Party General Secretary To Lam attended and delivered a speech at the ceremony marking the Vietnam News Agency’s reception of the Ho Chi Minh Order for the third time and its 80th founding anniversary (September 15, 1945–2025) in Hanoi on September 14.
The following is a translation of his full remarks.
“Leaders of the Party and State, leaders of central and local agencies,
Veteran journalists, and the entire staff of the Vietnam News Agency across generations,
Delegates and international guests,
Today, as we still feel the heroic and sacred spirit of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2, I am very pleased to be here to attend the ceremony marking the Vietnam News Agency’s reception of the Ho Chi Minh Order and the 80th founding anniversary of the Vietnam News Agency – the national news agency and a strategic, trusted information body of the Party and the State.
Born and having grown alongside national development, generations of Vietnam News Agency journalists have consistently demonstrated courage, dedication, and resilience, overcoming hardships and making sacrifices to contribute to the epic of the nation, the glorious Party, our beloved Vietnam, and the journalists themselves. On behalf of the Party and State leadership, I extend my warmest congratulations, sincere regards, and deepest appreciation to the leaders, reporters, editors, technicians, and staff of the Vietnam News Agency across generations, as well as to the families of journalist-martyrs and journalists wounded in service.
Congratulations to the Vietnam News Agency on being awarded the Ho Chi Minh Order by the Party and State for the third time.
Comrades and friends,
Eighty years ago, on September 15, 1945, Viet Nam Thong tan xa – its name personally given by President Ho Chi Minh – proudly issued the full text of the Declaration of Independence and the list of the provisional government in three languages – Vietnamese, English, and French – announcing to the world the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Since that historic milestone, the Vietnam News Agency has carried the noble mission of serving as the official source of information for the Party and State, providing news to domestic and international media, and fulfilling the strategic role of delivering information to Party and State leaders and policy-making bodies.
From the early days, when the agency’s forces were still young and its equipment rudimentary, under the direct leadership of the Party, Vietnam News Agency journalists – driven by patriotism and the passion of their craft – relentlessly learned, advanced, and endured hardships and sacrifices to be on the front lines, contributing to the success of the revolution. It was precisely during those arduous years that the mettle and core values of Vietnam News Agency journalists were forged.
During the resistance period, hundreds of reporters, technicians, and staff of the Vietnam News Agency volunteered for the front lines, appearing across battlefields to provide news stories and photographs that faithfully reflected the spirit, will, and and resolve of our troops and people; the support of international friends; and the resounding victories achieved under the Party’s sound leadership.
In 1960, the Liberation Press Agency was established as the official voice and news agency of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. Over 15 years of operation, with support from Viet Nam Thong tan xa and guidance from the Party Central Committee, Liberation Press Agency reporters displayed extraordinary courage and resilience, braving relentless bombings and gunfire, reporting from the fiercest battlefields while taking up arms alongside fighters, becoming a powerful revolutionary tool, playing a crucial role in the nation’s brilliant victories that ultimately led to the country’s reunification.
Following the national reunification, on May 24, 1976, the Vietnam Thong tan xa and the Liberation Press Agency – “two yet one” – officially merged, marking a new phase in the development of the nation’s news agency. The role of Viet Nam Thong tan xa in the North and the Liberation Press Agency in the South during the resistance war could be briefly assessed in three special tasks: Fighting like soldiers on the frontline; providing strategic information to serve the Party and State leaders; and directly reporting from the battlefield and from the negotiating table to the domestic and foreign press systems.
To record the country’s glorious history in the wars, nearly 260 journalists and technicians of the Vietnam News Agency sacrificed their lives, many left parts of their bodies on the battlefield, many suffered from illnesses due to exposure to toxic chemicals and, to this day, many war correspondents themselves and their descendants still carry the pain of war. That is proof of the bravery, patriotism, and willingness to contribute and sacrifice of revolutionary journalists, for the glorious revolutionary cause of the nation.
In the period of national construction, renewal and international integration, the Vietnam News Agency continues to affirm its role as a strategic information agency and a key press agency in the national media system. The Vietnam News Agency's news source is always reliable and timely; it is the official and mainstream information flow for domestic and foreign press agencies, helping to orient public opinion, create consensus in society, and arouse the strength of great national solidarity, thus contributing to the successful implementation of the Party and State's policies and guidelines.
The agency’s reporters are always at the forefront of the battle defending the Party's ideological foundation and refuting false and hostile arguments; while closely following the domestic and international situation to provide timely reference reports, helping the Party and State leaders make appropriate decisions for the country's development in line with global trends.
Since its establishment, the Vietnam News Agency has played a leading role in external relations information. From news bulletins in foreign languages, the Vietnam News Agency now produces three key national information products for foreign service and many other external relations information products, helping to bring the guidelines, policies, and image of a peaceful, dynamic, innovative, and creative Vietnam with the aspiration to rise strongly to the international community.
You have been preserving and continuously enriching the country's valuable photo archive. Over the recent past, this photo archive has been effectively exploited to serve foreign affairs activities and important events of the country. The Vietnam News Agency has also been very creative and proactive in implementing external relations activities, expanding cooperation with news agencies, and signing professional agreements with international partners, contributing to the further enhancement and intensification of the relationship between Vietnam and other countries.
The Vietnam News Agency is also a pioneering press agency in digital transformation. As your report shows, the Vietnam News Agency currently provides various types of information, including digital journalism products and data journalism, which are widely published on multiple platforms, helping with orienting public opinion. The launch of a special website on the 14th National Party Congress today is a testament to your relentless efforts to ensure that the Vietnam News Agency's information is always closely linked to important events of the country, effectively serving the press and media system and the masses.
For those achievements, the Vietnam News Agency has been honoured with numerous noble titles from the Party and the State: the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces twice, the Labour Hero during the renewal period once, the Gold Star Order, the Ho Chi Minh Order, and the Independence Order. Many of its war correspondents have earned the Ho Chi Minh Prize and the State rizes for their historically valuable photos, which wield profound influence and endure through time.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary, the Vietnam News Agency has the honour to be awarded the Ho Chi Minh Order (for the third time) in recognition of its longstanding traditions, immense contributions, and outstanding excellence in the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation.
On behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to especially commend the merits and contributions by generations of leaders, staff, reporters, technicians, and workers of the Vietnam News Agency throughout different periods, who have contributed to the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation while helping to shape the annals of Vietnam’s revolutionary press.
Comrades and friends,
We are entering a new era of national development, one that opens up a new horizon of progress while also posing new revolutionary requirements. With high determination and great aspiration, we aim to build a powerful and prosperous country where the people live in freedom, prosperity, and happiness. A revolution in thinking, mechanisms, and organisational apparatus is rapidly unfolding, creating new driving forces for national development. The world, too, is undergoing rapid, complex, and unprecedented changes, bringing about new challenges for Vietnam’s development. The communication revolution, with the strong rise of digital technology, artificial intelligence, social networks, and unprecedented modes of information dissemination, is offering new opportunities but also posing great challenges, not only for press agencies but also for national stability itself.
In this new context, the Vietnam News Agency must continually reinvent itself to align with the stature of the era and the nation’s development, further cementing its role as the Party and State’s strategic and trusted information agency, a source of official information and a mainstream active channel of news on the front of journalism and ideology. You must closely monitor domestic and global affairs; proactively collect and summarise sources of information; conduct thorough analysis, assess and forecast the situation accurately and promptly; deliver valuable reports, and even offer consultations, recommendations, and proposals to assist the Party and State leaders to make appropriate decisions to avoid being caught off guard. All information from the Vietnam News Agency must be accurate, objective, humane, and useful for the nation and people. To successfully carry out tasks in this new stage of national development, you must firmly grasp the following five key orientations:
First, journalists of the Vietnam News Agency must keep honing their steadfast political mettle, remain loyal to the revolutionary ideals, affirm their role as pioneering soldiers who excellently fulfil all tasks entrusted by the Party and the State, and widely disseminate Vietnam’s policies, guidelines, laws, and achievements, contributing to nurturing trust and consensus in the public, inspiring and arousing the entire society's aspiration to dedicate to the cause of national development.
To achieve this, journalists must uphold the ethics, integrity, and social responsibility, rising above material temptations to always stand on the side of justice, using pens to defend righteousness, progress, and goodness, while combating evils and wrongdoings both in society and within themselves.
Second, in the face of the digital transformation wave and fierce competition in the global media landscape, you must continue to boldly innovate journalistic methods and information delivery, pioneer the application of modern technology, and master digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and big data.
In the professional work, you must remain sharp to new developments while being extremely cautious. In the information highway where truth and falsehood often intermingle, you need to constantly improve your knowledge and hone your skills to make precise professional responses, master technology to identify and counter fake news and wrong information as fast as possible, and, at the same time, select new and core issues to provide information for the Party and State leaders and the media system in a timely fashion.
Third, the Vietnam News Agency needs to better develop database as data serves as production material in the digital era. Building a scientific journalistic data system, including the information and documentation centre and the particularly valuable national photo archive that you are maintaining, will provide an important foundation for the Vietnam News Agency to develop creative journalism and data journalism while contributing to the formation of the nation's "collective memory."
Fourth, deepening international integration is one of the focal orientation in the country’s next stage of development. You should continue to actively expand cooperation with major news agencies and reputable media organisations worldwide, thereby elevating the Vietnam News Agency's position as a respected news agency in the region. Alongside actively promoting the image of the country, culture, and people of Vietnam to international friends, you must also take more creative measures to forge cooperation with partners to produce impactful information products showcasing the country’s growth and dynamism across global platforms, while reporting on the world’s advances and achievements to the Vietnamese people.
Fifth, you must continue restructuring internal units for more efficient operation with better incentives for the core personnel. Besides, the Vietnam News Agency must also pay close attention to recruiting and training high-quality young human resources with aspirations, ambitions, and dedication to meet mission requirements under the new circumstance, thereby upholding the pride-worthy tradition of the Vietnam News Agency. You should continue to learn from and share modern journalism models to contribute to the development of Vietnam's revolutionary journalism.
Comrades and friends,
The 80-year history has proven that in any historical period – war or peace, the news agency's journalists have consistently demonstrated solid political mettle, dedication, readiness to contribute, sacrifice, and devotedly serve the Party, State, and people. The photographs displayed today as part of the ceremony, though representing only a small fraction of the Vietnam News Agency’s rich photo archive, authentically reflect these values.
In the country's new era of development, every reporter, editor, technician, and worker of the Vietnam News Agency should carry pride in their glorious tradition to follow the footsteps of previous generations with the aspiration for innovation and pioneering spirit in action, affirming their role, mettle, and creativity.
I am confident that with the heroic tradition, determination for innovation, and aspiration for ascending, the Vietnam News Agency will develop strongly, sustaining the mainstream information source, leading the flow of social opinion, and continuing to affirm its role as the national news agency, a strategic and trusted information organ of the Party, State, and people.
I wish veteran journalists, distinguished delegates, and all comrades good health, happiness, and success.
Thank you very much!"/.
