Experts on ethnic affairs, media agency leaders and reporters attended a conference organized by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi on September 24 to discuss measures to enhance the efficiency of VNA’s efforts to bring news to ethnic minority groups and communities in remote areas. Addressing the event, Le Duy Truyen, VNA’s Deputy General Director, said over the past 69 years the agency had paid careful attention to the provision of news to ethnic minority groups and residents in mountainous areas, and in turn inform the public about these communities. A number of publications has been issued on these topics, including “Dan toc va Mien nui (Ethnic Groups and Mountainous Areas), a photograph magazine published in eight languages, which is expected to be published in three more by 2015, he noted. VNA offices and bureaus in Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces have also been involved in these efforts, he added. However, he pointed out that the information on ethnic minorities and rural communities had not yet met public demand and the Party and State’s requirements on strategic communications in mountainous areas. More than 10 talks analyzed the current performance of media agencies in Vietnam in this field, including the VNA. Chu Tuan Thanh, Head of the Communications Department of the Committee for Ethnic Affairs, spoke highly of the role VNA played in distributing news on ethnic minority groups and mountainous communities to the public. Participants proposed a number of measures to increase the efficiency of VNA in the field of ethnic minorities and rural communities. Ha Thi Mai An, Head of VNA’s Domestic News Department, said it was necessary to focus on correspondents and contributors in the different localities to obtain up-to-date and diverse news. All opinions gathered at the conference will help VNA make use of its full potential and strength as a national news agency, thus serving the public better in future, especially ethnic minority groups and mountainous communities. (vietnamplus.vn Sept 24)
