Professor Furuta Motoo, Rector of the Vietnam Japan University. (Photo: vnu.edu.vn)In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Furutasaid that he was highly impressed with the Vietnamese culture and people righton the first time he set foot in Hanoi in December 1974.
The culture of Vietnam is characterised by factors seeming tobe contrary to each other but co-existing. The Vietnamese people's patriotism,demonstrated by their continuous struggles against foreign invaders, is atypical feature recognised by people around the world. They arealso open to good factors of other countries’ cultures, which can be seen inthe Southeast Asian nation boosting its integration into the world whilebringing into play its national identity, he said.
Atthe national conference on culture held in 2021 to implement the resolution ofthe 13th National Party Congress, Party General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong noted culture forms the spiritual foundation of society and the internalstrength of the country, and that focus must be paid to building and developingculture, which means developing people with dignity and a good lifestyle andbuilding a healthy cultural environment.
Withregard to Vietnam’s goal of becoming a developed country by 2045 withimportance attached to culture, Furuta perceived that if one country possessesa rich culture but its economy is underdeveloped, it will be hard for thatcountry to maintain its culture. Meanwhile, if people in a developed andeconomically rich country are not spiritually satisfied, that society will alsobecome unstable.
Giventhis, the viewpoint identified by General Secretary Trong is suitable for thecurrent development period of Vietnam, the professor noted.
Vietnam looks to become a developed country by 2045 with importance attached to culture. (Illustrative photo: VNA)About the new task’s impact on the Vietnam - Japan relations, especially incultural cooperation, he considered the building of an equal partnership in thefuture relationship between the two countries as critically important.
Furuta held that “soft power” will play an active role in theformation of equal partnerships among countries in East Asia, including Vietnamand Japan.
He expressed his hope that Vietnam will develop strongcultural industries to help promote its stature in the region and shape anequal partnership with Japan./.
VNA
