Ministries, sectors and localities need to produce more information on the country’s sea and island sovereignty as well as its border affairs in foreign languages this year.

Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member and head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education, was speaking at a conference to initiate the dissemination of information on the nation’s seas, islands and border affairs in Hanoi on January 14.

He asked the ministries, sectors and localities to renew their communications campaigns and efficiently optimise the diplomacy of the Party, the State and defence forces, and people-to-people exchanges to serve the work.

Huynh urged Vietnamese representative agencies and the Vietnamese communities abroad to enhance their role and coordinate with agencies at home in the work.

The ministries, sectors and localities should increase information against hostile forces’ slanderous allegations on the situation in the country while doing more to guide the public on the nation’s important issues, he said.

They should verify news produced by the foreign media before making it available for local readers, emphasised Huynh, who heads the Steering Committee for Foreign Service Information.

In 2013, the ministries, sectors, localities, press agencies and overseas Vietnamese delegations worked to make clear the country’s position and viewpoints in dealing with disputes in the East Sea and the results of demarcating the borderline shared with neighbouring countries as well as the planting and increasing of border markers along the line.

They also popularised prominent events organised by the country, including its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2014-2016 tenure, and strategic and comprehensive partnerships established with several powers in the world, and the National Assembly’s adoption of the amended 1992 Constitution, among others.

In the year, many of the press organisations launched print columns or e-newspapers carrying information on the country’s seas, islands and border affairs, giving due attention to producing news in foreign languages.

The supply of information for the press to illuminate the country’s stance on issues relating to religions, nationality, democracy, human rights, border, territorial integrity, and sea and island sovereignty was done in a more proactive, regular, prompt and efficient manner.

A series of seminars and training courses were organised for grassroots-level officials and heads of border villages and communes as well as pressmen to enable them to fully grasp the Party and State’s guidelines and policies on the issue.

Participants, however, raised the need for the agencies in charge of popularisation affairs to improve their collaboration and communications methods on the issue.

They said information in foreign languages remained modest while there was inaccurate news from foreign media.-VNA