Fireworks performance is staged in the Hàn River in Đà Nẵng City. The beach hub plans to tranform cultural value into economic power in 2030-45. — Photo courtesy of DIFF

ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city will drastically transform six key sectors – arts performance, film industry, fine arts and exhibition, culture-based tourism, digital content and handicrafts – into potential revenue for sustainable growth in 2030-45.

Vice chairwoman of the city’s people’s committee, Nguyễn Thị Anh Thi, shared the city’s ambitious plan at a conference on cultural industries' development, stressing that a rich cultural heritage foundation in combination with innovation would be a new economic driving force for Đà Nẵng in the coming decades.

A potter trims a clay jar at a pottery shop in the central city of Đà Nẵng. The beach city has huge potential of culture, heritage and traditional crafts that could help boost economic growth in next decades. — VNS Photo Công Thành

It needs to change its mindset from cultural management to creativity, and from natural resource exploitation to investment in innovation and technology, Thi said.

“We should be aware of the long-term vision of boosting investment in culture to turn events into marketable products and benefit service. It requires completion of policymaking and mechanisms, infrastructure, human resources training, public-private partnerships in building a culture-based ecology system with an annual average growth of 10 or 11 per cent,” she speculated.

She emphasised that the city has a huge advantage of resources of culture, world heritage values, tourism and technology to become one of the leading regional economic powers.

A traditional art performance show at an event in Đà Nẵng City. Arts performances, the film industry, fine arts and exhibition, culture-based tourism, digital content and handicrafts are key sectors contributing to the city's economic growth in 2030-45. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Đà Nẵng, in merging with the former Quảng Nam Province, has expanded its cultural value space by combining a unique complex of world heritage sites of Hội An ancient town, the Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, Chàm Islands-Hội An world biosphere reserve site, and the ongoing dossier development of UNESCO’s recognition of world heritage for the Ngũ Hành Sơn (Marble Mountains) landscape site.

Ngô Phương Lan, chairwoman of the Việt Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development (VFDA), confirmed that Đà Nẵng has the potential resources to develop the film industry after a 40-year journey since the city hosted the Việt Nam Film Festival in 1988.

She said efforts have been made by Đà Nẵng to make it an attraction to international and domestic filmmakers through successfully organising branded events such as the Đà Nẵng Asian Film Festival (DANAFF) and dedicated film studio projects.

“We have been tracking the development of Đà Nẵng’s film events over the past decades, and the city has established an initial regional branding film venue by creating DANAFF, a regional rendezvous for the best film producers and crews from 2023,” Lan said.

A bamboo Koi fish is on display at a craft workshop in Cẩm Thanh commune in Đà Nẵng City. Crafts are expected to add to the city's revenue in 2030-45. — Photo courtesy of Taboo Bamboo Workshop

“In the first edition, DANAFF only drew the participation of 46 films, but more than 100 films were shown at the next event. Many film producers from Asia Pacific have selected DANAFF as a debut screening film location for their films,” she shared.

The chairwoman also suggested that Đà Nẵng should be developing film projects and international standard presentations for the film industry development plan and earning the Production Attraction Index.

Đinh Bá Thành, general director of DatVietVAC, an entertainment communication and technology business, said the crafts and cuisine industries in Đà Nẵng and Hội An have not yet successfully achieved National Brand status, and they need leading cultural industries to turn local small-scale events into National level, or internationalisation of local cuisine and heritage.

He suggested living museums of culture and heritage should be built in Đà Nẵng and Hội An to create an attraction for international tourists exploring unique indigenous identities.

Visitors explore exhibits at Chăm Sculpture Museum of Đà Nẵng. Exhibitions and museums are one of the key sectors with high revenue for Đà Nẵng in the next decades. Photo courtesy of Lý Hòa Bình

Lee Jin-sik, standing vice president of the Korean Character Business Association (KOCA), said Đà Nẵng has potential for building the city’s character IP ecosystem from a firm foundation of strong growth in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the software industry and nearly 50,000 workers in the IT industry.

He said Đà Nẵng should build up the city’s Character IP as a strategic priority to join the world cultural industries.

The city has full power to develop its character IP, with a good starting point base, including world heritage sites, craft villages, tourism infrastructure, growing IT and integrated administration authority.

Lee also shared that Đà Nẵng needs a three-year action plan to grow as an exporter of character IP as well as animation film and game production through learning experience from Korea’s 40-year development journey.

Earlier this year, KOCA inked an agreement with local Đà Nẵng TV and Radio Station for the development of an AI-driven animated film production on the city’s history, culture and landscape.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Phương, director of Việt Nam Institute of Culture, Arts, Sports and Tourism, said the cultural tourism sector accounts for 20 to 25 per cent of value-added tourism revenue.

She said barriers in policy and mechanisms must be cleared for cultural industries to become sustainable and contribute more to the country’s overall economic growth.

Local cuisine of Đà Nẵng seeks to build a national brand to bolster tourism and cultural industries development. VNS Photo Công Thành

Đà Nẵng and the other key cities of Hà Nội and HCM City should be forerunners in developing pilot spaces for international creativity, events and festivals to boost the cultural consuming market, she said.

Phương added that Hội An ancient town will join as a member of the UN Creative Cities Network and offers opportunities for Vietnamese cultural industries to join the global creative community.

Deputy director of the city’s Culture, Sports and Tourism department, Nguyễn Thị Hội An, shared that Đà Nẵng, which hosts 30 domestic and international film crews annually, would earn US$200 million from welcoming only 5 per cent of total tourists visiting filming locations in Đà Nẵng.

Việt Nam has set targets for cultural industries to contribute 7 per cent of GDP and for Việt Nam to develop five to 10 national cultural-industry brands in promising sectors such as film, performing arts, cultural tourism, design and fashion by 2030. — VNS