On 17/3, the Secretariat issued Directive 04 on strengthening the Party's leadership over publishing activities. The directive identifies publishing as a crucial ideological domain, essential for building and safeguarding the Party's ideological foundation. It also recognizes publishing as a vital component of culture, contributing to knowledge enrichment, aesthetic guidance, and the advancement of public intellect.

The directive emphasizes that publishing must meet the public's needs for reading, learning, and entertainment, placing readers at its core. It aims to foster a reading culture while developing publishing into an economic and technological industry. Publishing is also viewed as an integral part of the cultural industry, participating in the creation of digital content value chains and digital assets, serving as a channel for disseminating Vietnamese values, and absorbing the essence of human knowledge and culture.

The Party and the State will provide guidance and foster development through mechanisms, policies, and investment, with a focus on public-private partnership models and the modernization of technology and infrastructure. Improving the quality of human resources and innovating training and management are identified as urgent tasks for building a professional publishing workforce.

By 2030, Vietnam aims to establish a streamlined, modern publishing system and form national key publishing and media groups operating across multiple platforms and offering diverse products. The publishing industry will accelerate digital transformation, develop electronic publishing, and apply artificial intelligence and big data throughout its operational chain. Concurrently, efforts will be made to build a unified system of digital libraries, reading spaces, and electronic bookshelves, with priority given to disadvantaged regions.

Alongside these efforts, international cooperation will be expanded to introduce Vietnamese books to the world and absorb global knowledge. Specific targets include 100% of publishing houses participating in electronic publishing and 80% of printing facilities achieving modern technological standards.

Looking ahead to 2045, the publishing sector is envisioned as a digital economy industry, with enterprises possessing international competitiveness and participating in the global market. Vietnam aims to become a regional and international hub for publishing innovation, exchange, and cooperation.

Nguyen Van Binh Book Street during Tet Binh Ngo, 1/2026. Photo: Quynh Tran

Nguyen Van Binh Book Street during Tet Binh Ngo, 1/2026. Photo: Quynh Tran

To achieve these objectives, the Secretariat mandates improving institutions, removing bottlenecks, and establishing financial mechanisms and preferential policies to mobilize resources for the industry's development. Publishing content is identified as a core product of the cultural industry, requiring focused investment. Furthermore, governance models must be innovated, and new publishing formats developed in conjunction with digital transformation.

Management agencies will intensify inspections and strictly address violations of law and professional ethics, especially in the digital environment. Mechanisms for copyright and author rights protection will be enhanced. Policies are also being developed to safeguard publishing professionals from acts of defamation, distortion, and cyber-attacks.

The directive also calls for fostering a reading culture, creating modern reading spaces, and elevating the quality of the National Book Awards. It mandates developing digital technical infrastructure, shared data, and interconnected library and distribution systems. International cooperation will be expanded to promote copyright exchange, bilingual publishing, and integrate Vietnamese books into the global supply chain.

Concurrently, the publishing industry is tasked with building a high-quality workforce possessing political steadfastness, professional expertise, and strong professional ethics, capable of meeting the demands of development in the digital era.

Nguyen Phong