The News for Foreign Service Department of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) has received the State’s Independence Order, third class, in recognition of its contributions to the country’s foreign news services.

At a ceremony to receive the Order in Hanoi on August 5, VNA Director General Tran Mai Huong affirmed that news for foreign services is always the foundation of VNA.

He stressed that in the transition from a traditional newswire agency to a powerful national communications group to meet news requirements in the new circumstance, VNA seeks to develop a variety of news products, including news for foreign services.

The VNA leader noted that the News for Foreign Service Department’s 65-year tradition, and especially contributions by its older generations, always serves as a fulcrum for its younger staff to further raise their sense of responsibility to and quality of the news they publish.

On the VNA’s founding day (September 15, 1945), the News for Foreign Service Department also made its first debut with the publication of the country’s Declaration of Independence in English and French languages.

During the two resistance wars against French colonialists and American aggressors, the News for Foreign Service Department played a key role in keeping foreign readers updated with developments of the wars.

It is noteworthy that that during the Vietnam War, the department’s English, French, and then Spanish bulletins greatly helped foreign readers and friends gain good understanding of the situation in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people’s just war.

When Vietnam entered a new phase of renovation and international integration, the News for Foreign Service Department has proved itself as one of mainstream and key foreign news channels to bridge the country with others around the world.

The department has exchanged news in English, French and Spanish with foreign news agencies partnered with VNA. Especially, its English bulletin is provided for the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the NNN website of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Oorganisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

Apart from English, French and Spanish bulletins, the Department plans to launch its own Chinese bulletin on the occasion of VNA’s 65 th founding anniversary.

Everyday, news in English, French and Spanish are updated on VNA’s official website, Vietnamplus, to disseminate current events in Vietnam as well as the country’s viewpoints on regional and international issues./.