Vietnam, France sign five-year cultural cooperation programme

An overview of the talks between Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung and French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati (Photo: VNA)

The programme covers various areas, including cultural heritage, museum and archives; cultural and creative industries, cinema and audiovisual; performing and visual arts; library; and craft and fine arts.

Hung expressed his pleasure at the activities that the two sides have carried out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and 10 years of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership.

He said he hopes the talks will help promote bilateral cultural cooperation to a new height, optimising the two countries’ potential in heritage preservation and cultural industry development.

For her part, Dati highlighted the traditional historical relations between Vietnam and France, calling cultural cooperation a bridge of friendship between the two peoples.

She suggested that the two sides implement intensive joint activities such as bringing famous sculptures from the Louvre and Versailles museums to Vietnam for display.

The French minister also proposed promoting cooperation in the field of cinema through participation in each other's international film festivals.

Hung agreed with the host minister’s proposals and underlined the potential for Vietnamese culture and tourism promotion through cinema. He told Dati about the project to build a National Exhibition Centre in Hanoi, which is expected to put Vietnam on the map of the global expo economy.

The signing of the programme is expected to lay the foundation for the two sides to effectively implement specific and practical activities in the field, while contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-France strategic partnership./.