When Viet Nam News first hit the news-stands in 1991, it was a modest four-page newspaper whose stories were written, edited and proofed by hand.

Since then, Viet Nam's major English language daily, published seven days a week, has kept pace with the rapid strides taken by the country in its economic renovation and its integration with the regional and world economies.

We recently upped our size from 28 to 32 pages a day, providing comprehensive coverage of the latest domestic and international developments in all areas including politics, economics, business, social affairs and sport. Special pages carry comment, analysis, and reports on the environment, science and technology, lifestyle and key social issues.

Our Talk Around Town column presents the thoughts and views of a wide cross-section of Vietnamese people on their society. Business Beat offers incisive comments on commercial matters.

Entrepreneurs swear by our newly-expanded business section, with special features including updates on all the latest laws, interviews with local movers and shakers and a hotline where we answer your toughest questions.

Sunday Viet Nam News acquaints readers with the many captivating aspects of Vietnamese culture and society, and profiles its many beautiful tourist destinations. For 2002, the Sunday edition has a new look and more columns.

Regular columns in this issue include Traditional Miscellany, in which celebrated polymath Huu Ngoc offers fascinating insights into the quintessence of Viet Nam.

Kaleidoscope, which captures the country's many strange colours; and photo features like Just a Second.

Travelling even further from our humble beginnings, a team of knowledgeable, dedicated and committed workers have launched the newspaper into cyberspace.

Just as Viet Nam News picked the perfect moment to launch Viet Nam’s English-language daily newspaper 17 years ago, we believe we have picked the perfect time to publish a national English-language monthly.

We can say that because, just as publication of the Viet Nam News coincided with the introduction of  doi moi, or renewal, the launch of our new publication, Outlook, coincides with the consolidation and deepening of the change.

Outlook provides our readers with a broad but focused view of Viet Nam’s transition and integration into the world’s economy together with comprehensive reporting and analysis of the relevant issues through the best in English language journalism.

Outlook, our new 68-page full-colour, A4 sized publication on high-quality glossy paper went on sale in early January, 2004.

Reader support and suggestions have always been crucial to our growth, and we seek similar support from our Internet readers to help us improve our services.

So don't hold back: please use the Tell us page for your suggestions and comments.

We welcome you to Viet Nam, a land where tradition, culture and art thrive as the nation grows and develops.