Vietnamese journalism should strive harder to fulfil its mission as a sharp weapon of the mind, uniting people from all walks of life under the common flag of national modernisation and industrialisation.

Party Politburo member Truong Tan Sang made the statement at a celebration of the 60th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (April 21, 1950) at the Opera House in Hanoi on April 20.

Participants observed a minute of silence for late President Ho Chi Minh - the founder of Vietnamese journalism, who was also a colossal journalist in his own right --as well as the 400 fallen journalists who died for national independence.

Speaking on behalf of the party and state, Politburo member Truong Tan Sang, who is permanent member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat, highlighted the great contribution of the VJA to the cause of revolution and renovation of the party and the people of Vietnam over the past 60 years.

Vietnam has great prospects to become an industrial country by 2020, Sang said, which also poses many challenges and difficulties.

Therefore, he emphasised, Vietnamese journalists nowadays must continue to be in the vanguard of the national renovation process, encouraging the spirit of the entire nation in order to build Vietnam into a strong, prosperous country where democracy and social equality are upheld.

Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, Dinh The Huynh, said the association has, since its inception, always striven to fulfil its mission as a socio-political and vocational organisation for Vietnamese journalists.

It has worked continuously for the cause of revolutionary journalism, national liberation, construction and defence, he confirmed. In Vietnam , journalism facilitates the communication between the Party and the people, brings the world closer to Vietnam and promotes the country’s image overseas.

Since its establishment with only 300 members, the association has enlarged its membership, including freelance reporters nationwide, to 17,000.

Vietnam currently has more than 700 print newspapers, one state news agency, two central and 63 provicincial radio and television stations. Online newspapers have grown rapidly./.