Vietnam’s Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung opened the Radio Asia conference in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday.

Mr Dung lauded the radio industry for remaining a “popular and efficient means of communicating” with the public.

The annual event, organised by the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), comes as several Asian countries move towards the adoption of digital radio.

Although no firm announcement is due from Vietnam at this year’s conference, PM Dung reaffirmed his government’s “road map towards the adoption of digital technology by 2020”.

He said Vietnamese officials had “devised a number of policies to help develop the local broadcasting industry”.

To coincide with the conference, a test broadcast of DAB+ digital radio technology was organised on Saturday.

Delegates were driven round Hanoi to listen to digital audio broadcasts by the country’s national broadcaster Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

Vietnam has already held tests for other digital radio standards, including Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and HD Radio.

Indonesia has already confirmed that it will use the DAB+ standard when it rolls out digital radio, an official from World DMB told Asia Radio Today.

Thailand has also conducted DAB+ tests and representatives from the country’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission are due to speak at this year’s conference.