The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the steering committees for Vietnam’s northwestern, Central Highlands, and southwestern regions convened a meeting in Hanoi on November 18 to examine the media outlet’s coverage of these regions.

The function was attended by VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi, Vice Chairman of the Northwestern Committee Truong Xuan Cu, Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Highlands Committee Tran Viet Hung, and Vice Chairman of the Southwestern Committee Duong Quoc Xuan.

Since the VNA and the committees signed cooperation agreements for the 2013-2016 period in May 2013, VNA media sources, including the agency’s television channel, pictorials, and online and printed newspapers, have actively featured these three regions in Vietnamese, foreign and ethnic minority languages, a report said.

VNA publications highlight the economic, cultural, and social issues of these regions in a timely and comprehensive manner, with a special focus on difficulties in implementing Party and State policies as well as the operations of the steering committees.

On their part, the committees created the best possible conditions for VNA correspondents to do their job and called upon local authorities to provide precise information for reporters.

During the meeting, participants pointed to a number of shortcomings in their communication efforts and VNA’s coverage, and identified a course of action for the time ahead.

Accordingly, the agency’s media sources will continue to run stories on these regions and expand their coverage of the State’s policies and laws, as well as the committees’ operations.

Notably, a column on the regions will be run in the weekend issue of VNA’s Tin Tuc (News) newspaper to serve as a mouthpiece for the three committees and local residents.

The VNA will also continue to revise its publications, particularly those distributed in these regions. From 2015 onwards, the agency will publish another three bilingual versions of the pictorial “Dan toc va Mien nui” (Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas), namely in Vietnamese and Co Tu, in Vietnamese and Sedang, and in Vietnamese and Tay languages.-VNA