Decision No. 1378/QD-TTg of August 12,2013, approving the master plan on the network of overseas representative offices of Vietnamese news and press agencies through 2020

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 1378/QD-TTg of August 12,2013, approving the master plan on the network of overseas representative offices of Vietnamese news and press agencies through 2020

Pursuant to the December 25, 20ffil Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the December 28, 1989 Press Law and the June 12, 1999 revised Press Law;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister s Decision No. 79/2010/QD-TTg of November 30, 2010, on the Regulation on state management of external information;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister s Decision No. 368/QD-TTg of February 28, 2013, approving the Government s action plan on external information in the 2013-2020 period;

At the proposal of the Minister of Information and Communications,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the master plan on the network of overseas representative offices of Vietnamese news and press agencies through 2020 with the following principal contents:

I. VIEWPOINTS

1. The master plan on the network of overseas representative offices of Vietnamese news and press agencies through 2020 (below referred to as overseas bureaus) must conform with the Party’s and State’s external information development strategy and the nation’s socio- economic development.

2. The network of overseas bureaus is established on the basis of making the most use of physical facilities of overseas representative offices of Vietnamese news and press agencies and the coordination among Vietnamese media agencies, ensure the efficiency of external information activities and avoid wastefulness.

3. To prioritize the establishment of overseas bureaus in key areas of external information.

4. To promote cooperation with foreign news and press agencies worldwide to share and exchange information and to provide official information on Vietnam.

II. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

1.  Overall objectives

a/ To review the network of overseas bureaus so as to strengthen the organization of overseas bureaus of Vietnamese news and press agencies.

b/ To promote the coordination among overseas bureaus to properly perform the task of providing timely and accurate information to domestic news and press agencies, and the external information task.

c/ To intensify training and re-training to improve professional capacity for overseas correspondents, meeting the requirements of their operations in the new context.

2.       Specific objectives:

To have overseas bureaus in 32 countries and territories in the world by 2015; and 34 countries and territories by 2020.

III. CONTENT OF THE MASTER PLAN

1.       Agencies permitted to open overseas bureaus:

The Vietnam News Agency, Nhan Dan newspaper, the Vietnam Television, Radio the Voice of Vietnam and a number of other press agencies.

Major unit: The Vietnam News Agency.

2.       Principles of opening overseas bureaus

Overseas bureaus are prioritized to be opened in following key areas:

a/ Neighboring and ASEAN countries;

b/ Countries with global economic and political impacts;

c/ Countries being strategic partners of Vietnam;

d/ Countries where large numbers Vietnamese reside;

dd/ Countries having close political, economic and tourism cooperative relations with Vietnam;

e/ Countries closely attached with national security and interests of Vietnam; hot spots where big countries’ interests are concentrated.

3. Arrangement of overseas bureaus to 2015 and 2020;

4. Strengthening and establishment of a new overseas bureau network

a/ New overseas bureaus of state budget- funded news and press agencies (the Vietnam News Agency, Nhan Dan newspaper and Radio the Voice of Vietnam) will be set up in line with this master plan along with strengthening the organization of existing overseas bureaus, ensuring uniform management and attaching importance to the effectiveness and coordination, particularly in key areas, regions and countries that need to be prioritized for external information activities.

b/ News and press agencies using their own financial resources for opening overseas bureaus (the Vietnam Television and other press agencies) shall base on their own demands, principles, of opening overseas bureaus and the arrangement of overseas bureaus through 2015 and 2Q20 of this master plan, to submit to competent authorities for approval the opening of more overseas bureaus for their agencies.

IV. SOLUTIONS

1.       Mechanism and policy solutions

a/ To promote the Party leadership and state management of overseas bureaus’ activities;

b/ To review, formulate and complete the system of policies and legal documents on overseas bureaus’ activities in line with the new period s requirements;

c/ To devise a scheme on strengthening of the organization of overseas bureaus to be economical and effective;

d/ To formulate and promulgate the management regulation of overseas bureaus’ activities in the direction of improving external information efficiency, enhancing coordination in sharing information, implementing the mechanism of timely provision of guidance and sharing of information between state management agencies of external information and overseas bureaus.

2.       Human resource solutions

a/ To formulate, complete and carry out a program to train and retrain staffs of overseas bureaus so as to improve their political and professional knowledge and foreign languages to meet the requirements of information collection and other external information tasks;

b/ To increase budget for training and retraining and have an appropriate mechanism for staffs of overseas bureaus;

c/ To bring into play the role of freelance journalists, non-resident correspondents and correspondents sent for a short-term mission in areas without overseas bureaus.

3.     Finance and investment solutions

a/ The State ensures expenses for the operation of overseas bureaus of the Vietnam News Agency, Nhan Dan newspaper, the Voice of Vietnam; overseas bureaus of the Vietnam Television and other agencies operate with their own funding sources;

b/ To ensure the state budget for external information activities and activities of overseas bureaus in information cooperation and sharing with foreign news and press agencies;

c/ To allocate sufficient budget for the implementation of programs and tasks specified in the appendix to this master plan (not translated);

d/ Overseas bureaus’ operating expenditures are included in expenditures of news and press agencies’ activities.

dd/ The allocation, management, use and settlement of overseas bureaus’ expenditures comply with law.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1.  The Ministry of Information and Communications shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in, organizing and monitoring the implementation of the master plan and base on the country’s socio-economic development situation submit to the Prime Minister contents needed to update and appropriately adjust the master plan;

b/ Formulate and submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation regulations on the management of overseas bureaus’ activities in the third quarter of 2014;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related ministries and sectors in, appraising the establishment of overseas bureaus;

d/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Education, the Steering Committee for External Information and related units in, organizing the field survey and assessment of effectiveness of external information of overseas bureaus;

dd/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, formulating a pilot scheme on a common overseas bureau model for state budget-funded agencies and submitting it to the Prime Minister for approval in the fourth quarter of 2014;

e/ Make annual reports on the effectiveness of external information of the overseas bureau network to the Prime Minister.

2.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall:

a/ Coordinate with related ministries and sectors in managing and monitoring the activities of overseas bureaus;

b/ Guide and support overseas bureaus to ensure effective operations in line with the Party’s and State’s external information orientations.

3.The Ministry of Public Security shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications in, guiding and monitoring the observance of the confidentiality regime in overseas bureaus’ information collection and provision;

b/ Monitor and summarize; external information in order to put forth policies and measures for related agencies to refute false and distorted information against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

4.The Ministry of National Defense shall coordinate with related ministries and sectors in organizing the apparatus, mechanism and policies in overseas bureaus’ activities.

5.The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in, formulating a plan to ensure state budget funds for formulating and implementing programs and tasks under this master plan.

6.The Ministry of Finance shall allocate state budget funds for formulating and implementing programs and tasks under this master plan.

7. Agencies managing oversea bureaus shall:

a/ Take responsibility for activities of their overseas bureaus;

b / Make regular reports on activities of their overseas bureaus to the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

c/ Formulate and include annual estimates

of expenditures for activities of their overseas bureaus into the budget estimates;

d/ Guide overseas bureaus to provide information and join activities serving external information tasks at the request of the state management agency of external information, support security forces in the collection of information and documents relating to activities of the overseas Vietnamese community, host countries’ foreign policies on Vietnam, and mobilizing overseas Vietnamese to support

the homeland.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. Ministers, heads of ministerial- level and government-attached agencies, directors general, editors-in-chief and directors of news and press agencies shall implement this Decision.-

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

 NGUYEN THIEN NHAN