“The 14^th APEC Summit, which will see the participation of many foreign delegations, is Vietnam’s most important diplomatic event in 2006,” said Mr Khoan. “Therefore, the press and information channels for overseas service should cover the country’s drastic changes to help the world better understand our country, people and land. Particularly, the summit will be a chance for the press to promote the image of Vietnam throughout the world.”

Mr Khoan added that Vietnam is in the process of joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and therefore its preparations for the admission are also one of the highlights of dissemination work in 2006. According to Mr Khoan, bilateral negotiations with the four remaining WTO members are progressing.

Speaking at the conference, VOV director general Vu Van Hien said in 2005, VOV’s dissemination work for overseas service focused on improving the quality of its outputs. In addition to broadcasts in 12 languages for more than 100 hours a day, VOV will launch its broadcasts in German on March 1, 2006.