During the first half of 2011, 9,567 books with 159,769 million copies have been published, which represents a 113.2 percent year-on-year increase.

Yet there are still many publishers who barely reach their targets such as Thanh Nien and Thanh Hoa Publisher who published o­nly 0.3 percent and 1.6 percent of their initial plan.

Even worse, for half a year now, three state-owned publishers Hong Duc, Nong Nghiep and San Khau have not put out any books or printing products, a report at the conference said.

For Hong Duc, managed by the Vietnam Lawyer’s Association, the current difficulties it has to deal with are not new but have lasted for years, an inside source confirmed.

According to the source, as the publisher is short of investment from the parent organization, it has to struggle with financial constraints and a lack of staff, which leads to its recent poor performance.

Ngo The Ngoc, head of San Khau Publishing House which issues books o­n theatre and dramas, said it plans to print 20 new books this year.

Since all of them will be printed during the latter half of the year, not producing anything since January is not a serious problem, he reasoned.