Improve the effectiveness of information, propaganda and policy communication work for affiliated press agencies.

Carry out tasks in the Prime Minister's Directives: Directive No. 09/CT-TTg dated March 31, 2021 on improving the effectiveness of information and propaganda work to serve political tasks and essential information of press agencies in the period 2021 - 2025, Directive No. 07/CT-TTg dated March 21, 2023 on strengthening policy communication work; based on current information and propaganda requirements and tasks.

Improve the effectiveness of policy communication work for press agencies directly under the Ministry of Information and Communications. — Party Central Committee Secretary, Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and delegates visit the booth at the National Press Festival. Illustrative photo

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) requests the Central Party Committees; Central socio-political organizations; Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Government agencies; Office of the National Assembly, Supreme People's Procuracy , Supreme People's Court, State Audit; Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations; Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations; Vietnam Journalists Association; Vietnam Writers Association to provide the following contents:

1. Thoroughly implement the Prime Minister's Directives to enhance conditions for press agencies to perform information and propaganda tasks to serve political tasks and essential information:

- Directive No. 09/CT-TTg dated March 31, 2021, the Prime Minister requested press management agencies to: Create conditions for affiliated press agencies to improve the quality of information; Annually, increase by about 20% the number of news, articles, and duration of newly produced radio and television programs serving political tasks and essential information compared to 2020.

- Directive No. 07/CT-TTg dated March 21, 2023, the Prime Minister requests ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies and People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to: Proactively connect and develop communication networks; allocate funds to strengthen policy communication work. Study the ordering and assignment of tasks to media and press agencies to carry out policy communication tasks in accordance with the requirements and provisions of law.

2. On improving operating conditions for press agencies:

Recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications has received a number of comments from press agencies about difficulties in ensuring resources for information and propaganda tasks and assigning tasks and ensuring conditions for ordering press agencies according to regulations (such as: establishing economic and technical norms, unit prices, product and service prices, etc.) to carry out information and propaganda to serve political tasks, essential information, and policy communication from the state budget. Regarding these contents, the Ministry of Information and Communications has opinions and requests for press management agencies to:

2.1. On strengthening financial resources for press agencies:

Currently, revenue from advertising activities and other services of press agencies is decreasing, press agencies are facing many difficulties; especially press agencies assigned with financial autonomy Group 1, Group 2 according to Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021 of the Government regulating the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units (Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP). Press activities and press agencies are always associated with the task of policy communication, providing essential information, serving political tasks in the field of management of the management agency, so it is recommended that the management agencies pay attention to directing press activities, arranging increased funding in 2023 and arranging increased budget estimates in 2024 for information and propaganda work, especially policy communication for affiliated press agencies to effectively carry out information and propaganda work to serve political tasks, essential information and policy communication, ensuring proper implementation of the licensed principles and purposes and good implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units according to Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP.

2.2. Regarding assignment of tasks, ensuring conditions for ordering press agencies:

a) Regarding the authority to assign tasks and place orders: Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government regulating the assignment of tasks, ordering or bidding for the provision of public products and services using the state budget from regular expenditure sources (Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP) stipulates: “Ministries, central agencies or affiliated management agencies are authorized to decide on the assignment of tasks and ordering the provision of public products and services to affiliated public service units; to place orders (or assign tasks in cases where specialized laws prescribe) to other public service providers; manufacturers, suppliers of public products and services or to organize bidding according to regulations from the central budget source”.

b) Assigning tasks to press agencies for information and propaganda: The conditions for assigning tasks to provide public career services using state budget funds have been stipulated in Article 9 of Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP, in which one of the conditions for assigning tasks to provide public career services is: "The list of public career services for which technical and economic norms and unit prices have not been established, shall be implemented according to the quantity, volume, and reasonable costs according to the estimate approved by the competent authority" (Point d, Clause 2, Article 9).

c) Ordering information and propaganda from affiliated press agencies:

- Conditions for ordering the provision of public career services using state budget funds have been stipulated in Article 12 of Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP, one of the ordering conditions is "List of public career services with technical and economic norms and unit prices, prices of public career services issued by competent authorities as the basis for ordering" (Point b, Clause 1; Point c, Clause 2, Article 12); Implementing Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued Circular No. 18/2021/TT-BTTTT dated November 30, 2021 promulgating economic and technical norms for print and electronic newspaper activities. In the Circular, the Ministry of Information and Communications stipulates the maximum loss level (in terms of labor time, material volume and time using machinery and equipment directly to produce printed and electronic newspaper works) for press agencies to rely on to build their own economic and technical norms and submit them to the competent authority to issue a decision on specific norms for the press agency in accordance with the actual conditions of the production organization model, service provision, technology application level, area of operation, etc.

- In addition, Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP also stipulates : "In case the competent authority has not yet issued economic-technical norms, cost norms, prices of public career services using the state budget shall be determined according to the provisions of law on prices or the average reasonable and valid cost level implemented in the previous 3 consecutive years".

2.3. According to the above regulations, the Ministry of Information and Communications proposes:

a) Press management agencies shall, based on the actual conditions of the unit, consider arranging budgets to assign tasks or place orders to affiliated press agencies according to current specific conditions; enhance conditions for press agencies to perform information and propaganda tasks to serve political tasks, essential information and policy communication;

b) Based on the economic and technical norms issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the competent authorities continue to direct their affiliated press agencies to urgently develop their own economic and technical norms and submit them to the competent authorities for issuance of specific norm decisions so that the press agencies can effectively carry out information and propaganda work to serve political tasks, essential information and policy communication, ensuring proper implementation of the licensed principles and purposes and good implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units according to Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP.

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