VJA Standing Vice Chairman, Le Quoc Trung made the statement at a workshop on Media and Access to Information held in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on December 17. 

Mr Trung emphasised that “the media has high responsibility for people’s access to information so there should be sanctions to ensure the provision of information for the media.” 

For her part, UNDP Country Director Setsuko Yamazaki emphasised the need for Vietnam to promulgate a law on access to information. “Now is a critical time to discuss the access to information because Vietnam is about to transit from a low-income to a middle-income country,” said the UNDP representative. 

More than 40 editors in chief and representatives of relevant Government agencies joined the event, focusing on the need to promulgate the law as soon as possible. They also called on law makers to give the media a special position to broaden the media’s access to information as well as their responsibility for people’s access to information.