The Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) has called for a stronger tool tokeep the public well informed and ensure people’s right to access information.

Le Quoc Trung, VJA Standing Vice Chairman, made the statement at aworkshop on Media and Access to Information held in association with the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP) on December 17.

Trung emphasisedthat “the media holds high responsibility for people’s access to information sothe media’s access to information is very important and there should besanctions to ensure the provision of information for the media.”

For herpart, UNDP Country Director Setsuko Yamazaki emphasised the need for Vietnam topromulgate a law on access to information.

“Now is a critical time todiscuss the access to information because Vietnam is about to transit from alow-income to a middle-income country,” said the UNDP representative.

“Certainly the current process of drafting and discussing a draft law onaccess to information in Vietnam can be seen as a positive indication of thegoodwill and determination of the Vietnamese Government to improve transparencyin public sector,” said Yamazaki. “Speeding up the drafting process would bringthe benefits to society sooner rather than later,” she said.

More than40 editors in chief and representatives of relevant Government agencies joinedthe event, focusing on the need to promulgate the law as soon as possible.

They also called on law makers to give the media a special position inthe bill with articles to broaden the media’s access to information as well astheir responsibility for the people’s access to information./.