(VOVWORLD) - In recent years, Vietnam and Bulgaria have seen positive developments in multiple areas, with media of the two countries playing an important role. To deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and their people Director General of Bulgarian National Radio Milen Mitev made a working visit to VOV to explore opportunities for future cooperation.
 At the working session between VOVWorld and the delegation of the Bulgarian National Radio in Hanoi on March 25, 2024 (Photo: Tham Long/VOV5) |
Bao Tram: Welcome to Vietnam and welcome to the Voice of Vietnam and VOVWorld-VOV5.
Mr. Mitev: Thank you very much. Hello to you and to all the listeners of Voice of Vietnam.
Bao Tram: The Voice of Vietnam and Bulgarian National Radio are both State media agencies with a long history of development. After touring VOV5 and talking with our staff, what is your impression?
Mr. Mitev: I think we share a lot of similarities. We try to provide our audience with quality news and good entertainment. We try to do high-quality journalism, which is getting more and more difficult these days with all the challenges from the tech companies and the international situation that’s becoming more and more difficult. It's getting hard for journalists to work. It's getting hard for media to exist and it's exactly at this time that we need to be strong and help each other.
We both produce content in different foreign languages, for foreigners living in our countries, for our own people living abroad, and for anyone else who would like to know more about our countries. And I think in this we can help a lot by providing more information, because today people are flooded with all sorts of information from everywhere, but not all of it is true, not all of it is checked, not all of it is correct, and that's why it's important to get the information from a trusted source. And throughout the partnership between BNR and VOV, especially with regards to our foreign language programs, I think that we can have our audiences gain a better understanding of our countries. That's why I'm very happy to be here and to start a deeper partnership between Bulgaria National Radio and Voice of Vietnam.
Bao Tram: What do you think of the potential cooperation between BNR and VOVWorld?
Mr. Mitev: I think we have a lot of opportunities to work together because, as I said at the meeting with your colleagues, world channels like VOV5 and Radio Bulgaria are usually the ones that are the most open and forward thinking, so it would make a lot of sense to start our cooperation exactly from your programs. In recent years, we’ve produced a lot of non-linear digital content which is made mostly for digital platforms, social media, in order to get the younger generation to listen to and see our media content. I think this is a very good starting point to share content that tracks the interest of the younger generation.
 Milen Mitev, Director General of the Bulgarian National Radio, at VOV5's studio (Photo: Tham Long/VOV5) |
Bao Tram: I know that you have а very extensive experience in working with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). At the EBU General Assembly in Geneva last December you were unanimously elected to the Union’s Executive Board. Are there any plans for cooperation between the EBU and the Voice of Vietnam?
Mr. Mitev: The EBU has a very large network of members, including associate members from outside of Europe, so I would be more than happy if we can find a way to cooperate, both through cooperation between the EBU and the ABU, the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, and also directly with the Voice of Vietnam. Because Vietnam is becoming more important as a country, I think it’s going to be very good to have a deeper relationship between Voice of Vietnam and European public media.
Bao Tram: Vietnam and Bulgaria signed diplomatic agreements in February 1950 and agreements in culture, science and education in 2000. A generation of Vietnamese studied and worked in Bulgaria and got to know the country quite well. To make Bulgaria more familiar to Vietnamese people, especially youths, do you, as the leader of the Bulgarian National Radio, a major media agency of Bulgaria, have any specific suggestions to realize this goal?
Mr. Mitev: I think, first of all, we need to share information about news and current affairs, about what's going on in both our countries, as well as information which is more constant in time like cultural information and general information about the country because I think both Bulgarians and Vietnamese can benefit from knowing more about each other. Yes, traditionally we've had very good relations and we’re working on deepening those relations in sustainable green energy, the environment, and institutional reform, so there are many areas in which our countries can cooperate, and I think cooperation between BNR and VOV fits very nicely into that picture.
Bao Tram: Thank you, Mr. Milen Mitev, Director General of Bulgarian National Radio, for joining us today. We hope that Voice of Vietnam, the Bulgarian National Radio, and the European Broadcasting Union will have fruitful cooperation in the future and we wish you a pleasant stay in Vietnam. Thank you.
Mr. Mitev: Thank you.