Delegates participated in discussions and comments at the conference

As part of the ethnic community of Ha Giang province, the Mong people play an important role in creating the local identity and cultural diversity. Over the past time, the Mong people, especially Mong women, have made great efforts to protect and promote their cultural identity, and at the same time, use these strengths and cultural resources to develop tourism and other socio-economic sectors.

However, besides the achieved results, some areas where the Mong ethnic people dwell are facing the loss of cultural identity; the influence of women in cultural activities and tourism and socio-economic development is also still limited.

The conference aimed to clarify scientific and practical issues in protecting and promoting the national cultural identity and the role of Hmong women in tourism, socio-economic development in Ha Giang province. The conference was attended by nearly 70 delegates from central agencies, units, departments and sectors in Ha Giang province; research institutes, non-governmental organizations, enterprises inside and outside the province; central and local news agencies.

On March 15 and 16, the delegates went to examine the actual situation in the locality (Quan Ba district, Ha Giang province).

On March 17, the Conference officially took place. Session 1 focused on protecting and promoting the cultural identity of the Mong ethnic group in tourism development; Session 2 focused on discussing the role of H'mong women in tourism and socio-economic development in Ha Giang.

In addition to the sharing and statements of experts, there will be an exchange, discussion, sharing and comments on the issue of protecting the cultural identity of the Mong ethnic group and solutions to improve the role of Mong women in tourism and socio-economic development in Ha Giang.

The main contents of the workshop included: Studying lessons learned from experience in protecting and promoting the cultural identity of the Mong ethnic group in practical tourism development in Ha Giang province; Research on the role of Mong women in protecting cultural identity associated with tourism, socio-economic development; Research and clarify tourism business models of H'mong women in ethnic minority areas in Ha Giang province; Solutions to promote the role of Hmong women in tourism and socio-economic development in Ha Giang province.

The speech of Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Van Duong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences presented the approach "Exploiting cultural values ​​for socio-economic development from the role and resources of ethnic women". Acknowledging the research and real-life observations from the traditional and contemporary Hmong society and culture, women not only play an important role in organizing family life such as production, birth-giving and children-upbringing... but they are also responsible for preserving the unique cultural values of the H'mong to pass down from generation to generation. Those cultural values manifest in daily life such as lifestyle, farming skills, traditional craft techniques, etc. These are the resources that women hold, and they still make use of them in the context of developing the small-household economy in the H’mong.

“However, it requires more strategy and breakthrough ideas to exploit and promote the cultural resources and the role of Mong women, especially when we adopt the economic development orientation from cultural and human resources as the endogenous strength of Ha Giang province…”, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Duong.

Ms. Duong Thi Ngoc Linh, Member of the Presidium, Director of the Center for Women and Development

Ms. Duong Thi Ngoc Linh, Member of the Presidium, Director of the Center for Women and Development shared at the conference: “With the mission of supporting the all-round development of women, the Center for Women and Development always makes great efforts to accompany women in activities to enhance women's economic empowerment, including developing community tourism models that women own. CWD is willing to cooperate to promote cultural values, jointly maintain and realize the ideas of women about tourism and socio-economic development in life”.

Speech of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong (Director of the National Institute of Culture and Arts of Vietnam) and Dr. Vu Dieu Trung (Director of the Cultural Heritage Data Center, National Institute of Culture and Arts of Vietnam) stated, it is necessary to realize that culture is the driving force of development, because the people - the subject of cultural heritage, will adapt to new socio-economic conditions to survive. Therefore, they will choose for themselves the appropriate path for livelihood. But regarding scientists and cultural managers, they want to make efforts to maintain the so-called tradition, they have not demonstrated the potential of cultural heritage to the people and what to do if that potential is to be turned into a driving force.

Delegates attending the Conference

“Facing rapid socio-economic changes in the period of industrialization, modernization and international integration, ethnic minorities and Mong people are suffering confusion and lack of orientation. Therefore, it is the responsibility of those in charge of cultural heritage management to provide orientations and feasible solutions. One of the first orientations is human resources, or in other words, solutions related to cultural subjects. The reason is, the cultural subject is the one who creates, maintains and enjoys the values of cultural heritage ... ", the speech stated.