HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The south-central coastal province of Binh Thuanhas launched a long-term project (until 2030) to preserve and promote music anddances of ethnic minority communities.

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the project willpromote specific values of ethnic minority culture among the public, and raiseawareness and a sense of responsibility for protecting and preserving nationaltraditions.

The department will compile a repertoire of songs, music and dancetraditionally performed by ethnic minority communities in the province by 2025.

It will also focus on turning folk songs, dance and music into the province’ssignature tourism products in order to enhance socio-economic development inethnic minority areas.

Furthermore, the department will train cultural officers, teachers and folkartists to manage and promote traditional performing arts.

In the 2026-30 period, agencies will prepare dossiers for consideration andconferment of “People’s Artists” and “Meritorious Artist” titles for artisansfrom ethnic minority communities.

The department will host student exchanges and performances to introduce thesongs, music and dances of ethnic minority communities so that younggenerations can learn and understand the nation’s diverse cultural traditionsand their values.

More than 30 ethnic minority communities reside in Binh Thuan now, includingthe Cham people with a population of 40,000.

In recent years, the province has restored and turned many traditionalfestivals of the ethnic minority communities into specific tourism products,attracting both local and international tourists.

The work has contributed to preserving and promoting ethnic minority culture,developing tourism and improving living standards of locals, especially theminority communities.

Among the province’s most attractive cultural offerings are the Ka Te and RamuwanFestivals of the Cham people, celebrated in Phan Thiet city and Bac Binhdistrict.

Besides these, the Nghinh Ong Festival, which showcases fishermen’s respect forand devotion to the whale deity, who they pray to for protection and a bumpercatch, has captured the imagination of visitors in recent years.

In the first five months of 2022, the province welcomed nearly 1.89 millionvisitors including 19,900 foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 17 percent,while the tourism sector earned 3.6 trillion VND (155 million USD).

Binh Thuan plans to achieve tourism growth of 18-20 percent a year from nowthrough 2025 and for the sector to contribute 10-11 percent of its grossdomestic product./.