A training course for government spokespersons opened in Ha Long city, the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Nov. 10 by the British Embassy in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC).

The three-day course, designed for 30 officials across ministries and government agencies in the north, is expected to help sharpen skills and knowledge for government information officers, according to the British Embassy.

A similar course will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from Nov. 15-17 for government information officers in the south.

The course is conducted by Steve Hoselitz, who is a British 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.

Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Hubert Cooreman, a former spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Financial Times correspondent in Hanoi Ben Bland are expected to attend the course to talk about communicating in a crisis and share view on interactions between media and government spokespeople.

This project is part of a series of cooperation activities on media and information between the governments of the UK and Vietnam and a strong signal of the new Strategic Partnership.

The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Information and Communications in October 2010 with the view to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area./.