The three-day event is co-organised by the British Embassy, in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The course will help to sharpen skills and knowledge for government information officers. There will be 30 officials across ministries and government bodies in the Northern provinces attending the course.

Speakers at the course are high-profile Vietnamese officials in the media and information sector: 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 from 15 -17 November for government information officers from the Southern provinces.

The course is conducted by Steve Hoselitz, a British national. Steve 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 cooperation activities on media and information between the governments of the UK and Vietnam and a strong signal of the new Strategic Partnership.