A national conference was held in Hanoi on April 3 and 4 to review external news service and the dissemination of information on the country’s seas, islands and border demarcation last year.

The conference emphasised the improvement of the external news services in the politic diplomacy, economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy and work relating to overseas Vietnamese as well as external relations of the Party, diplomacy of the State and people-to-people diplomacy.

Media and press agencies have widely provided news on developments and stance, and settlement of complicated situations in the East Sea by the Party and State, which, the conference said, has helped creat confidence and consensus among people from all walks of life.

Many representative agencies aboard have been active in diversifying forms of information dissemination, the conference assessed.

Concluding the conference, Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Head of the Party Central Committee Commission for Popularisation and Education, said in addition to achievements, there are weaknesses and shortcomings needing to be dealt with, such as poor and less persuasive information and inappropriate attention paid to news products in foreign languages.

Regarding key tasks for this year, Huynh, who is also head of the steering committee for external news services, stressed the need to focus on providing information on the country’s major events and celebrations of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and other countries.

It is necessary to continue expanding external news services and the dissemination of information on the country’s seas, islands and border demarcation, improving the effectiveness of overseas news bureaus as well as promoting cooperation with regional and global news agencies and foreign correspondents in Vietnam , he said.

Besides, it is also necessary to reject hostile allegations, wrong information and viewpoints distorting the Party and State’s policies and guidelines, particularly on national border sovereignty, East Sea issue and other issues relating to ethnic groups, democracy and human rights, he added.-VNA