The permanent secretary to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Truong Tan Sang has urged for immediate action to be taken to save the country’s folk heritages and honour elderly folk artists as the nation is at serious risk of losing its intangible assets.

Sang, who is also a member of the CPV Politburo, outlined a plan to conduct a comprehensive review of the country’s folk heritages from all the different ethnic groups as a strategic task for Vietnam’s Folklore Association, at its national congress which opened in Hanoi on May 11.

The senior Party official arrived at the event with a hanging which read “Solidarity, Democracy, Constructiveness and Innovation” to reward the association for its efforts.

Sang also pointed out the need to honour folk artists who are getting old and becoming fewer in numbers to promote the nation’s assets.

“These artists play an important role in the existence and development of our cultural heritages,” said the Party secretary.

By honouring folk artists, the association has recognised and paid tribute to their efforts to conserve the nation’s assets and this has brought a law to protect the country’s cultural heritages a lot closer, said Sang.

To this regard, the senior Party official advised the association to bear in mind the next generation when building its 2010-20 strategy.

He also urged the association to speed up the project to popularise all the cultural heritages and assets of Vietnam ’s ethnic groups”.

He reiterated that the Party and State’s policy is to ensure that Vietnam’s literature and arts are well documented and developed.

In reply, the association’s President To Ngoc Thanh reported that over 30 provinces have finished their review of folk heritages and the first book on their findings was published in 2009.

The association has also issued a proposal to honour 120 of the country’s leading artists./.