Reading culture, and digital transformation to be further promoted

On July 12, the remark was made by the Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of its Commission for Popularisation and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia, at the 5th Congress of the Vietnam Publishing Association.

The event was also attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen The Ky, former member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts; leaders of departments, ministries, branches, and representatives of publishing units.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue sent flower baskets to congratulate the congress.

Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of its Commission for Popularisation and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia presents a flower basket to the Congress.

In his opening speech, Hoang Vinh Bao, Chairman of the fourth-tenure Vietnam Publishing Association, said that the Congress took place in the context of domestic and international publishing, having profound changes in many factors.

The contents discussed at the Congress and the tasks and solutions proposed by the Congress are of practical significance, contributing to building a stronger Association, promoting the development of Vietnamese revolutionary publishing, in the direction of modern, professional, and humane, proactively integrating with regional and international publishing, selectively absorbing world cultural quintessence following Vietnamese national culture.

The delegates attending the Congress.

Five goals for the 2017-2023 term: Developing a reading culture in the community; Developing a healthy publishing industry; Improving the quality of human resources in the Publishing industry; Strengthening foreign affairs; Supporting development in publishing and digital transformation.

Speaking at the congress, Nguyen Trong Nghia stated that, during 70 years of construction and growth, Vietnam's publishing industry has made very important contributions, bringing us from a country lacking books to a developing country. In the past year, it has grown to develop in terms of scale, technology, level and capacity, on par with the region, with a system of 57 publishers, over 450 million copies of books per year, bringing the average level of books per capita, to 6 copies per person, each year.

Nguyen Trong Nghia speaks at the Congress.

The congress appointed a new 37-member executive committee for the association, with Pham Minh Tuan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief in charge of Tap Chi Cong San (Communist Review) elected as chairman, who was former Director and Editor-in-Chief of the National Political Publishing House.