The press holds crucial role to business development

What is the role of the press in supporting the government and businesses to achieve developmental goals?

Tran Ba Dung, head of Professional Affairs at the Vietnam Journalists’ Association

The role of the press is eminent in driving national development, as well as in each field of social and economic life. Towards policymakers, the press serves as a useful information channel to keep abreast of contemporary and modern development trends, from there being able to enact or revise policies in a timely manner.

For investors, diverse sources of information in the press, particularly in economic, political, and social fields, serve as useful references and enable them to draw proper investment decisions, revise business plans, and more.

In addition, the press not only presents and disseminates policies and orientations of the government and each locality; it also creates a social critical platform towards these legal documents.

Many issues raised by the government have been handled directly by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers who have assigned other government members, and leaders of provinces and municipalities to directly handle and then make responses to government leaders and the press.

For its part, the economic press helps spread eminent models of successful individuals and business organisations for society to learn from. It also covers information about rivals and business partners at a time of open economy and international integration, yet tough market competition.

Last but not least, the press can also affect the business ethics of entrepreneurs and economists. In fact, the press plays a very

important role in detecting and bringing to light many wrong-doings of businesses and entrepreneurs, helping to shape a wholesome business environment.

How do you assess the mutual support relationship between the press and businesses?

Towards businesses, the press plays a particular role, acting as a companion to business development, and simultaneously, both sides have a mutual support relationship. Accordingly, every press organisation needs support from businesses, including financially independent ones.

The press helps reflect business operations. Meanwhile, businesses provide vivid information sources to the press. How could the press survive without a substantial feeding stock as a business operation?

As the press also provides economic, social, and political information, it is deemed as vital to entrepreneurs. Economic information in the press may cast large impacts, and partly affect the investment and business trajectory of businesses and investors who turn to the press searching for information related to markets, customers, products, investment, and the business environment.

The press also proves an efficient channel for business marketing and promotion. Apart from their specific channels, businesses have growing demands for product and image promotion through the press. No press support means that businesses could lose out on development opportunities, leave market spaces vacant, and ultimately have to pull out of the market.

How can the press do better to strengthen its role towards the ­government, businesses, and ­investors?

First, it is important to accurately perceive the role of the media and the press towards the government, businesses, and investors. This is a mutually beneficial relationship. The press must motivate the development of diverse economic, cultural, social, defence, and security fields. It must play a role in expanding democracy and strengthening social critique.

And it must promote people’s direct involvement into social and economic development management, resolving major issues in the country.

In the current context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the media and the press should be serving as a ‘life school’ to people and entrepreneurs, holding at high esteem traditional values, and playing its part in Vietnamese culture and human development.

Second, training and improving knowledge and writing skills about economic issues to reporters is also crucial. Economic press is specific, so it requires particular skills and economic knowledge.

Third, ethics and experience are vital and must be continually improved by reporters writing on economic issues, as this field is sensitive to temptations. Having sound professional ethics is of foremost importance.

What’s your suggestion for VIR in the path ahead to better serve investors and businesses?

VIR is very necessary to investors and enterprises. However, containing more insightful analysis would be beneficial to investors and businesses.

What is more, it is also important for the articles to have a more critical nature, as well as provide updated information about the investment and business climate in countries around the world.

As for outlook, VIR is doing a good job, and it may want to further increase interactions with readers though online editions to better serve the reader and investor communities.