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A new building will be constructed to house the State Publishing and Books Distribution House, allowing it to improve the services it offers to the Party and government.
Lao and Vietnamese officials at a ground-breaking ceremony.
The construction was made possible through funding assistance from Vietnam. A ground-breaking ceremony was held yesterday in Vientiane, with construction expected to be completed in December.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism Mr Buangeun Saphouvong and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos, Mr Ta Minh Chau and included representatives from the relevant sectors in Laos and Vietnam.
This building will be a modern 3-floor facility of around 510 square metres in size, constructed by the Vietnamese 36 Corporation. The total cost of construction is 10.2 billion dong (about 4 billion kip) granted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The new building will have offices for staff and will be a place where government and Party materials can be edited, published, and distributed, Editor in Chief of the National Political Publishing House of Vietnam, Dr Nguyen Duy Hung, said at the ceremony.
The building will also have facilities to welcome guests, in order to facilitate cooperation with foreign publishing houses and international organisations interested in working with the State Publishing and Books Distribution House.
The new building will be able to meet a growing demand for printed materials and will become a cultural centre in Vientiane in the future, Dr Nguyen said.
The publishing and distribution sector is vital for disseminating important ideas of the Party, government and people. The printing of educational materials makes it a centre for education and is important for the development of future scholars, he said.
The building will also have a role demonstrating the policies, ideas and vision of the Party and government as well educating the people to increase the nation's development, Dr Nguyen said.
For 30 years, the National Political Publishing House of Vietnam has always provided assistance to the State Publishing and Books Distribution House in Laos, said the department Director, Mr Vivanh Chanthakhot.
Each year, the National Political Publishing House has provided books to Laos, at a total cost of hundreds of millions of dong.
In 2003, the National Political Publishing House, with financial support from the Central Administration Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, presented a printing machine and equipment to Laos at a cost of more than three billion dong (more than one billion kip).
“The assistance greatly helped our development,” Mr Vivanh said. He hopes that this new facility will allow the publishing sector to be of even greater service to the Party and the government.
This project forms one of many activities undertaken as part of the close cooperation and special relationship between the two nations of Laos and Vietnam.
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