Hanoi (VNA) – The National External Information Service Awards has proven itspervasive influence since it was launched five years ago as an initiative of theVietnam News Agency (VNA), VNA Deputy General Director Le Quoc Minh has said.

Inan interview granted to the press ahead of the award ceremony, to be held atthe VNA’s headquarters in Hanoi on June 7, Minh noted that the VNA proposedorganising a contest for external information service, as press works of thistype are not included in the national press awards.

Thefour major media agencies in the country – the VNA, Vietnam Television, RadioThe Voice of Vietnam and Nhan Dan newspaper – have been assigned to organizethe awards on a rotary basis.

TheVNA hosted the first edition of the awards in 2014, and the second time thisyear.

TheVNA Deputy Director General highlighted the contribution of the State-run newsagency to the awards, considering the fact that the agency has nearly 10 unitsengaged in external information service.

Hesaid the VNA has submitted about 200 out of 900-1,000 entries to the awards andwon some 20 prizes each year, about one fourth of the total number of prizes.   
Minh,who is deputy head of the steering board of the 2018 National ExternalInformation Service Awards, noted that besides domestic journalists, the contesthas attracted the participation of an increasing number of foreign journalists whowrote in different languages such as English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russianand Korean.

Ofnote, the 2018 awards had received an entry from a Mongolian author, the VNADeputy General Director said, adding that articles written by foreignjournalists and published on foreign newspapers would have greater influence onforeign audience. Therefore, apart from honouring domestic journalists workingfor the external information services, the awards aim to engage more foreign reportersin writing more about Vietnam, thus improving the efficiency of externalinformation service, he stressed.

Towardsthis goal, the VNA has coordinated with foreign embassies and the VietnameseMinistry of Foreign Affairs, as well as provincial Departments of ExternalAffairs and Boards for Information and Communication to popularise the award.

Thenews agency has also increased coverage about the award throughout the year,especially before and after the award ceremony, he said.

The 2018 contest has received nearly 1,000 entriesin 13 languages. Around 30 contestants/groups of contestants are foreigners orVietnamese living abroad.-VNA