​International expert: Vietnam has the opportunity to become the ‘golden coordinates’ of super events

This comment attracted high consensus from managers, economic experts and business leaders at the Vietnam Exhibition, Event and Advertising Industry Summit taking place at the Vietnam Exhibition Center (VEC), Hanoi, May 8.

Carrying the theme of the emerging era of the cultural industry and sports economy, the event creates a forum for international organizers to discuss strategies to turn Vietnam into a world-class experience center.

Representative of the management agency, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lam Thi Phuong Thanh affirmed that the state is recognizing culture as a strategic economic sector, playing an equal role with economics, politics and society. The government intends for the cultural industry to contribute about 7% of GDP by 2030 and reach 9% by 2045. To realize this goal, the national budget commits to maintaining a minimum spending level of 2% for culture, while applying a series of preferential policies for key areas such as cinema, performances, exhibitions and sports.

From a financial perspective, Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV, assessed that this billion-dollar economy possesses huge growth potential. He cited the domestic advertising market currently reaching a scale of 3.5 billion USD and maintaining a growth rate of 12% per year. Similarly, the tourism industry combined with events and exhibitions (MICE) also reached the 6 billion USD mark, expected to grow steadily 12-15% per year in the period 2026-2030.

To turn space into real value, infrastructure plays a decisive role in the country’s competitiveness. Ms. Pham Thai Ha, CEO of VEC, emphasized that the big dream of the cultural industry cannot be formed without a worthy infrastructure system. She sees culture not only as the soul of the nation, but also as soft power, as an economic sector and a driving force for national development in the new era.

Solving the infrastructure problem, Vingroup is operating VEC in Hanoi and continues to deploy the VEC Can Gio project in Ho Chi Minh City. The Group also created a network of multi-purpose projects on an international scale, notably Hung Vuong Stadium with a record capacity of 135,000 seats and PVF sports stadium in Hung Yen. “Combined with a synchronized ecosystem of accommodation, transportation and entertainment services including Vinpearl, Xanh SM, V-Spirit and VinPalace, this hardware platform helps Vietnam completely remove technical barriers, ready to receive super concerts and high-caliber sports tournaments,” Ms. Ha affirmed.

Mr. Geoff Dickinson, CEO of dmg events – the world’s leading energy exhibition organizer, assessed that Vietnam is holding a golden time to make a breakthrough. He believes that the combination of modern venues, support from the Government and the capacity of organizers will help the country quickly assert its position. Dmg events is currently opening an office in Hanoi, committed to investing long-term capital to bring global exhibitions to Vietnam.

Agreeing with this opinion, Mr. Jason Yan, Partner of M Square Capital, mentioned the “urban detonator” model as a lever to boost the economy. In 2025 alone, more than 800 music events in Vietnam will bring in revenue exceeding 50 million USD. This expert analyzes the huge spillover effect when each USD spent on event tickets will lead to 4-6 USD spent on accommodation, dining and retail. The strong purchasing power of Vietnamese youth, shown through the phenomenon of “immediate ticket sales”, is the desired number of many markets around the world.

In order to concretize the common vision, Le Bros Chairman Le Quoc Vinh announced Vietnam Exhibition and Events Week 2026 (VEEW 2026), scheduled to take place from July 30 to August 2 at VEC. This will be an annual connection platform, creating Vietnamese branded projects to gradually build an event ecosystem with sustainable development and international reach.