The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) is a government agency with the function as the state news agency that publishes, broadcasts official information and documents of the Party and State; provides information in service of the Party’s leadership and the State’s management; and collects and provides news through various forms of press and multimedia for media agencies, the public and readers at home and abroad.
The VNA operates under the consortium model with 15 news units for domestic and foreign service (consisting of five editorial departments, two source news centres and eight editorial offices), along with five news support centres, a publishing house, two printing companies, the VNA representative office in the south, the VNA representative office in the Central – Central Highlands region; and functional units to support the VNA Director General.
With representative offices in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide and 30 overseas bureaus across the five continents, the VNA has a strong contingent of reporters working across the country and in most of the key areas around the world. This is a unique advantage that no other press agency in Vietnam has.
With more than 60 media products made by more than 1,000 reporters and editors out of the over-2,300-strong staff, the VNA is the press agency with the largest number of information products and forms in the country, from source news in the forms of text, photo, television, infographics and audio to publications such as dailies, weeklies, magazines, pictorials, books, e-newspapers, websites, online and print newspapers, and information on mobile platforms and social networks, among others.
As the key national press agency for external affairs, the VNA provides domestic and foreign media outlets with news in Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French and Spanish. It also has print newspapers and e-newspapers in 10 languages: Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, English, French and Spanish.
The Prime Minister has approved the “Plan on developing some national print newspapers and e-newspapers for foreign service of the VNA” for three news units for foreign service, namely Việt Nam News, Vietnam Pictorial and e-newspaper Vietnamplus.
The VNA has also been tasked with publishing pictorials written in Vietnam’s ethnic minority languages. The “Dan toc va Mien nui” (Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Region) Pictorial now has 11 bilingual editions: Vietnamese – Khmer, Vietnamese – Bahnar, Vietnamese – Jrai, Vietnamese – Ede, Vietnamese – Cham, Vienamese – Mong, Vietnamese – K’ho, Vietnamese – M’nong, Vietnamese – Tay, Vietnamese – Xe dang, and Vietnamese – Co tu.
The VNA boasts bilateral and multilateral partnerships with more than 40 news agencies and large international media organisations. It is a member of the Executive Board of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA). Its news published on media channels of partner agencies has helped improve the effectiveness of disseminating Vietnam’s external information internationally.
The VNA has performed the functions of a national news agency providing updated news about all social aspects in Vietnam and the world for domestic and foreign media. It has also satisfied the public’s information demand through diverse and attractive media products on modern platforms. The VNA has retained its position as the mainstream information source guiding public opinion and as the strategic and trustworthy information centre of the Party and State, contributing to national development and defence.
