The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and Vietnam News Agency (VNA) signed a deal in Hanoi on Aug. 18 to join hands in providing information on natural resources and the environment for 2009-2012.

Addressing the signing ceremony, VNA General Director Tran Mai Huong stressed that his agency attaches importance to covering news stories on natural resources and the environment with “hot” areas, including land, environment, water, weather forecast and natural disasters, which are relating to people and the sustainable development of the country.

As a national news agency, VNA is a reliable information channel to disseminate information on State’s policies and legal documents to people and vice versa, he said.

The agency will expand its operations and develop special columns on natural resources and the environment for its services and is likely to create a TV programme on the issue, Huong said. He added that after getting the go ahead from the Government, VNA’s daily newspaper “Tin Tuc” will become the government’s official newspaper and its TV news channel will operate in 2010.

MONRE Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen highly appreciated the mass media’s role, particularly the VNA’s, saying that media have helped the ministry to disseminate policies in a quick, timely and accurate manner, conveying guidelines and laws on natural resources and the environment to the public. The media also provide a forum for responses from people and businesses, which aids the ministry in terms of management, as well as the design of its policies and legal requirements.

He said that his ministry’s units need to provide information to the media, particularly VNA. Via original news stories provided by VNA to other media agencies, information can be widely, and accurately, disseminated to readers.

The ministry organised two refresher courses to equip journalists with up-dated knowledge on natural resources and environment in 2009.

Under the deal, VNA is responsible for providing information on policies relating to natural resources and the environment to local and foreign media through its publications in Vietnamese, as well as ethnic and foreign languages.

The joint work will be carried out from the fourth quarter of this year to 2012./.