec. 18, 1980, art. 34 (Viet.).
42 See LE VINH AN ET AL., COMPLEX OF HUE MONUMENTS, ITS INTRODUCTION,

VALUE AND DIVERSITY 2 (2009), available at http://dspace.wul.waseda.ac.jp/

dspace/bitstream/2065/34605/38/Honbun-5025_35.pdf (describing the historical
process by which Hue Monument was protected).
43 See id. at 2.

44 See UNESCO, State Parties: Ratification Status, http://whc.unesco.org/

en/statesparties/ (last updated Sept. 19, 2012) (showing that Vietnam did not
ratify the UNESCO World Heritage Convention until 1987).

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with the Thua Thein Hue Provincial People’s Committee to

establish the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC),
which would serve as a local partner in restoration efforts.46
The commencement of the Hue Monument preservation
project—the site of which would be designated a UNESCO world
heritage site in 1993—is illustrative of two key points in the
evolution of Vietnam’s cultural policy. First, it speaks to Vietnam’s
early recognition of the role of local actors in cultural matters.
More importantly, however, the commencement foreshadowed a
dedication to internationalism and heritage preservation that
would become central to the country’s Reform Era cultural agenda.

3.1.3. Cultural Policy and the Reform Era

In December 1986, the Sixth Party Congress officially
implemented a set of doi moi reforms aimed at restructuring the
Vietnamese economy by shifting from ideologically driven
communist policies towards a market-based economy.47 The
reforms marked the end of the “subsidy era” and ushered in a
period of socialization, increased privatization, and economic
diversification.48 Restrictions on private enterprise were relaxed;
barriers for foreign investment and trade were lowered; and
international investment and globalization became part of the
country’s long-term socio-economic plans.49
Unfortunately, the sectors and populations that depended on
state support and were unable to capitalize on “free market”
opportunities were effectively abandoned.50 As a result,
development through this period was largely uneven; a fact that is
exemplified by the evolution of cultural policy in that era. After

45 The Ministry of Culture and Information has since been renamed the
Ministry of Culture, Sports, & Tourism.
46 ARCH. PHUNG PHU, HUE MONUMENTS CONSERVATION CENTRE,
DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGIES AND KEY POLICY AGENDAS IN ASIA 4 (2009).
47 Doi Moi translates to “renovation.” Bodemer, supra note 32, at 22.

48 Le, supra note 40, at 2.

49 Interestingly, Western scholarship (and travel literature) seems almost

universally to attribute the rebound of the Vietnamese economy in the 1980s to

the nation’s adoption of free market policies, despite the fact that the economy’s
highest growth rates in that decade occurred before the official implementation of
doi moi. SCOTT LADERMAN, TOURS OF VIETNAM: WAR, TRAVEL GUIDES, AND MEMORY
127-29 (2009).
50 The post-doi moi period saw a good deal of advancements in education,

scientific, and technological development in the country. Van Binh, supra note 39,
at 343.

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the doi moi reforms, it was the Nation’s traditional cultural

heritage, rather than its contemporary cultural sector, that was of
greatest interest to the State. Consequently, it was heritage
concerns that shaped the State’s cultural and development policy.
To illustrate the disparate treatment of heritage and non-heritage
based cultural law and policy, the two issues are discussed
separately in the following sections.

3.2. Cultural Heritage Policy and Culture for Development

Beginning in the 1990s, the growth of the tourist industry and
the development of cultural heritage policy in Vietnam became
deeply intertwined. The government saw tourism, and heritage
tourism specifically, as a powerful economic and diplomatic tool;
consequently heritage preservation received a great deal of
attention relative to other cultural endeavors during the period.51
In turn, the influx of tourists into the country and the increased
involvement of the international community in heritage
preservation efforts influenced the trajectory of heritage policy.
This section provides an outline of the evolution of cultural
heritage policy in Vietnam as well as an explanation of how the
circumstances of this evolution have informed, and have been
informed by, culture-sensitive development ideals.

3.2.1. Re-Birth of Heritage Tourism

Having embraced an open-door policy during the Reform Era,
the Vietnamese government began to envision tourism as a major
contributor to national economic development.52 Toward this end,
the government passed two decrees in 1992 that established both
the Department of Tourism under MOCI, as well as the Vietnam
Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to oversee the development of

51 Compare discussion of the government's focus on heritage-related policy

development during that period, infra Section 3.2, to the discussion of Vietnam's
non-heritage cultural policy during that time, infra Section 3.3.1.
52 In 1960, the government passed Decree No. 26, which established the

Vietnam Tourism Company under the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Nguyen Thanh
Vuong, 45-Year Journey to Develop Vietnam Tourism, TOURISM INFO. CTR. (July 18,
2005), http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/index.php/items/572. However, the
government did not take an interest in its full development until the late 1980s.
ASIAN TOUR EUROPEAN-ASIAN INTEGRATION IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM MANAGEMENT,
ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE ART OF THE TOURISM SECTOR IN THE THAI NGUYEN
PROVINCE OF VIETNAM 9 (2008) [hereinafter ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE ART],
available at http://asiantour.progetti.informest.it/market_analysis/vietnam.pdf.

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tourism in the country.53 In 1995, VNAT drafted its first Tourism

Master Plan for 1995-2010,54 which aimed “to develop the tourism
industry into a spearhead economic sector of the country.“55
Recognizing the economic potential of the Nation’s heritage,56 the
plan placed a particular emphasis on the development of cultural
and ecotourism.57 The development of cultural tourism remains a
top priority of the Vietnamese government,58 and consequently so
has the preservation of the Nation’s traditional heritage.

3.2.2. UNESCO’s Involvement in Vietnam and the Designation of

Hue as a World Heritage Site
UNESCO’s relationship with the modern State of Vietnam
began in 1975 when the Nation submitted59 to become an official
member of the organization.60 However, it was the 1993

53 See Thanh Vuong, supra note 52 (outlining the development of the legal
framework for tourism in Vietnam).
54 The plan was revised in 2000, when the Prime Minister approved the 2000-

2010 Vietnamese Tourism Development Strategy. ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE

ART, supra note 52, at 16.
55 Id.

56 As a result of past invasions by the Chinese, French, and Japanese,

Vietnam is home to numerous natural and cultural sites that differ in their ethnic
and historical origin. Further, the heritage of Vietnam has a uniquely global
resonance given the recentness of the Indochina Wars. Jo Vu & Quynh-Du Ton-
That, World Heritage Listing and Implications for Tourism—The Case of Hue, Vietnam,
in STRATEGIES FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY—MICRO AND MACRO PERSPECTIVES 233, 233
(Murat Kasimoglu ed., 2012); Joan C. Henderson, War as a Tourist Attraction: the
Case of Vietnam, 2 INT’L J. TOURISM RESEARCH 269, 271 (2000).
57 ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE ART, supra note 52, at 16.

58 VIET. NAT’L ADMIN. OF TOURISM, COUNTRY PRESENTATION: VIETNAM TOURISM

MASTER PLAN TO 2020, 10 (2012).
59 Vietnam submitted for UNESCO membership in 1951 while still under

French colonial rule. South Vietnam maintained this status through the Second
Indochina War. PHUNG PHU, supra note 46, at 1.
60 Subsequently, in 1977, the government established the Vietnam National

Commission for UNESCO under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “implement

the duties and rights as a state party.” Id. Further, since becoming a member of
UNESCO, Vietnam has ratified the 2001 Convention on the Protection of
Underwater Cultural Heritage, the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of
Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the 2004 Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Vietnam ratified the 2001 and
2003 Conventions in 2005, and the 2004 Convention in 2007. Subsequently, in
1977, the government established the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO
under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “implement the duties and rights as a
state party.” Id. For a complete list of UNESCO treaties ratified by Vietnam, see
Ratified Conventions: Vietnam UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/eri/la/

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designation of the Hue Monument61 complex as a World Heritage

site62 that marked the beginning of a period of increased
engagement with UNESCO and served as a turning point in the
Nation’s heritage management.
During the early years of the Republic, the government’s
mediation of the Nation’s historical narrative and the presentation
of its heritage toward that end were deeply political.63 Heritage
that did not serve the socialist agenda was problematic, and often
fell victim to “selective cultural preservation”64 on this basis. In
other cases, the contentious issue was not which heritage to
preserve, but which history; a question made more complex by
“war tourism”.65 For example, the Hue Monument complex
played a significant role in the pre-war and wartime history of the
country and therefore embodied multiple historical narratives.
Initially, the site’s preservation was pervaded by politics. After the
war, the CPV largely neglected the site because it served as a

conventions_by_country.asp?language=E&contr=VN&typeconv=1 (last visited

Jan. 28, 2014).
61 For a discussion of UNESCO’s initiation of a preservation partnership with

Vietnam at Hue in 1982, see infra p. 113.

62 World Heritage List: Complex of Huế Monuments, UNESCO,
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/678 (last visited Dec. 12, 2012). Since 1993,
Vietnam has had four cultural properties and two natural properties designated
as World Heritage sites. There are also seven properties currently on the
Tentative List. For a list of all of the properties and information about each see
The States Parties: Viet Nam, UNESCO, http://whc.unesco.org/en/
statesparties/vn (last visited Dec. 10, 2012).
63 See supra pp. 107–108 (discussing the government’s use of national
museums in support of a socialist agenda).
64 After unification, the government instituted a policy of selective
preservation, which called for the eradication of minority cultural practices
believed to “pose a threat to the socialist progress of the country.” JEAN MICHAUD,
HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF THE PEOPLES OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN MASSIF 211 (2006).
Unfortunately, this policy was never officially revoked and some have criticized
the government for allegedly using this policy to preserve only the cultural
practices that would appeal to tourists. Id. For a discussion of the use of selective
preservation policies against Vietnam’s Central Highlanders, see OSCAR SALEMINK,
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF VIETNAM’S CENTRAL HIGHLANDERS: A HISTORICAL
CONTEXTUALIZATION, 1850–1900, at 257–87 (2003).
65 Henderson, supra note 56, at 276 (quoting the Director of the Tourism

Department of Da Nang, “war tourism is big business.” (internal citation

omitted)). While sometimes the aim of wartime heritage preservation was to
reinforce the perseverance of the people during the Indochina Wars, other times
these sites were managed to meet the expectations of tourists. This inevitably
affected the stories the site told. See id. (describing the transformation of the Cu
Chi Tunnel complex into something akin to an amusement park).

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reminder of the Nation’s feudal past;66 conversely, the 1981

UNESCO preservation effort paid a great deal of attention to the
site’s wartime history.67
After designation as a World Heritage site in 1993, however,
the political dimension of the site’s preservation began to dissipate.
In a 1995 UNESCO working party document, “war damage” was
mentioned only after a two and a half page discussion of natural
causes of “deterioration,” and there was no specific mention of the
Vietnam War.68 Even the politics of Hue’s colonial connections
were brushed over by placing the focus on the aesthetic beauty of
the monuments and on the location’s creative and artistic value.69
Once the site became “world heritage”—the preservation of which
was meant to foster “international peace and . . . common
welfare”70—its presentation was depoliticized in order to appeal to
a wider global audience.71
UNESCO’s early involvement in Hue’s management reinforced
the connection between cultural preservation and tourism in more
ways than by just globalizing the site’s appeal. International
interest in Vietnamese heritage and Vietnamese efforts to exploit
this interest created an influx of tourists.72 On one hand, this was
exactly what the government wanted. Tourism drove new foreign
direct investment, contributed to local economies, and created new
service industry jobs.73 On the other hand, an increase in the flow

66 Vu & Ton-That, supra note 56, at 235.

67 The primary destructive force recognized by the UNESCO Director
General was the Vietnam War, which he described as “’one of the cruelest wars in
history.’” Mark Johnson, Renovating Hue (Vietnam): Authenticating Destruction,
Reconstructing Authenticity, in DESTRUCTION AND CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL
PROPERTY 75, 86 (Robert Layton et al. eds., 2001) (quoting a speech given by the
UNESCO Director General on Nov. 25, 1981 in Hanoi). American Veterans
visiting the site also associated Hue with the war, since it served as the site for the
1968 Tet Offensive. See id. at 75 (“As they [a group of Vietnam veterans] walked
around the site, they all kept repeating to her: ‘Did we do this?’ ‘What did we
do?’”).
68 Id. at 87 (citing section 2.2 of the 1995 progress report on the UNESCO

International Campaign).
69 Vu & Ton-That, supra note 56, at 236.

70 UNESCO CONST., supra note 7, at pmbl.

71 Vu & Ton-That, supra note 56, at 236.

72 See id. at 233 (noting “the impact of the [World Heritage] listing on the

prominence of Hue as a tourist destination”).

73 See generally, e.g., UNESCO, THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM ON CULTURE AND THE

ENVIRONMENT IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: CULTURAL TOURISM AND HERITAGE

MANAGEMENT IN THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE OF THE ANCIENT TOWN OF HOI AN, VIET

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of tourists74 began to exert pressure on the heritage sites and the

communities surrounding them.75 Consequently, the framing of
the relationship between tourism, economic growth, and heritage
began to shift, and with it the focus of Vietnam on policies that
reflected international principles of culture-centricity and
sustainability.

3.2.3. Culture-Sensitive Development Strategy in the 21st Century

As early as 1995, the potential negative impact of the new wave
of tourists in Vietnam was being realized.76 However, it was not
until the late 1990s and early 2000s that these issues started to be
addressed in law, policy, and the preservation plans of specific
sites. In 2001, Vietnam passed the Cultural Heritage Law77 that
establishes the modern legal framework for heritage preservation.
The Law covers natural and cultural heritage, both tangible and
intangible,78 and dedicates full chapters to the rights and
responsibilities of the people and the government in the
preservation and protection of each. In 2009, the Law was
amended to incorporate an expanded treatment of intangible
cultural heritage, as well as a revised definition of intangible

NAM (2008) [hereinafter THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM] (outlining how tourism has
effected the economy and income and employment levels in Hoi An). Tourism
became one of the primary motivations for urban development in Hu. Kelly
Shannon, Evolving Tourist Topographies: The Case of Hue, Vietnam, in TRAVEL, SPACE,
ARCHITECTURE 230, 237 (Jilly Traganou & Miodrag Mitrasinovic eds., 2009).
74 In 1995, Vietnam received 1.3 million foreign visitors, generating nearly
$540 million dollars in tourism-derived revenue. Bee Chin NG, Tourism &
Economic Development in Vietnam 2 (June 2008) (unpublished MPhil
dissertation, University of Birmingham), available at etheses.bham.ac.uk/
1783/1/Ng08MPhil.pdf. In 2006, Vietnam received 3.6 million foreign visitors
and, “[a]ccording to the Euromonitor International (2007), ‘Vietnam is predicted
to be among the top ten major tourist destinations in the world in the next ten
years by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).’” ANALYSIS OF THE
STATE OF THE ART, supra note 52, at 9–10.
75 THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM, supra note 73, at 61–62 (outlining the negative

effects of tourism on cost of living, traffic, and waste management amongst other
things in Hoi An).
76 Johnson, supra note 67, at 88 (quoting a UNESCO consultant for Hue as

saying that, “’in addition to sloppy and inappropriate restoration, the pressures of
tourism bring additional, and perhaps even more serious dangers—the tourists
themselves!’”).
77 Law on Cultural Heritage, Law No. 28/2001/QH10 (July 12, 2001) (Viet.)

(prior to 2009 amendment), available at http://www.accu.or.jp/ich/en/training/

national_law_pdf/national_law_vietnam_01.pdf.
78 Id. at art. 1.

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cultural heritage more in line with the one provided in the 2003
UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural
Heritage.79
Aside from outlining the treatment of different categories of
protected heritage, the Law ensures the “unified management of
the people’s cultural heritage,” the recognition of “collective,
community and private ownership of cultural heritage,”80 and the
protection of all heritage in compliance with international
standards and practices.81 The Law asserts further that all policies
relating to the protection and preservation of heritage must
“contribute to the economic and social development of the
country,”82 and devotes an entire section to the allocation of State
resources.83 Since 2001, the government has passed regulations
that supplement and implement specific articles of the Law,84 and
has adopted a number of National Target Programs devoting State
resources to cultural heritage management pursuant to the Law.85
This devotion to the responsible management of Vietnam’s
heritage is further reflected in tourism related laws and policies
passed during the past fifteen years. The 2005 Law on Tourism
mandates the use of tourism resources to ensure “sustainable

79 VIET NAM DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE, MINISTRY OF CULTURE,

SPORTS AND TOURISM, ANNEX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE ON RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE 2 (2009), available at http://www.
google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&
url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unesco.org%2Fculture%2Fich%2Fdoc%2Fsrc%2F0140
2-EN.doc&ei=w0nGUKsd48DQAa-sgfAG&usg=AFQjCNEdx8qPFitsp7SFbKRjm
ZZ0SCDzQg&sig2=TKIgJKAWRYhpXUhoNougeA.
80 Law on Cultural Heritage, supra note 77, at art. 5.

81 Id. at art. 8. See also id. at ch. V, § 3 (outlining the State’s dedication to

international cooperation).
82 Id. at art. 9, §1.

83 Id. at arts. 57–62.

84 See, e.g., LE THI MINH LY, ASIA/PACIFIC CULTURAL CTR. FOR UNESCO

(ACCU), COUNTRY REPORT: VIET NAM: GOVERNMENTAL MECHANISM AND THE ROLE
OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL
HERITAGE (ICH) (2008), available at
http://www.accu.or.jp/ich/en/training/country_report_pdf/country_report_vi
etnam.pdf (describing programs aimed at protecting cultural heritage).
85 In September 2012, the Prime Minister approved a program for the 2012–

2015 fiscal year that is set to receive VND 7399 billion. “VND3,231 billion will
come from the State Budget, VND2,116 billion from local budgets, and VND2,052
billion from other sources.” Ven, VND7,399 Billion for National Target Program on
Culture, TALKVIETNAM (Sept. 17, 2012), http://talkvietnam.com/2012/09/vnd
7399-billion-for-national-target-program-on-culture/#.UMZNSpPjnqs. This
amount is equivalent to roughly $355,038 USD as of December 2012.

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tourism development”86 and to ensure that tourism “conserve[s],

embellish[es] and promote[s] the values of tourism resources.”87
Further, the law calls for the participation of local cultural
communities in sustainable development,88 and in the
“preserv[ation] . . . [of] their traditional cultural values;”89 and
requires that communities that support tourism industries,90
tourism development plans,91 international business enterprises,92
and tourists themselves93 respect and help to preserve the cultural
identities and customs of the Vietnamese people. Toward these
ends, the Vietnam Tourism Master Plan for 2020 emphasizes
sustainability and local participation in the development of the
cultural tourism sector as a “driving force to foster socio-economic
development.”94
Finally, even outside of the heritage and tourism policy
framework, the National Assembly has recognized the importance
of culture in the Nation’s development plans in the areas of
poverty reduction, public health, and sustainable urbanization.95
Thus, the combination of these legal and policy initiatives seems to
support the realization of the goal that “culture should progress
side-by-side with economic and social development and
environmental protection in Viet Nam.”96

3.2.4. Conclusion
By tracing the development of the current legal framework, it is
apparent that the importance of heritage tourism to the Vietnamese
economy helped to ensure that heritage protection and
preservation received adequate legal and policy support from the

86 Law on Tourism, No. 44/2005/QH11 art. 15, § 1 (2005) (Viet.), available at

http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.
aspx?ItemID=6832.
87 Id. at art. 5, § 1.

88 Id. at art. 4, § 19.

89 Id. at art. 4, § 20.

90 Id. at art. 7, § 1.

91 Id. at art. 18, § 3.

92 Id. at art. 50, § 1(c).

93 Id. at art. 45, § 3.

94 VIET. NAT’L ADMIN. OF TOURISM, supra note 58, at 10.

95 See generally CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT IN VIET NAM, supra note 25, at 8–16

(describing the various roles of cultural policy in Vietnam’s national development

plans).
96 Id. at i.

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State and regional administrative bodies. The importance of

heritage to the country’s economic growth also facilitated a natural
transition to a more culture-inclusive development plan that, at
least formally, recognizes the preservation of cultural diversity as
important in and of itself. Further, since heritage serves as a bridge
between Vietnam and the international community—not only by
bringing foreign tourists, but also foreign investment—the State
has been motivated to comply with evolving international
standards of sustainability and human development. Thus, while
heritage management in Vietnam may be further improved, the
administrative interest and current legal framework suggests a
strong dedication to sustainable cultural development in the
country.

3.3. The Arts Sector and Non-Heritage Cultural Industries

Just as the development of the current policy framework
governing heritage was informed by the social and economic
policy changes of the 1980s, so too was the policy landscape for the
arts and other cultural industries. The outcome, however, was
markedly different. This section traces the development of, and
policy support for, non-heritage cultural sectors since the Reform
Era in order to explain the divergence in the management and
treatment of different cultural industries in Vietnam.

3.3.1. The Effect of Doi Moi on State Funding of Arts and Culture
Prior to the Doi Moi reforms, the national government provided
the main source of funding for arts and cultural institutions and
projects in Vietnam.97 Through the 1990s, however, there was a
sharp decrease in State funding of the arts. This is attributable in
part to the State’s socialization policy, which promoted
privatization and encouraged the cultural sector to diversify its
funding by taking advantage of the market economy.98 Another
contributing factor was the Asian economic crisis that occurred in
the late 1990s, which negatively impacted the transitional
Vietnamese economy during that time.99 Thus, since the
government did not recognize the same economic potential in the
contemporary arts and cultural industries as it did in heritage

97 Le, supra note 40, at 9.

98 Id.
99 Id. at 10.

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tourism,100 funding in these sectors was cut significantly. In fact, a

majority of the already limited State funding for the arts was
reserved for the preservation and dissemination of traditional arts,
rather than the development of new artistic endeavors.101
It is, however, worth noting some positive developments in the
arts and cultural sectors during this time. For example, while there
was a dramatic decrease in the number of arts organizations, there
was actually an increase in performances, arts programs, and
revenue for major arts organizations.102 Also, while the number of
full-time artists and employees in the cultural sector decreased,
socialization policy provided the artists and organizations that
could survive with more autonomy as to the management and
commercialization of the sector.103 Unfortunately, as will be
explained in the following sections, this autonomy was far from
complete.

3.3.2. Cultural Industry and the Current Legal Framework

The effects of globalization led to increased interest in popular
culture and cultural consumption in Vietnam in the 1990s,104 which
in turn helped to create a market for products beyond that which
already existed for heritage. There has not, however, been the
same level of legal or policy support for the development of other
cultural industries as there has been for heritage tourism, though
some progress has been made. For example, the 2005 amendments
to the Commercial Law and the 2006 revised Civil Code provide a
regulatory framework for the contract relationships between
artists, museums, and dealers.105 This, however, has yet to lead to
the standardization of the practice of entering into formal
contractual relationships in the arts community, where the history

100 Id. at 9–10 (“The business dimension of artistic activities and the role of

the entertainment industry in social life was not given prominence.”).

101 Id. at 10, 13. The goal of the government’s art funding policy was “‘to

optimize the value of existing government subsidy.’” Id. at 10 (internal citation

omitted). The plan to prioritize the traditional arts was formalized in 1997 when
the 8th Party Congress passed a decree that further outlined the “[o]rientation[]
and direction[] for socialization policy” in the arts. Id.
102 Id. at 12.

103 Annette Van den Bosch, Professional Artists in Vietnam: Intellectual Property

Rights, Economic and Cultural Sustainability, 39 J. ARTS MGMT., L. & SOC’Y 221, 226
(2009).
104 Le, supra note 40, at 13.

105 Van den Bosch, supra note 103, at 226.

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of informal mechanisms of operation has led to widespread abuse

of an unregulated system.106 The 2004 Competition Law may
provide protection for artists if bans on anti-competitive behavior
can be found to encompass the sale of forgeries and fake art
pieces.107 Finally, the amended 2009 Intellectual Property Law108
establishes moral rights for artists and outlines standards for
intellectual property right protection consistent with relevant
international agreements to which the State is party.109
The actual protection that these legal instruments afford artists
and those working in cultural industries, however, is questionable.
In many cases, the laws themselves are inadequate in their
coverage and in the recourse they provide for rights holders.110
Also, a lack of respect for intellectual property protection and the
concept of individual economic rights, coupled with ineffective
and underutilized dispute resolution mechanisms, has led to poor
and uneven enforcement of many of these rights.111 Finally, while
these laws provide a legal framework for activities that are integral
to the operation of cultural industries, there is very little specific
regulation to aid in the management of the arts sector. Without
such standards and regulations, it has been difficult to maintain
stability with regard to income and art market pricing in
Vietnam.112 As such, the State has largely failed to provide a policy

106 Id. at 225.

107 Id. at 226.
108 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on

Intellectual Property, Law No. 36/2009/QH12 (June 19, 2009), available at

http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=182541.
109 Id. Vietnam is party to the Berne Convention as well as many other
WIPO-administered treaties. Vietnam is also party to a number of other
multilateral, bi-lateral, and regional IP-related treaties. For a full list, see Vietnam:
Treaty Membership, WIPO, http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/profile.jsp?cod
e=VN (last updated July 1, 2013). Further, as a member of the WTO—to which
the country was admitted in 2006—Vietnam must abide by the rules set forth in
the TRIPS agreements.
110 See Van den Bosch, supra note 103, at 228 (discussing both how the

amended Civil Code fails to provide a procedure for copyright registrations and
limited rights of artists more generally). For a more in-depth discussion of
content-related issues, see id. at 227 (discussing the weak enforcement and blatant
disregard of Vietnam’s existing commercial and IP laws, resulting in Vietnam
becoming a “haven for copyright pirates”).
111 For a more in-depth discussion of enforcement related issues, see id. at

225–27 (discussing the restrictive nature of Vietnam’s contract laws and its failure
to protect artists’ IP rights).
112 See Van den Bosch, supra note 103, at 224 (“Due to lack of government

regulation and professional peer group standards, producers in the creative and

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or legal infrastructure that would allow this sector to develop.

Interestingly, the hands-off approach the government has taken
with regard to development of cultural industries is not consistent
with the State’s management of culture generally, which remains
deeply political and tightly tied to the CPV’s nationalist agenda.113

3.3.3. State-Controlled Culture

Though the State embraced an open-door economic policy in
the mid-1980s, there was also a fear at the time that globalization
might threaten the CPV’s political dominance. The government
was concerned that outside forces would dilute the nationalist
Vietnamese identity it had worked to protect, and would foster a
culture of consumerism that would lead to the prioritization of
individual wealth over national economic development.114 Thus,
in an effort to contain this threat, the CPV employed culture to
justify its restrictive policies regarding the infiltration of foreign
influences in Vietnamese society. By claiming that Vietnamese
culture was under outside attack—a narrative that reflects and
plays into the Nation’s historic antagonism towards foreign
aggressors—the State could use cultural policy to assert social
control.115
Toward this end, the national government instituted a program
in the late 1990s to rid the country of imported “social evils” in the
name of protecting traditional Vietnamese culture.116 In some
cases, the government used this policy to affirm the external origin
of immoral social behaviors, such as drug use and gambling,
thereby lending support to the idea that foreign influences were
degrading society.117 In other instances, the policy was used to

heritage industries cannot be assured of a viable income”); Le, supra note 40, at 11
(“[Government] funding . . . remains quite limited and does not cover artists’
living costs or maintain the viability and the quality of artistic activities.”).
113 See id. at 10 (analyzing how the transformation of museums can reinforce

revolutionary narratives and nationalist identity).

114 Jamie Gillen, A Battle Worth Winning: The Service of Culture to the

Communist Party of Vietnam in the Contemporary Era, 30 POL. GEOGRAPHY 272, 275
(2011).
115 See id. at 279 (“[T]he ways in which the CPV develops and uses

Vietnamese culture as a tool in Party-led nation building and an expedient

weapon against foreign aggressors.”).
116 Id. at 276.

117 Id. at 275–76.

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control the flow of foreign thoughts and culture118 into Vietnamese

society. Ultimately, however, the program allows the State to
control the development of culture by giving the government the
power to determine what is and is not “Vietnamese culture,”119 and
in turn what will and will not be tolerated.
The power that the government wields over culture is
particularly salient with regard to the arts, since the lack of
infrastructure that would support a private market has left control
of artistic production and distribution in the hands of the State.120
As such, the autonomous development of modern art in Vietnam
has been thwarted by the State’s adherence to the idea that “[a]rt is
permissible only if it is cultural; that is, if it depicts revolution or
serenity.”121

3.3.4. Conclusion
While there are laws in place to govern certain aspects of arts
and cultural industries, the legal and policy framework in Vietnam
is too incomplete and non-specific to allow for the successful
development of these sectors. Further, the lack of political will to
support non-heritage based cultural industries has also hindered
both economic and creative development in this sector.

4. CONCLUSION
The effectiveness of Vietnam’s cultural laws and policies in
supporting the Nation’s sustainable development differs greatly
depending on the nature of the culture that it purports to support.
In the field of heritage protection and preservation, Vietnam has
shown formal dedication in the form of law and policy, as well as
practical dedication, to the sustainable management of these
resources via specific preservation initiatives. Further, the State
has succeeded in tying heritage to economic development through
the building of the tourism sector. The State has not, however,
made the same commitment to the development of non-traditional
and non-heritage-based arts and culture. The legal and policy

118 See id. at 276 (discussing how some “culturally deviant materials” that

could be found on the list of social hazards include “’Coca-Cola, Madonna, and
Hollywood’” and how, in the digital era, the list now includes social media outlets
like Facebook and democratic activists blogger sites) (internal citation omitted).
119 Id. at 276.

120 Id. at 277.

121 Id. at 278.

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framework that governs these sectors is far less developed, a fact of

which the State not only seems to be aware but also may
consciously condone. Finally, the promotion of new arts and
culture has not explicitly been prioritized as part of the Nation’s
socio-economic plan.
In part, the difference in the treatment of these two categories
of policy can be attributed to the State’s early recognition of the
economic potential of the Nation’s heritage, which it did not see in
other cultural industries. This cannot, however, explain why the
State has failed to invest in the development of non-heritage
cultural industries in more recent years, as the economic potential
of these industries is now widely recognized.122 Rather, it seems
the issue is that, despite formally subscribing to the notion of
sustainable human development, this remains a means rather than
an end for the Vietnamese government.
In the field of heritage preservation, political and economic
objectives coincide with sustainable human development
principles, at least formally. The government has an interest in the
sustainable preservation of heritage and cooperation with the
international community toward these ends because of the State’s
interest in tourism and foreign investment. At the same time, the
promotion of the Nation’s traditional heritage does not threaten
CPV nationalist identity politics. In fact, heritage preservation
allows the State to actively mediate the Nation’s traditional
cultural narrative.
This is not necessarily true with regard to other cultural
industries. If the State’s concerns were purely economic, then
perhaps recognition of the economic potential of cultural industries
would have aligned State interests with human development
concerns. The real source of dissonance, however, seems to be
political. Despite the State’s embrace of globalization and
liberalization with regard to economic policies, Vietnam is still a
one-party communist state. Thus, a development plan that is
motivated by the expansion of social choice and personal freedom
is somewhat at odds with the CPV’s desire to maintain a level of
social control.

122 See, e.g., Tuoi Tre, Vietnam’s Cultural Industry: Lack of Money, Abundance of

Conflicts, LOOK AT VIETNAM (Sept. 5, 2009), http://www.lookatvietnam.com/

2009/09/vietnams-cultural-industry-lack-of-money-abundance-of-conflicts.html
(discussing how cultural industries have helped the economies of other countries
and expressing frustration that they have not been leveraged in the same way by
Vietnam).

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2014] CULTURAL GOVERNANCE IN VIETNAM 915

It seems that Vietnam’s cultural policy will not effectively

support sustainable human development until cultural
development becomes the State’s true goal, which will only be
possible once culture has been depoliticized or when the free
development of culture aligns with State politics. When this
alignment will occur, and the extent to which it will be driven by
domestic versus international pressure, remains to be seen. In the
meantime, however, understanding the political and historical
considerations underpinning Vietnam’s legal and policy
framework should help to elucidate the relationship between
cultural governance and the furtherance of sustainable human
development goals in the country.

Published by Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository, 2014