PM Pham Minh Chinh hands over appointment decision to Vietnam News Agency’s General Director Vu Viet Trang. (Photo: VNA)

The ceremony was also attended by Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and representatives from relevant ministries and agencies and the VNA’s departments.

On behalf of the Government, PM Chinh congratulated Trang on her appointment, saying she is the first female leader of the State-run news agency.

The appointment reflects not only Trang’s efforts in her career but also the VNA’s personnel reform, the PM said, expressing his hope that she will continue to outstandingly complete her assigned tasks.

On this occasion, PM Chinh asked relevant ministries and agencies to coordinate with the VNA and its General Director in the common work, helping the VNA carry forward its role as the strategic news agency of the Party and the State.

Vu Viet Trang, born October 16, 1969, graduated from the Vietnam National University - Hanoi, majoring in English, in 1993.

She started working at the VNA in 1993 as a sub-editor at the News for Foreign Service Department.

In 2004, she was promoted to head of the English Desk at the News for Foreign Service Department and Assistant to the Department’s Director.

In 2005, Trang was appointed Deputy Director of the Editorial Secretariat and External Relations Department of the VNA.

She became Director of the Editorial Secretariat and External Relations Department in 2011.

On November 17, 2017, Trang was appointed Deputy General Director of the VNA by the Prime Minister.

During her career, she has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Certificates of Merit several times, for contributions to the coverage of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting and related meetings in 2006 and the communication drive on the 12th National Party Congress in 2016, for outstanding work performance in 2018, and for her role in the communication drive on the Vietnam ASEAN Year 2020.

She was admitted to the Party in 2000, and has been a member of the VNA’s Party Committee since 2014 and a member of the standing board of the VNA’s Party Committee since 2015.