The ceremony was held by the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee's Commission for Communication and Education, in co-operation with Steering Committee for External Information Services.
The National External Information Service Awards 2016 received nearly 900 submissions in 17 languages, which was an increase of 6 languages compared to last year. The works praised for their quality and content, with a variety of topics.
After two rounds of judging, the organisers selected 69 works to award, including 6 first prizes.
Journalist Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, VTV International, "Day of return- Vietnamese Footprints"-Television category first prize said: 'Day of return- Vietnamese Footprints is the story about overseas Vietnamese living all over the world. Receiving this award is a really big encouragement to me and the members of the team. It will motivate us to find new stories, meeting new people in different places, and have more stories to tell the viewers.
The new category for this year's awards was literature. The entries were again praised for their quality.
Vietnamese publishers and a number of foreign publishers have submitted a total of 57 works and 57 different books. There are books that have more than 600 pages, measuring 24x30 cms, made very elaborately. They left good impression and admiration from me and give me the interest to read more.
This is the third year the National External Information Service Awards have been held. The awards aim to motivate journalists and media to actively participate and contribute to improving the effectiveness of external information works.
Hoang Ngoc Ha, Director General, External information and International Co-operation, Party Central Committee's Commission for Communication and Education said: The themes of this year's submissions are focused on issues such as the protection of island sovereignty, introduce the image of Vietnam's people and landscapes and the views of international friends about Vietnam. Notably, there are books written by foreign ambassadors and the active participation of overseas Vietnamese as well as international friends.
Memoirs of an Ambassador in Vietnam by former French ambassador to Vietnam Claude Blanchemaison won a first prize in the literature category.
