The press must be "insiders" in foreign information work.

"The press must be an insider, actively and proactively working with relevant agencies in foreign information work (FIR) so that international friends can better understand and have more sympathy for the country and people of Vietnam."", Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan said.

On the afternoon of November 2, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Information and Communications held a press conference to introduce Decree 72/2015 of the Government on the management of foreign information activities (TTĐN). Attending were representatives of the Central External Relations Commission, the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs... and press agencies.

Chairing the press conference, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan said: “Since the Prime Minister issued Regulation 79 on State management of information technology (November 30, 2010), information technology has developed strongly, making positive contributions to the overall achievements of information technology in particular and the country's innovation in general.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan chaired the press conference. Photo: BM

The apparatus of agencies operating in the field of information technology has begun to be deployed from the central to local levels and has gradually been completed. The Steering Committee for Information Technology Work has begun to be consolidated. The Ministry of Information and Communications has established the Information Technology Department to carry out the State management of information technology. Localities have also established departments to promote this task. Currently, the apparatus of information technology in localities has basically been completed.

In 2010, less than 10% of provinces and cities had staff concurrently working on information technology. By October 2015, 100% of provinces and cities had staff concurrently working on information technology. Localities, ministries and branches have deployed and issued many management documents and guidelines for the implementation of information technology tasks as stipulated in the Regulations.

Since 2012, 100% of provinces and cities have issued annual TTĐN plans and allocated funds for implementation. This is a very new point. Most ministries, branches and localities have participated in training, created conditions and fostered knowledge and skills on TTĐN.

Emphasizing the role of press agencies in mass media work, Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan shared: “We have key press and radio units performing mass media work. Many key units perform mass media work well such as Vietnam News Agency, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television, Nhan Dan Newspaper...”.

In addition, Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan also announced some basic information about the current Vietnamese media network. Specifically, 4 key press agencies have 52 permanent offices abroad. Some major press agencies with large readerships also send reporters abroad to work regularly, collect information from abroad for domestic propaganda, and promote information and images of Vietnam abroad.

Along with that, there are nearly 100 Vietnamese representative agencies operating on continents, playing an increasingly important role in the work of information and communication, introducing the image of the country and people of Vietnam to the world. At international events, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad have performed well the task of information and communication in both aspects: conveying the image and introducing the country and people of Vietnam to foreign countries; bringing foreign information to Vietnam.

The work of TTĐN has achieved many achievements but still has some limitations. Photo: BM

Overall assessment after 5 years of implementing Regulation 79, Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan affirmed: “The work of information and communication has achieved remarkable achievements, actively contributing to the work of information and propaganda, foreign information, contributing to the cause of national renewal, making the international community understand Vietnam more correctly, clearly and fully. In the context of the country's international integration, the image of Vietnam in the international arena is increasingly improved, and is better understood and trusted by international friends”.

Besides the above achievements, Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan also frankly acknowledged that the work of information technology still has some limitations and shortcomings that need to be promptly overcome.

Specifically, the effectiveness of State management is not high; Coordination between departments, ministries, branches, localities and the force doing the work of information technology is still limited; Funding for information technology work is not suitable, still scattered, located in many places, many agencies, so when doing information technology work, resources have not been concentrated; The mass media, especially the main press agencies, have not yet fully promoted their role in information technology work. Many locations in the world still lack information technology about Vietnam.

In order to create conditions to promote the development of information technology, striving to achieve the goals set out in Conclusion No. 16-KL/TW of the Politburo on implementing the information technology development strategy for the period 2011 - 2020, the Ministry of Information and Communications has advised and submitted to the Government to issue Decree 72 on the management of information technology activities. Along with overcoming limitations and weaknesses in the field of information technology, Decree 72 on the management of information technology activities has a number of new points.

Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan emphasized a number of points that agencies, units, especially mass media agencies, need to strongly exploit and widely propagate.

One is to clearly define the responsibilities of ministries, branches, localities, and key forces implementing TTĐN activities (Chapter III).

Second, fully regulate the principles of TTĐN operations, in accordance with international treaties that Vietnam has recently participated in (Article 3).

Third is to ensure funding for TTĐN activities from the State budget and other legal financial sources (Article 5).

Fourth is to prescribe basic information technology activities that ministries, branches, localities, and information technology forces need to focus on implementing in the current period (Chapter II). It is necessary to build a strong communication strategy in the next term, for example, communication on information technology in the sea and island communication strategy.

Fifth, increase the provision of explanatory and clarifying information (Article 10); consider this the responsibility of ministries, branches, localities and relevant agencies in protecting and enhancing the reputation and image of Vietnam.

“With the responsibility of State management in the field of information technology, the Ministry of Information and Communications has been making every effort to: Institutionalize the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's mechanisms and policies in the field of information technology; Urge the implementation of programs and plans, promote information about the image, country and people of Vietnam; Strengthen information technology to implement the policy of "proactively and actively integrating internationally" set forth by the 11th National Party Congress", Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan added.

In particular, Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan emphasized the hope that "reporters and press agencies not only grasp and propagate the provisions of Decree 72 on the management of information technology activities but also actively and proactively deploy information technology activities, implementing the motto "accurate, timely, vivid, suitable for each target audience". Thereby contributing to bringing the image of Vietnam to the world so that friends can better understand and have more sympathy for the country and people of Vietnam".

According to Infonet