At the event.

The event was attended by Nguyen Xuan Phuc – Poliburo member and Prime Minister; Vo Van Thuong – Politburo member, Secretaty of the Party Central Committee, head of the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Commission and head of the the Central Steering Committee for External Information Service; and many leaders of the central agencies, ministries and sectors, along with representatives of news, press and publishing agencies, and winners.

The organising board selected 90 excellent works to honour at the presentation ceremony of the National External Information Service Award 2018, comprising eight first prizes, 17 second prizes, 25 third prizes and 40 consolation prizes.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc presents one of the first prizes.

The Award 2018 attracted nearly 1,000 entries made in 13 languages in eight categories, namely (1) print newspaper in Vietnamese, (2) e-newspaper in Vietnamese; (3) print newspaper in foreign languages; (4) e-newspaper in foreign languages; (5) radio; (6) television; (7) photos and (8) books. Entrants and groups of entrants came from more than 130 central and local press agencies and 12 publishing house nationwide. They also included foreign experts and reporters and overseas Vietnamese.

According to the organising board, the entries were of high quality with perse topics and contents, and touches upon all aspects of the external information work, updating people in Vietnam, foreigners and oversea Vietnamese on country’s major political – diplomatic events, outstanding international cooperation activities in 2018, and images of the beautiful and hospitable country of Vietnam. Many entries covered unique topics and were compiled in a creative manner that applied advanced e-newspaper technology and multimedia forms. A number of articles were published in prestigious foreign magazines, helping foreign friends and the overseas Vietnamese community better understand the Vietnamese Party and State’s viewpoints and foreign policy.

Aside from high – quality entries of central press agencies like the Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnamese Television and The Voice of Vietnam, the Nhan dan newspaper and the Quan doi nhan dan newspaper, the quality of entries of sectorial and local press and publishing agencies was also improved, reflecting external activities and special identities. Particularly, the Awards also attracted nearly 30 entrants and groups of entrants who are foreigners and overseas Vietnamese such as Yuri A. Denisovich – a correspondent of the Russian news agency TASS in Vietnam, Youngkyu Min – a report of the Yonhap News Agency of the Republic of Korea, Sh. Bathold and D. Sainbayar - a correspondent of the Mongolian news agency in Vietnam, Cuban journalist Mariela Valenzuela Perez and Alberto Salazar, and Chairman of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee Geetesh Sharma.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations’ Huu Nghi (Friendship) magazine is awarded a consolation prize.

Outstanding prize-winning works included "Dua hang nong san ra the gioi" (Bringing agricultural products to the world) and "Ton giao dong hanh cung dan toc" (Religions a companion to the nation) in the print newspaper category; "Ho by sinh cho nuoc ban hoi sinh" (They devoted their lives for the friend country to revive) and "Bo doi Cu Ho trong su menh gin giu hoa binh cua Lien hop quoc" (Uncle Ho's soldiers in the United Nations peacekeeping mission) in e-newspaper; "Viet Nam chuyen minh de khong de lo con tau 4.0" (Vietnam makes changes to not miss the 4.0 train) in radio; "Ngay tro ve: Coi nguon thuong nho" (The returning day: Source of love) in television; "Suc manh doan ket va tinh huu nghi Viet Nam-Cuba" (The Vietnam-Cuba solidarity and friendship) in photos; and "Ha Noi tren duong phat trien" (Hanoi on the development path) in the books category.

Addressing the ceremony, Politburo member and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc applauded the success of the National External Information Service Awards 2018 and congratulated the winners, while complimenting the organising board on its active and effective contributions.

He stressed that 2019 is a year of breakthroughs to fulfill the five-year plan for 2016-2020 and also for the whole Party, army and people to celebrate many major events. Meanwhile, the global and regional situation continues to change unpredictably. That has created both favourable conditions and challenges to the external information work.

External information agencies need to focus on improving their awareness of the role and importance of the external information service; reform communication content and forms; actively promote the connection between the Party, State's diplomacy and that of the people, and between internal and external information services so as to bring into play the comprehensive strength of the country during the international cooperation and integration; facilitate writers, reporters and editors of press and publishing agencies to gain experience and create many high-quality external information works; persify communication methods and documents, in which more attention should be paid to the use of foreign languages, cooperation with big news agencies and press outlets in the world, as well as the use of modern means of media and social networks that have wide coverage, to step up communications about Vietnam's images along with its responsibility and efforts at regional and international forums; and introduce the country, people, cultural traditions, investment potential and tourism of Vietnam to foreign friends and overseas Vietnamese, PM Phuc said.

This is the fifth time the National External Information Service Awards have been held and the second time the Vietnam News Agency has acted as the standing agency of the Awards since the first edition in 2014. Other rotary standing agencies are the Vietnam Television, the radio The Voice of Vietnam and the Nhan Dan newspaper./.

VNF