General Secretary and President Lam held a working session with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on conservation and museum operations on Wednesday in Hanoi.
Vietnam currently possesses over 40,000 heritage sites and nearly 70,000 inventoried intangible cultural heritage elements; 37 heritage sites have been recognized by UNESCO, and there are 177 museums housing more than 4 million documents and artifacts.
The top leader called for the continued refinement of institutional frameworks and the enrichment of national collections. He urged for efforts to repatriate valuable antiques and artifacts currently held abroad, saying each repatriated artifact is not merely a cultural asset but also contributes to completing the narrative of the nation's history and collective memory.
Mr. Lam stressed the need to address gaps in the historical record of the past eight decades—particularly regarding the history of national construction, development, and societal transformation.
"I propose that in 2026, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism work with relevant ministries and sectors to develop a system of criteria, procedures, and coordination mechanisms for assessing heritage potential at the planning and investment stages for specific groups of projects and products of special significance, including those undertaken by private enterprises," he said.
"Projects identified as having exceptional potential could have a memory dossier established at the very outset of construction. This represents a shift from passive preservation to the proactive creation of national memory. In this process, each generation not only inherits the legacy of the past but also bears the responsibility of creating and safeguarding values that may endure as the nation's heritage for centuries or even millennia to come."
The General Secretary and President emphasized that the responsibility of the current generation is preserving the values bequeathed by our forebears, and enriching the historical, cultural, and intellectual foundations to pass on to future generations.
