According to Mr. Hoang Vinh Bao – Chairman of the Vietnam Publishing Association – this project is a pioneering flag for the idea and goal of developing reading culture.

Having traveled to many countries around the world, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thai Ha Books, member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Publishing Association – found that compared to many countries, the reading rate among Vietnamese people is still very low. 

Mr. Hung believes that for a country to develop, its people must acquire knowledge. And reading is the shortest and most valid way to this treasure.

Towards that goal, on February 22, in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung launched the project “Promoting Vietnamese reading”.

“This will be one of the opening events for a series of programs to promote a vibrant and meaningful reading culture taking place across the country in 2022 and the following years,” said Mr. Hung.

Kick off the reading spirit

In order for reading promotion activities to spread strongly and have a great impact on a large number of people, it is a priority that domestic and foreign organizations and individuals be connected into a whole.

As the person who came up with the idea and initiated the implementation of “Vietnam reading promotion” project, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung presents the concern: “If reading culture does not develop, where will the book industry go? If the book industry is closed, where will the country go?” Therefore, an important goal is to encourage reading.

“Parents read with children, wives read with husbands, bosses read with employees, teachers read with students, that is how we create the effect of everyone reading. This project is carried out to kick off the reading spirit of people”, said Mr. Hung.

Also at the event, on behalf of Thai Ha Books, he gave VND 222 million for reading promotion activities in Vietnam. He thought that this is just a symbolic number, not too big, but it is the seed of motivation to encourage and promote reading together.

Mr. Hung also shared that there are many ways to promote reading culture, such as: Organizing reading programs, talks and exchanges; writing book reviews; or encouraging the opening of book clubs, book ATMs, community bookcases, etc. The sooner we start, the sooner we will receive signs of a flourishing reading culture.

The pioneer flag of the industry

Mr. Hoang Vinh Bao – Chairman of the Vietnam Publishing Association – said that this is a meaningful activity in fulfilling the goal of the whole publishing industry: Developing reading culture. This idea not only matches the desire of the Vietnam Publishing Association but also plays a role of a pioneering flag for a series of reading promotion activities.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said that the book market has been diverse and there have been many books publishing units, but the publishing industry in particular has not met expectations. The reason is because the reading culture in the country has not really developed.

According to Mr. Nguyen, books make the path to wisdom and the project “Vietnam reading promotion” is the premise for revitalizing the whole industry and bringing the country to a prosperous development.

“I believe that in the time coming up, many units will respond and implement similar projects to spread the reading habit more widely to people. The publishing field must find ways to not only make books but also achieve the goal of expanding the reading market” said Mr. Nguyen.

With this project “Vietnam reading promotion”, Thai Ha Books CEO wishes that the spirit of reading will spread. Mr. Hung claimed that if activities to encourage reading among people can be maintained and developed, reading culture will surely see positive progress in about 10-20 years.

“No matter how small the scale is, the more people work together, the greater it becomes. No matter how tough the task is, the more people work together, the easier it is done. The same goes for the aim to develop reading culture. No matter how hard it is, the more we work together, the sooner we achieve.” he added.

Thu Hue.