Hanoi (VNA) – The State-run VietnamNews Agency (VNA) won 17 out of 67 prizes of the National External InformationService Awards 2017 which were announced at a ceremony held at VNA’sheadquarters in Hanoi on June 14.

The 17 prizes comprise three first prizes, foursecond prizes, four third prizes and six consolidation prizes.

Vietnam News – the national English languagedaily, the Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Region Pictorial, and photojournalistNhan Huu Sang of the Press Photography Department are among the first-prizewinners.

Other first prizes were presented toindividuals and groups from Thanh Nien (Young People) and Nhan Dan (People’s)newspapers, the Quang Ngai Radio and Television Station and the VietnamTelevision.

The award, the fourth of its edition, alsohonoured 15 second prizes, 18 third prizes and 27 consolidation prizes, in thecategories of print newspaper and electronic newspaper in Vietnamese andforeign languages, radio broadcast, television broadcast, press photo and book.

The organising board received 970 entries,up nearly 9 percent as compared with the previous edition, with 931 worksqualified for the contest. They are made in 15 languages – Vietnamese, English,French, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian,Lao, Khmer, Slovakian, German and Thai.

Of the entries, 22 come from foreigners. Theothers hail from press agencies and newspapers at both central and grassrootslevels, and overseas Vietnamese.

The organising board said the works have activelycontributed to promoting the land, people and history of Vietnam to the world.They have touched upon political, economic, social and cultural lives ofVietnamese at home and abroad.

The works have reflected guidelines of the Party,policies and laws of the State, as well as Vietnam’s views and stance onregional and international issues in an accurate, timely and vivid way, whileopposing false and distorted information about the country, the board said.

The ceremony saw the attendance of DeputyPrime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the Party CentralCommittee’s Commission for Information and Education Vo Van Thuong who is alsohead of the central steering committee for external information work, and headof the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh, amongothers.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy PM and FMMinh congratulated the winners of the award, which, he said, has helped enhanceconnectivity and coordination between foreign news service units, as well asbetween domestic and foreign news services.

The 2017 contest’s success has not onlyreflected the prestige of the award but also affirmed the important role of theexternal information work in national construction and development, theofficial said.

He attributed achievements recorded in thecountry’s foreign affairs in 2017, especially the APEC Year, to contributionsof the external information work, including the award.
External information has helped raise trust,consensus and support of people from all walks of life, both at home andabroad, and create an aggregate strength to affirm Vietnam’s prestige andposition in the international area, Minh noted.

He urged the external information work,including the award, to keep a close watch on domestic and internationalsituations to serve the interests of the nation.

Via the award, the external informationwork, should renew form, content and ways to access audience, focusing onforeigners and foreign countries and territories, in an accurate, timely, flexibleand suitable manner.

The official also underlined the need toincrease information in foreign languages, especially news about the country’ssocio-economic development, national sovereignty protection, guidelines andpolicies, while stepping up the application of information-technology in thework.

More attention should be paid to personneltraining, he said, suggesting that the award should be rolled out on a largerscale to promote its prestige.

First launchedin 2014, the contest has drawn great attention from both domestic and foreignpress organisations, publishers and reporters. The number of entries to thecompetition has increased through years from 515 works in 10 languages in 2014to 970 entries in 15 languages in 2016.

The award will continue to be held in 2018, opento Vietnamese and foreign individuals and groups, each of them could submit nomore than 7 entries or entry series to the organising board. -VNA