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Ambassador Mark Kent speaking at Digital Diplomacy Workshop on 27 October 2009

Ambassador Mark Kent speaking at the Digital Diplomacy Workshop co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the British Embassy in Hanoi on 27 October 2009.

On 27 and 28 October 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British Embassy jointly held the Digital Diplomacy Workshop, which is among many activities recently co-organised by the two organisations.

The workshop attracted nearly 100 representatives from different ministries, provinces, diplomatic missions and international organisations in Vietnam. In his opening speech, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong expressed his appreciation for this initiative of the British Embassy. He emphasised that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to information technology (IT) and is trying to make Vietnam a developed country in this area, with a focus on promoting IT applications in government and party agencies. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is always keen to use IT and the internet to enhance the diplomatic work and promote the image of Vietnam.

The British Ambassador Mark Kent highlighted Vietnam’s success so far in marketing its image through public and cultural diplomacy. He expected this workshop to trigger the further use of online engagement tools in the Government’s public relations activities.

The workshop is the chance for participants to share their experience in using such tools as websites, blogs, Flickr and YouTube to increase the information exchange among government agencies, and between government officials and the public.