The 8th National External Information Service Awards Ceremony was held on the evening of Nov 5 in Hanoi. There were a total of 112 awardees, including 10 First Prizes, 21 Secone Prizes, 30 Thrid Prizes and 51 Consolation Prizes.

Notably, contenders from Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) and partners received many prestigious prizes at this year's award such as 1 First Prize, 1 Second Prize, 2 Thrid Prizes and 1 Consolation Prizes.

These awardees are in many languages, such as Vietnamese, English, Lao, Spanish, Portuguese) with authors from both Vietnam and foreign countries. They are honored in different categories and formats with external information service value.

Brazilian author Pedro De Oliveira won First Prize with the book "Ho Chi Minh Vida e obra do lisder da lisder da libertação nacional do Vietna" (Ho Chi Minh Life and Work of the leader of the national liberation of Vietnam - Publisher Anita Garibaldi)

Cuban author Ruvislei González Saez - Center for International Policy Research won Second Prize with "Development of the relationship between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Latin America and the Caribbean".

The Vietnam Times was awarded 2 third prizes. The "Storytelling Memorabilia" contest won Third Place in the external information service idea category.

The article series "Healing the wounds of the US war in Vietnam: Reconciliation and Forgiveness" won Third Prize in the online newspaper category.

The Vietnamese - Spanish dictionary by author Vu Van Au - Hanoi National University Publishing House won the Consolation prize.

A successful year for external information service

First Prize winner Pedro De Oliveira (front row, thrid from left) at the ceremony (Photo: Minh Quyet)

At the ceremony, First Prize winner Pedro De Oliveira expressed his gratitude to the Organizing Committee of the Award and said he plans to write the third book of the series. In this book, the Brazilian author will continue promoting Vietnam's image to emphasize Vietnam's important role in global events.

"My relationship with Vietnam began in 1968. As a student at the Sao Paolo University I first knew Vietnam through stories about the soldiers of the Vietnam People's Front. So we, university students, our voices to fight against the war in Vietnam." said Pedro De Oliveira.

According to the Organizing Committee of the Award, this has been a successful year for external information service in spite of complicated epidemic developments. Only 4 months of launching (from April to August 2022), the award received 1,172 submissions, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. Notably, there were 70 by foreign and expatriate authors.

Moreover, the submissions reflects important economic, political, social and foreign events of Vietnam; the Party's guidelines in all fields. They showed Vietnam's important role in the international arena; introduced the beauty of the country, people, culture and wisdom. They contributed to protect the ideological foundation of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

This year's award specifically highlighted the efforts in disease prevention and the country's recovery after the pandemic. It has showed major advantages of modern communication technology in executing external information service, and attracting the attention of the public in Vietnam and foreign countries.

Mr. Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member, Standing member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat spoke at the ceremony (Photo: Minh Quyet).

Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr. Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member, Standing member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat praised the significance of the event.

"Over the past 8 seasons, the prestigious Awards has enhanced its quality, and expanded bigger creative space for authors." He commented that Vietnam's rich domestic socio-political situation and foreign affairs has become a source of inspiration and valuable material for the authors.

Thuong also suggested that the external information service workforce to closely focus on the country's role in the context of the international and regional situation, so that it can better promote and introduce the guidelines of the Party and State; better represent the image of the country, people and culture of Vietnam.

In the context of multi-dimensional information, Thuong said, external information service is to help Vietnamese people and international friends gain better understanding of Vietnam, a country with innovative, potential resources and politically stability, always making efforts for peaceful cooperation of the region and the world, inviting potential foreign business partners and investors.

Thuong also hoped the external information service will continue to cooordinate in a harmonious manner with external channels of the Party, the State diplomacy, the people's diplomacy and so on. It must show Vietnam as the "pioneer" in the transformation of methods, the application of science and technology, and the efficiency of media platform.

Last but not least, the external information service must effectively improve the protection of the Party's ideological foundation; refute distorting and fault information and statements; and spread more positive information.

Third Prize winners from the Vietnam Times Representative of Vietnam Times (middle) of the "Storytelling Memorabilia" contest - Thỉrd Place in the external information service idea category (Photo: Minh Quyet). The "Storytelling Memorabilia" contest is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos (5/9/1962 - 5/9/2022) and the 45th anniversary of the bilateral Treaty of Amity and Cooperation between Vietnam and Laos (18/71977 - 18/7/2022). The idea of ​​"retelling" the great story of the Vietnam-Laos friendship was formed with the goal of retrieving and gathering simple, small or old memories and artifacts, but containing and preserving priceless value of the sentiment and history of the people-to-people relations between the two countries, and at the same time creating a common friendship space for many Viet-Lao generations.... Representative of Vietnam Times (second row, first from right) of the article series "Healing the wounds of the US war in Vietnam: Reconciliation and Forgiveness" - Third Prize in the electionic newspaper category (Photo: Minh Quyet) The article series "Healing the wounds of the US war in Vietnam: Reconciliation and Forgiveness" was conducted by group authors Glen MacDonald, Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Mai Nguyen Hong Anh and Nguyen Le Huyen Nhung. The series shows the Vietnamese people's tolerance, friendliness and support towards war veterans and the American people in relation to Vietnam; represents the transformation in perspectives of American veterans and their contribution to support people in Vietnam, overcoming the consequences of the war through many meaningful and practical activities. Using the relationship between American and Vietnamese people in the past and present time, the series shares a special message about peace. "People around the world should know how to cooperate and love each other without having to go through wars, pain and hatred, only to later realize the value of the companionship towards a better future”.

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