Hanoi (VNA) ๊– The Authority of Foreign Service Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications on April 13 launched a multi-lingual platform to promote Vietnam at //vietnam.vn.

The platform is an upgrade to the website but with completely different features on a new technology platform, aiming at aggregating information from more than 100 major press agencies, 63 portals of the provinces/cities, and other data sources to update and provide information quickly and multi-dimensionally about Vietnam.  As Vietnam’s international integration is increasing deeply and comprehensively in all aspects of political, economic, cultural and social life, the Party and the State have been paying special attention to communication works to promote images and provide official information about Vietnam. There are currently more than 250 foreign-service press agencies and 80 websites in foreign languages operated by ministries, branches, and localities to serve external information and dissemination. Many organisations, businesses, and individuals are participating in media promotion efforts to showcase Vietnam's culture and people online. According to Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Authority, the strong development of digital technology and artificial intelligence requires Vietnam to develop new and intelligent tools, platforms and technology applications with outstanding features in processing and providing information, thus meeting the demand of readers and viewers. The platform vietnam.vn gathers information from over 100 major press agencies, 63 portals of the provinces and centrally-run cities, and data sources of many organisations, businesses and individuals. Apart from providing official information, the website also features continuously updated local information in the Destinations category, beautiful images and videos of Vietnam in the Multimedia category, digitised versions of Vietnam in digital space in the Vietnam 3D category, and a Figure section that showcases typical faces of the public. The Views column provides an open forum for individuals from both domestic and international regions to share their views and perspectives on Vietnam and its people. The website targets a broad range of foreign readers by utilising Google's automatic translation support tool, which automatically translates all content into six languages: English, French, German, Russian, Korean, and Japanese. These languages will default to the reader's choice during their next visit. The translated content is also edited to ensure accuracy.  On the occasion, the Authority launched a contest “Happy Vietnam 2023” themed “For the happiness of everyone” for local and foreign photographers and video makers. The competition aims to encourage collectives and individuals to introduce the beauty of nature and people across regions in Vietnam, as well as the country's achievements in innovation, development and international integration, especially in the fields of economy, trade, investment, and tourism, and its efforts in preserving and upholding cultural and heritage values. Entries should be submitted before September 16, 2023./.