11 June 2015
Vietnamese youth are increasingly turning to online news sources over state TV, according to data issued today by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Gallup. When asked to name the three media outlets that are their most important sources of information, almost three-fourths (74.1%) of those age 35 and older include state-run VTV among their responses, while less than half of those age 15-34 (48.6%) do so. Young people, in turn, are more likely to name online sources – most commonly the popular Vietnamese news and information portals 24 Gio and Dantri.com, and the global social media giant Facebook.
“While television ownership remains almost ubiquitous, and frequency of TV and radio use has changed only slightly, the proportion of Vietnamese adults who use the Internet weekly or more continued to rise, from 26.3% in 2012 to 38.8% today,” explained Betsy Henderson, Director of Research, Training and Evaluation at Radio Free Asia. “Mobile ownership has grown by 10 per cent since 2012, and it is the growing availability in web-enabled phones that is a key factor in rising Internet use in Vietnam.”
Mobile phones have become the primary means of accessing the Internet in Vietnam, with eight in 10 weekly web users saying they used their mobiles to go online in the past seven days. By contrast, less than half (45.5%) say they have used a desktop computer to do so, and just over one-fourth (26.5%) have used a laptop.
Despite the country’s restrictive media environment, Vietnamese are extremely avid news consumers; almost nine in 10 adults (88.0%) say they access some type of news at least daily while almost all (96.8%) do so at least once a week. There is little difference among education or age categories in these results.
Unlike in China, which has a similarly restrictive media environment, Google and top-tier social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube are available to the public, and are accessed by more than one-fourth of all adults and a majority of those age 15-24 on a weekly basis.
Almost all Vietnamese are comfortable with the idea that media organizations should advocate national interests; 92.1% strongly or somewhat agree that Vietnamese media should present the country and its people in a positive way. However, most Vietnamese (58.2%) believe personal blogs are more believable than official news, pointing to an underlying distrust of state media, particularly among younger and better-educated adults.
22 May 2014
Leading regional broadcaster, Channel NewsAsia, announces that it intends to open a new bureau in Vietnam. This will be the channel’s 14th bureau in Asia, following the launch of the Yangon bureau in January 2014 in Myanmar. The bureau will increase Channel NewsAsia’s ability to cover the region’s developments more comprehensively, reporting from the ground with credibility and authenticity.
Ms Debra Soon, Managing Director of Channel NewsAsia says, “Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, is a fast growing and vibrant business hub. Having a ground presence there will allow us to uncover business opportunities, look at companies and developments, and beyond business, report on how a new generation of Vietnamese see themselves and the rest of Asia. We have been covering South East Asia well for the past 15 years, it’s time to go even further and beef up our ability to cover the IndoChina region even better, a mass of over 220 million people in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.”
Ms Soon made the announcement at Channel NewsAsia’s Vietnam Business Insights in Ho Chi Minh City today.
The channel’s premier regional business forum gathered expert speakers and international corporate leaders to discuss the new growth model for sustainable development in Vietnam. Delegates shared views on “Redefining Sustainable Business Growth for Vietnam”, with a look at how the transformation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the private sector need to drive growth in the country.
Panel speaker and CEO of Ho Chi Minh Securities, Mr Johan Nyvene, said “Vietnam has re-emerged from global economic challenges and has rewarded savvy investors with good opportunities. Channel NewsAsia’s Vietnam Business Insights provides an excellent ’insider’s look’ at local issues.”
Leading Vietnam economist, Dr Le Dang Doanh, noted the strong economic outlook for the country, with international financial institutions forecasting a stable annual GDP growth rate at 5.6 – 5.7% in the coming years. But he said there remain other challenges.
CEO of KPMG Vietnam and Cambodia, Mr Warrick Cleine, said “sustainable growth will not occur without a robust corporate sector. There’s a real need for local companies to step up their service levels to be competitive.”
The panel discussion today is facilitated by the channel’s award-winning business journalist and presenter, Ms Lin Xue Ling.
About Vietnam Business Insights
Business Insights is a regional series of Channel NewsAsia’s CEO leadership seminars, aimed at establishing linkages across Asia by promoting the understanding of the business climate and practices in the host country.
Hosted in Ho Chi Minh City over two days on 21st and 22nd May 2014, the event kicked-off with a corporate golf challenge at Long Thanh Golf Club, attended by more than 100 participants.
Highlights of Vietnam Business Insights – Redefining Sustainable Business Growth for Vietnam will be broadcast on Channel NewsAsia on 5 June 2014.
The Business Insights series has been hosted in Jakarta, Bangkok, Yangon, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. It will next travel to Kuala Lumpur in September 2014. (Source: Press release)
