Over 19,000 reporters receive press cards nationwide

Illustrative photo

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has granted 19,166 press cards so far, heard a conference in Hanoi on July 9.

According to reports delivered at the conference, 1,066 journalists received their press cards during the last two quarters.

Vietnam has a total of 1,083 press agencies, including 857 printed newspapers and magazines; 159 online newspapers and magazines; and 67 radio and TV stations, reports said.

As of June 30, as many as 1,510 websites and 288 social network pages have been licensed. Meanwhile, there are 75 telecom service suppliers and 71 internet service providers operating in the country.

In the first six months of the year, Vietnam’s telecom services made a total revenue estimated of over 182 trillion VND (8 billion USD), equal to 49.1 percent of the set target and up 4.8 percent over the same period last year.

The sector contributed an estimated over 23.5 trillion VND (over 1 billion USD) to the State budget, equaling 51.3 percent of the plan.

The number of operating mobile phone subscribers has so far reached 124 million, of which 3G and 4G subscribers have increased by 29 percent.

The country’s revenue from information and communication technology in the period was estimated to reach 1 quadrillion VND, presenting a year-on-year increase of 16 percent.

IT exports hit 918.3 trillion VND (40 billion USD), up over 16 percent against the same period last year, including nearly 884.1 trillion VND from hardware and 34.2 trillion VND (1.5 billion USD) from software.

Revenues from printing and publication, pay-TV, and postal services reached 32.2 trillion (1.4 billion USD), 3.57 trillion VND (155.8 million USD), and 8.1 trillion VND (353.5 million USD), respectively.

Representatives from the MoIC said the ministry has worked closely with Facebook and Google on building a channel to effectively remove information violating Vietnamese laws on social networks.

Google is committed to abiding by the laws of Vietnam and cooperating with the country in ensuring cyber security.