Digital Diplomacy Conference for Vietnamese Diplomats

16:00 06/09/2021

On August 31st, 2021, Civil Service College Singapore (CSC) and Technical Cooperation Directorate (TCD) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore collaborated with the Foreign Service Training Center (FOSET) under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) to organize an online conference on Digital Diplomacy for Vietnamese diplomats.

At the workshop was the presence of Mr. Ian Tan, Deputy Ambassador cum Counselor to the Singapore Embassy to Vietnam, Dr. Pham Lan Dung, DAV Acting Director (DAV), and Mr. Bui Nguyen Long, Deputy Director General of the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam (MOFA).

Addressing the opening remarks, Dr. Pham Lan Dung said that from the beginning of the 21st century until now, digital diplomacy has become an indispensable part of the overall foreign policies in many countries. The difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to diplomacy further show the importance of digital diplomacy. Digital diplomacy is no longer a tool, but it also contributes and brings about many new, positive, and effective features to diplomacy in general. External activities such as negotiating and exchanging information, or promoting the country’s image, etc. have been implemented through technological platforms. 

Also at the ceremony, Mr. Bui Nguyen Long, Deputy Director General of the Department of Personnel and Training, MOFA affirmed that with the goal of developing a “modern diplomacy” strategy as stated in the Resolution adopted by the 13th National Party Congress, MOFA is expected to play a pioneering role in expanding and improving infrastructure capacity, diplomatic personnel, as well as launching new initiatives on “digital diplomacy”. MOFA is also implementing development strategies to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world, thus this Digital Diplomacy conference plays an important part in such joint development strategy.

The conference was virtually held in half a day with contents designed specifically for Vietnamese diplomats, based on Vietnam's practical needs in digital diplomacy. The event enjoyed the sharing from two guest speakers: Ms. Bhavani Krishnasamy, CSC training specialist, and Ms. Tan Li Ting, Ministry of Information and Communications of Singapore. With discussion sessions on “Public Communications in a VUCA World” and “Effective Communications in the Age of COVID-19”, the guest speakers have brought about useful information to Vietnamese diplomats.

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