Hanoi’s press center for SEA Games 31 opens

The center is equipped with high-speed internet transmission, television screens, and laptops for domestic and international reporters to work in the most convenient way.

The media center for the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) in Hanoi was officially opened on May 9, serving as a hub for international journalists and reporters during the biggest sporting festival in Southeast Asia.

SEA Games 31 is underway in Hanoi and 11 nearby localities from May 6 to May 22, with the attendance of around 10,000 athletes and officials from 11 Southeast Asian countries.

This is the second time Vietnam has hosted such an important international sporting event with the last being in 2003. SEA Games 31, themed “For a stronger South East Asia”, will attract around 3,000 domestic and international journalists and reporters.

The press center has a capacity of 300 seats in the main room and is equipped with high-speed internet transmission, television screens, and laptops for domestic and international reporters to work in the most convenient way.

Delegates attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the media center.

According to the Director of the SEA Games 31 Press Center, Le Thi Hoang Yen, the center is open for all reporters who are the bearers of the pool card issued by the Organizing Committee.

Economic & Urban Newspaper’s reporters work at the Press Center. Photo: Trong Tai

Coming to Hanoi for the first time on the occasion of SEA Games 31, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) reporter Zulfadhli Zulkarnair said that after a long period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, journalists now have the chance to participate in a regional event: “I am very excited about coming to Hanoi and meeting with many people in the capital city. They are likable and friendly when they help us. Although I had a bit of a language barrier, I was guided by them wholeheartedly when I found my way to good restaurants or money changers.”