Leading regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia has announced plan to set up a bureau in Vietnam to strengthen its ability to cover the region's developments more comprehensively.

Covering Southeast Asia for the past 15 years, the channel said it is now time for them to better cover the Indochina region where over 220 million people live in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

Debra Soon, managing director of Channel NewsAsia, said they had started the process of getting approval from the Vietnamese Government and hoped that the bureau could open this year.

If the plan is approved, this will be the channel's 14th bureau in Asia, following the opening of one in Yangon, Myanmar, in January.

In another development, the channel has organised the Vietnam Business Insights forum, with the title "Redefining Sustainable Business Growth for Vietnam," in which many Vietnamese and foreign experts, speakers and corporate leaders have taken part.

Channel NewsAsia Singapore was established in 1999 by MediaCorp.-VNA