The virtual conference to guide provincial statisrics offices holding press realease on social- economic situation

In the afternoon of June 4^th, 2021, the General Statistics Office (GSO) held an online conference to guide the Provincial Statistics Offices to hold a press conference on socio-economic statistical data. Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, General Director chaired the conference, Direct participants at GSO’s headquarter were representatives of leaders and statisticians from units under GSO and 63 online points at Provincial statistics offices (PSOs).

Speeching at the opening remarks of the Conference, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong emphasized the importance of the press conference to announce socio-economic statistics as one of the important activities of dissemination activities. Being piloted from 2019 and officially implemented in 2020, the press conference to announce every socio-economic 6 months and the whole year data of PSOs has achieved remarkable results, helping to bring statistical information to the public, making statistics available to a wide range of users, creating trust and consensus of the People’s Committees, local departments and agencies in using statistics calculated and published by the Statistics sector. However, the organization of press conferences also encountered many difficulties due to objective and subjective reasons that needed to be discussed and resolved. Implementing the Conference Program, the participants listened to the presentation by leaders and statisticians of the Integral Statistics and Statistical Information Dissemination Department, System of National Accounts (SNA) Department, Figures and Events Review, the following contents: Guidance on the procedures and preparing documents for the press conference; methods to write socio-economic reports and press releases; to make slides for a press conference; to discuss on disseminating GRDP; to ask questions and interact with journalists during press conferences. The conference also spent time for participants to discuss the contents presented.

Speaking at the closing of the Conference, Director General Nguyen Thi Huong once again affirmed the importance of holding a press conference to announce socio-economic data at PSOs, taking into consideration as both a responsibility, obligations and interests of the Statistics sector and at the same time assign tasks to units under GSO and PSOs to continue to perform better this task in the coming time./.