To prepare for the second international firework festival from March 27-28, 2009 on the banks of the Han River, Minh and Joe Ghazzal, CEO of the Global 2000 Firework Company (Malaysia), recently signed a USD 502,000 contract. Under this contract, Global 2000 will produce fireworks for and manage the contest. Da Nang authorities will also pay all the insurance for the event.

However, many people say that it is wasteful that Da Nang is spending over half a million US dollars to organise a firework contest, especially in the current economic situation. Da Nang’s Chairman Tran Van Minh talked with VietNamNet about this.

“With the idea of turning Da Nang into a green and touristy city, we are organising this firework festival in a bid to create an attractive tourism product to advertise Da Nang’s image and attract tourists to the city.

Actually, the first festival lured a lot of local and foreign visitors to Da Nang and the central region as a whole. It also contributes to building a brand name for Da Nang.

Spiritually, the festival is a cultural event that serves the local people and tourists from everywhere. Economically, Da Nang and central provinces can earn a lot of income from visitors. All of these prove that this is not a waste!

We think it is a proper policy to hold an annual international firework festival with funding from sponsors, not from the state budget. The Prime Minister praised the success of the first festival in March, 2008 and allowed us to turn it into an annual event, to build a brand name for Da Nang.

We are urgently preparing for the second festival next March. However, some don’t support our policy. We welcome constructive opinions and we hope that the media will report our policy accurately and objectively.

The idea that Da Nang “bought” this festival is inaccurate and offensive. We aren’t leaving the whole job to the foreign partner. Global 2000’s participation is just a link in the whole programme.

Some numbers were also inaccurate. For example, USD 100,000 is the insurance level. If incidents occur, compensation will be paid based on that level. It doesn’t mean that we have to pay that amount to the foreign partner.

It is also inaccurate to say that the first firework festival attracted around a mere 3,000 visitors. At that time, all hotels in Da Nang were overloaded and the number of flights to the city was increased but we still couldn’t meet the demand.

Could you reveal something new about the second festival in 2009?

Last year three foreign and one domestic team took part in the event. Next year the number will be five teams from Spain, Australia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The Spanish team won the first prize at the Malaysia International Firework Contest 2008. The Australian team took first prize at the Malaysia International Firework Contest 2007. The Chinese team performed at the Olympics in Beijing and the Philippine team won first prize in a firework contest in that country. Da Nang’s team will represent Vietnam at the festival.

Outside the festival, we will unveil new tours and organise sea-related tourism activities, food festival, etc.

According to the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, around 30,000 visitors came to Da Nang during the first international firework festival in March, 2008.

More than 12,000 hotel rooms were occupied though prices rose by 30%. Some travel agents had to rent hotels in Hoi An and then transport tourists from Hoi An to Da Nang to watch fireworks.

The plan was signed by Minister of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia Him Chhem and Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Tran Chien Thang on the occasion of the Vietnam culture week being held in Cambodia.

Under the plan, Vietnam will also help train Cambodian students at those schools under the management of Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In a message sent to a symposium held in Thua Thien-Hue on Nov. 21, 2008 UNESCO made reference to the “opportunities and challenges facing Hue ’s heritage in international integration”.

The symposium was held to mark the 15th anniversary of Hue imperial city’s recognition as a world cultural heritage site, and the fifth year of Hue Court Music’s recognition as one of mankind’s oral and intangible heritages.

Over the past 15 years, local authorities and cultural officials have worked together to protect and preserve Hue imperial city, restoring almost 100 historic sites and conserving hundreds of other facilities in the city.

These efforts have helped reveal Hue imperial city’s beauty at a number of special events, particularly the Hue festival, which is held every two years, making it a major attraction to those who want to invest in the city.

Being listed on the “heritage road” connecting the tourist sites of Hoi An, My Son and Hue city with Phong Nha and Ke Bang, and situated on the “East-West Economic Corridor” linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, Hue has become one of the most alluring tourist destinations in Vietnam.

However, UNESCO officials reminded local authorities of the need to encourage the transfer of preservation work between the generations of Hue residents to prevent any harmful effects diminishing Hue’s vitality.

They also made a number of recommendations to the local administration, suggesting that they take appropriate protective measures to preserve the city in the wake of rapid urbanization, and advising them not to rapidly develop tourism in the area without undertaking a strategy of careful management and planning.

New state-of-the-art equipment is expected to present sculpture works of the Champa civilisation in a new light.

This is another result of a large scale cooperation programme between Vietnam and France, besides an exhibition on the Champa sculptural art held in France in 2005 by the Guimet Museum.

The programme is part of a project to support the preservation and development of Vietnamese museums of the preferential solidarity fund of France’s Foreign Ministry, aiming at helping Vietnam increase the role played by its museums in education and development activities.

Under the project, France will assist in upgrading five museums including the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Cham Sculpture Museum in Danang the HCMC-based National Museum of Vietnam History, the Dak Lak Museum and the War Remnants Museum.