Singaporean broadcaster Channel NewsAsia on Thursday announced that it intends to open a new bureau in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the channel’s 14^th office in Asia, following the launch of the Yangon bureau in January 2014 in Myanmar.

“The bureau will increase Channel NewsAsia’s ability to cover the region’s developments more comprehensively, reporting from the ground with credibility and authenticity,” said Debra Soon, Managing Director of Channel NewsAsia.

“Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, is a fast growing and vibrant business hub. Having a ground presence there will allow us to uncover business opportunities, look at companies and developments, and beyond business, report on how a new generation of Vietnamese see themselves and the rest of Asia,” she said.

Soon added that it is the right time for the opening and Channel NewsAsia should focus more on Southeast Asia, especially Indochina.

“In the past we think we can cover all the things happening in Indochina with the Bangkok office but now so many things are happening at the same time in Bangkok, let alone Myanmar and Vietnam. As a result, the opening of the HCMC office will help share the burden with the Bangkok office and offer our audience direct coverage from HCMC.”

Regarding the question if Channel NewsAsia plans to employ Vietnamese staff when opening the office, Soon said there are many options, and hiring suitable Vietnamese candidates is one of them.

The managing director made the announcement at Channel NewsAsia’s Vietnam Business Insights, a business forum gathering expert speakers and international corporate leaders to discuss the new growth model for sustainable development in Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City on the same date.

Business Insights is a regional series of Channel NewsAsia’s CEO leadership seminars, aimed at establishing linkages across Asia by promoting the understanding of the business climate and practices in the host country.

Highlights of the Vietnam Business Insights – “Redefining Sustainable Business Growth for Vietnam” – will be broadcast on Channel NewsAsia on June 5, 2014.

The Business Insights series has been held in Jakarta, Bangkok, Yangon, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. It will next travel to Kuala Lumpur in September 2014. 

“We have been covering Southeast Asia well for the past 15 years, it’s time to go even further and beef up our ability to cover the Indochina region even better, a mass of over 220 million people in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos,” said Soon.