The government is aiming to improve the skills of its workers through a joint programme by the British Embassy and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC).
The first three-day course, which will be held November 10 in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province, will help to sharpen the skills and knowledge of government information officers. There will be 30 officials across ministries and government bodies from northern provinces attending the course.
Speakers at the course will be high-profile Vietnamese officials in the media and information sector. Attendees will include: Mr. Le Nghiem, Head of External Information Directorate (MOIC), Mr. Hoang Huu Luong, Head of Press Department, Mrs Nguyen Phuong Nga, Head of Press and Information Department (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
A second course will be held in Ho Chi Minh City for government information officers from southern provinces November 15-17.
The course is to be conducted by Steve Hoselitz, a British national. Mr. Hoselitz is a media trainer, with a lifetime\'s experience in publicity and journalism as a PR consultant, writer and newspaper editor. He has trained both journalists and non journalists on projects for UNESCO, the United Nations, and the EU.
In addition, there will be two special guests at the course: Mr. Hubert Cooreman, Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam, and Ben Bland, Financial Times correspondent in Hanoi.
Ambassador Hubert Cooreman, a former spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will talk about communicating in a crisis. Ben Bland will share his view on interactions between media and government spokespeople.
This project is part of a series of cooperative activities on media and information between the governments of the UK and Vietnam, it also serves as a strong signal of a new strategic partnership. The two countries signed off a Memorandum of Understanding on Information and Communications in October 2010 with the view to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area.
This preceded a visit to the UK by the Vice Minister for Information and Communications in which he met with UK Foreign Office\'s Secretary of State Jeremy Browne and visited BBC, Reuters and the Press Complaints Commission.
