The Vietnam Folk Arts Association announced 2,000 research projects on the folk culture of Vietnamese ethnic groups at a press briefing in Hanoi on Aug. 31.

The projects were selected from almost 5,000 researches carried out over the past 40 years, according to President of the association To Ngoc Thanh.

Addressing the event, Phung Huu Phu, Permanent Deputy Director of the Commission for Information and Education under the Party Central Committee, said that with 54 ethnic groups, Vietnamese people enjoy a plentiful and diversified culture. Those projects fortified the cultural traditions of the nation, he said.

In 2008-2012, the association plans to publish 1,000 research projects covering five fields: knowledge and behaviour to environment; agricultural production with relations between people and nature; customs and practices; religions; and the achievements of literature and arts.

By the end of 2009, 100 research projects were published and in 2010 another 200 others are expected to come to the public. Each published project has a summary in English at the back.

The association plans to set up a website featuring the research projects, to introduce the traditional and unique Vietnamese culture to online audience.

The publications will be presented to local and central libraries, as well as Vietnamese embassies, Vietnamese cultural centres abroad and some international organisations in Vietnam./.