Addressing a press conference in Hanoi, Le Hai Binh, Standing Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee for External Information Service, said that first launched in 2014, the Awards have gradually gained a foothold among the national award system. Through eight successful editions, the National External Information Service Awards have affirmed its prestige and quality while creating a space of creativity for Vietnamese and foreigners who engage in the external information service. The Awards have also attracted the strong participation of authors/groups of authors who are overseas Vietnamese and foreigners, many of whom won high prizes for their works/publications. The Awards are open to works in Vietnamese and foreign languages that are posted on mass media outlets or published, distributed, announced, or used in Vietnam or other countries from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. The deadline for entry submission is July 31, 2023. On the occasion of the launch of the ninth Awards, the VNA introduced a photo collection themed “Heart-melting humanity in quake epicentre Turkey” taken by its reporters in Hatay province, described as a “ghost city” after the historic earthquake in Turkey in February 2023./.