Vientiane Times gears up for next achievements, despite challenges of the digital era

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 had a severe impact on the global economy and all traditional media outlets around the world, including Vientiane Times - the leading English language newspaper in Laos.
During these challenging times, the management board and the newspaper’s staff have worked together to develop new forms of media to meet the needs of the digital age.

At the same time, restrictions caused by the pandemic meant that new working methods had to be introduced. This was challenging and required a lot of dedication to ensure that news could continue to be delivered to the same high standard, while making sure that staff understood the need to make changes during the New Normal.
This year, Vientiane Times is 28 years old. Compared to other major media outlets this is a young age, but the newspaper is endowed with the necessary knowledge and ability to carry out its duties and political mission as assigned by the Party and State.
Under the development motto spelled out at the 5th Party Congress of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism: “Strong leadership, sacred governance, modern news, culture civilisation and sustainable tourism,” as a media organisation we must translate our slogan (modern news) into reality.
There is a lot of potential to do business side by side to serve professionals in the modern digital era, through a wide market and the use of modern communication tools, to achieve our goal of being fast, accurate, secure and reliable, and to reach the target audience as needed.
Vientiane Times is aware of the need to develop our staff, which is a decisive factor, along with the development of our work, so that the newspaper grows in terms of both quantity and quality, so that we can integrate regionally and internationally, according to the target set at the 6th Party Congress of Lao Press in Foreign Languages.
Self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and self-empowerment in administration and finance have been practised since the day the newspaper was established.
The leadership has been innovative in spearheading development and has improved service mechanisms and administration in line with the changing needs of society. This has taken place smoothly, efficiently and effectively, and our work has gained the trust of the public, both domestically and internationally.
Newspapers, which are the traditional form of media, must adapt to modern times and trends in news delivery by using modern technology to circulate information and carry out activities related to advertising, business and trade.
Since its establishment, Vientiane Times has improved both in quantity and quality.
From 1994 to 1996 it was a 16-page weekly black-and-white publication.
In November 1996 this increased to 20 pages with full colour front and back covers.
Current subscribers to the paper and online version can be found in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania.
Vientiane Times is a tabloid-size newspaper with various sections covering a wide range of news and features, including home, regional and international news, home and world business, art and culture, opinion, lifestyle, tourism, health, education, entertainment and sports.
Over 60 percent of Vientiane Times subscribers are Lao, but the majority of online subscribers are foreigners living outside Laos. In the digital age, thousands of readers subscribe to the paper online, because it is easier and quicker to get information this way.
To celebrate the 28th anniversary of Vientiane Times on April 7 and modernise systems for subscribers, the newspaper became the only English newspaper in Laos to launch Lao and Chinese language websites on September 11, 2019, and then an online payment system on April 9, 2021.
The e-payment system, jointly developed with Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL), enables customers to subscribe to online news and the newspaper, advertise, and pay service costs online.
Payments can be made with a credit or debit card and by scanning QR codes. The cards that can be used are BCEL China UnionPay, VISA, MasterCard, JCB, American Express and China UnionPay. QR codes that can be used are BCEL Onepay, UnionPay, WeChat Pay and Alipay.
In addition to the English version, Vientiane Times created a Lao language facebook page and website on September 11, 2019.
Vientiane Times has become not only a bridge connecting Laos to the rest of the world, but is also a place where students, from both Laos and overseas, come for internships. The newspaper has also welcomed visits by foreign ambassadors to Laos, as well as representatives of international organisations and overseas media delegations.    
The paper strictly adheres to ethical standards of journalism and tries hard to fulfill its slogan of being “fast, accurate, reliable and responsible”.
In terms of international cooperation, since 2005 Vientiane Times has been a member of the Asia News Network, the most active newspaper alliance in Asia with 24 member newspapers in 21 countries. The network’s members are Brunei, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.  
Vientiane Times also partners with various news agencies in the exchange of daily news stories and images, namely Xinhua, Kyodo, Vietnam, Maeil Business of the Republic of Korea, Russia Beyond the Headlines, and the Korean Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In 2019, Vientiane Times became a member of the Belt and Road News Network Council for the exchange of daily news stories and images with 32 media organisations in 25 countries.
In the same year, Vientiane Times partnered with the Global Times, the Chinese Science & Technology Daily, the Turkish News Agency of Anadolu, and the Asian News International of India.
In 2020, Vientiane Times teamed up with the ITAR-TASS and Sputnik news agencies of the Russian Federation, the People’s Daily of China, and the Global Economic News of Korea for the exchange of news and photographs.
Current media products and services include paper subscriptions, online subscriptions, paper advertisements, online advertisements, CDROMs containing all issues of Vientiane Times, a news message service via mobile phone through Lao Telecom and Telecom Lao, dictionary software in Lao-English-Lao and Lao-Lao, photography and videography services, meeting room service, and journalism training courses.

By Sisay Vilaysack
 (Latest Update April 7, 2022)