Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira Tuesday said training of officers was must to meet modern challenges effectively and would go a long way in polishing their professional and development skills.
He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a training course for government officers being held under the aegis of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Media University here at Information Services Academy (ISA).
The three-day course (March 2-4) in "Strategic Communications, Public and Cultural Diplomacy" is a collaborative initiative of the Ministry of Information and government of UK with the objectives to impart training by UK trainers to Pakistani officers working in strategic ministries and departments.
Qamar Zaman Kaira said that through such cross-governmental initiatives and collaborations, the democratic government wants to create a dynamic and synergised public diplomacy machinery that articulates and projects a strong Pakistan. He said, "Through creative messaging and innovative practices, we are trying to promote greater understanding between the government and our people on national issues, progressive attitudes, hope and courage."
The minister said the government was endeavouring to play a frontline role in Pakistan's public diplomacy at home and abroad and added, "we cannot meet our goals unless we work in close collaboration and co-ordination with our colleagues in the communications and public affairs departments of other strategic ministries, departments and agencies."
He said Pakistan was facing challenges including terrorism and extremism and emphasised for collective efforts to overcome them.
The minister said he regarded all the participants of this training as a group of upwardly mobile professionals who are poised to play an important role in statecraft. He said Pakistan and UK are partners in war against terrorism but there is a need to enhance bilateral ties in a diverse range of socio-political, economic and cultural sectors in order to bring actual benefits to the people of both countries.
"I believe this collaborative initiative will go a long way in cementing friendly relations between our two countries," he said and hoped the next three days would prove to be an exciting experience for participants as well as trainers. The minister said this activity is need of the hour to generate the highest quality of sharing of knowledge, experience and best practices in fields of work.
He also commended Ministry of Information for its remarkable achievement by bringing together under one roof talented professionals from across the government to achieve a common objective - that of learning best practices and skills from bright peers who have especially flown in from London for this purpose.
He thanked government of UK for taking keen interest in the professional development of Pakistani officers, and for its continued effort to enhance bilateral co-operation between the two countries, particularly in the field of communications. In his opening remarks, Secretary Information, Mansur Sohail highlighted the objectives of the course, which include delivering best practice skill and product-based training in strategic communications and counter-terrorism communications.
The other aims of the course are to develop a Pakistan-UK action plan for joint strategic campaigns between the two countries. He said over the next three days, the trainers from the UK would share with training participants dynamic ideas, key concepts and essential skills necessary to make government communications and outreach both innovative and effective.
In his brief remarks, High Commissioner of UK to Pakistan, Adam Thompson said the training would be an exciting learning experience for the participants and trainers during next three days, hoping "our endeavour delivers our common objectives in the long run to the mutual benefit of both our governments and our peoples."
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