Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s fight against COVID-19 and the East Seadispute were among the topics covered in winning reports by foreigners at the 6th National External Information Service Awards, reflecting the significant interestamong foreigners in the country’s domestic and international affairs.

In the first half of this year, as the world was struggling against COVID-19,Vietnam emerged as one of only a few countries to successfully bring the diseaseunder control.

Reporting and writing on the pandemic dominated the list of winners at thisyear’s awards ceremony, held in Hanoi on July 28.

The viral “Vietnam We Thank You - Vietnam co len!” social media campaign,the brainchild of Wayne Worrell, an English teacher in Hanoi, won the “Initiative”award. He and friends living in Vietnam created photos and videos in April callingfor resilience and thanking frontline workers and doctors for their devotion.


In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, he shared his thinking in kickingoff the project: “So I thought, well, why don’t we do more? Let us, the expat community,thank the doctors, the nurses, the police, the military and the volunteers for theirsacrifice to keep us safe. I reached out to friends. They reached out to their friends.And I got pictures and videos from different people.”

The project surprised even him by going viral.

“I’m glad it did because it got more people involved, more people wantingto help. And the main point of it was to unite the expat community with the Vietnamesecommunity, to become as one and become stronger and fight COVID-19,” he said.

Worrell is now working on his newproject by starting a Facebook group titled “Vietnam Loves You”, which he saidaims to show the true beauty of the country and its people.

This sixth holding of the awards saw the highest-ever number of submissionsfrom foreign reporters and academics. Foreign reports delved deeply into thecountry’s economic reform, its economic and investment cooperation potential vianew-generation free trade agreements, and its central role in ASEAN, particularlyin settling the East Sea dispute.

Rudroneel Ghosh, Assistant Editor on the Editorial Page at the Times of India,won first prize for his article on ASEAN centrality and the East Sea dispute.

He told the Vietnam News Agency that Vietnam is very important for ASEANcentrality, as it has been vocal and forthright on this particular issue.

“And as the current ASEAN Chair, I believe Vietnam can bring all the otherASEAN members onto a common platform,” he said. “Vietnam’s approach to fosteringshared prosperity and positivity in the East Sea region is laudable and should besupported.

“Its approach could be a model of peace and development in the world.”


Articles and analysis from foreign journalists and scholars on Vietnam helpedreflect national development and the Party and State’s stance on international andregional issues.

Ulises Granados Quiroz, Coordinator of Asia Pacific Studies at the InstitutoTecnológico Autónomo de México, said international reporters writing about Vietnamis an opportunity for them to voice their opinions and for the public in theircountries to gain insights into Vietnam.

He wrote a series of articles in the Mexican-based El Universal newspaperon China’s survey vessel group Haiyang Dizhi 8’s geological survey activities inVietnam’s UNCLOS-defined exclusive economic zone and southeastern continental shelfin July 2019. The series was among the winning entries at the awards.

The 6th National External Information Service Awards attractednearly 1,300 entries in 17 languages in various categories, including print newsin Vietnamese, e-newspapers in Vietnamese, print newspapers in foreign languages,e-newspapers in foreign languages, radio, television, photos, and books.

The Vietnam News Agency, a winner at the awards formany years, picked up 44 prizes, including seven first prizes, eight second prizes,seven third prizes, and 22 consolation prizes./.