More than 300 delegates from Asian and European countries gathered at a seminar in Hanoi on December 15 to share experiences in the preservation of cultural diversity.

The seminar, themed “Preserving and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions: sharing Asian and European experiences”, is the first of several Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) activities focused on cultural diversity.

It is co-organised by the European Commission delegation to Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

Addressing the event, MCST Deputy Minister Tran Chien Thang said that the two-day event provides an open forum for discussions on cultural expressions in order to preserve and promote identities in cultural diversity. Through the seminar, Vietnam wants to share its opinions and policies on cultural development.

Ambassador Sean Doyle, Head of the EC Delegation, spoke highly of Vietnam’s policies, saying that the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to join the UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and make it a national policy would help ethnic groups to preserve their identities in a culturally-diversified environment.

According to UNESCO Representative Ana de Oliveira E. Silva, the cultural diversity will enable countries to have more diversified outlooks on protecting and respecting others’ cultures and raise public awareness of cultural preservation and development.

On the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) seminar, Xavier Troussrad, Head of the EC Unit for Cultural Policy and Intercultural Dialogue, said that Vietnam is one of the first countries in the region to ratify the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Vietnam has a rich and deeply rooted culture, which serves to illustrate the value of the convention, Troussrad said, adding that the country is also the only one in the region to have implemented an in-depth review of its cultural policy over the past year. It is also attempting to pursue this policy, following a sustainable roadmap in order to improve its implementation capacity.

As a result of these efforts, Vietnam is on track, especially in the context of a booming global trade in cultural products, which is threatening the existence and diversity of cultural expressions, he said.
With the theme of “Preserving and Promoting the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Sharing Asian and European Experiences”, the two-day seminar aims to call upon countries throughout the world to ratify the 2005 UNESCO Convention.

To date, almost 200 countries have signed this convention, but only 90 of them have ratified it so far.