MOFA's seminar seeks to better implementation of digital diplomacy: Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu spoke at the event in Hanoi, on November 2, 2022. (Photo: WVR/Anh Son)

The seminar, organised in a hybrid format, attracted the participation of representatives from ministries, sectors, businesses leading in digital transformation, and 80 Vietnamese representative missions abroad.

Addressing the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu said that digital diplomacy has increasingly asserted its indispensable role as an effective tool for countries to implement foreign policies, and raise their voice, role and position in the world.

Vietnamese Ambassadors to the United Nations, the European Union, the US, France, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and Singapore shared policies and experience in carrying out digital diplomacy in their host countries.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the technology business community, representative of Viettel Group highlighted the factors that ensure success in digital transformation, especially the digital technology platform and database to serve the decision making process, and the transformation to digital thinking in operations and management.

The seminar, organised in a hybrid format, attracted the participation of representatives from ministries, sectors, businesses leading in digital transformation, and 80 Vietnamese representative missions abroad. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Son)

Most of the speakers emphasized that in recent times, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, digital diplomacy has increasingly affirmed its role as an effective and complementary method to traditional diplomacy, contributing to unprecedented levels of interaction between countries. Accordingly, countries with different levels of development quickly grasp to be able to deploy foreign policies more effectively.

Besides, the strong development of the industrial revolution 4.0 has promoted digital transformation, digital cooperation has become an increasingly important connotation in international relations. Digital technology is now no longer merely a technical factor, but an increasingly important area of ​​cooperation between countries, with many digital partnerships being established.

To effectively implement the work, delegates proposed Vietnam invest more resources, improve infrastructure, make data-driven decisions, enhance the delivery of public services to citizens on digital platforms, train tech-savvy diplomats, and perfect the related legal system.

It is necessary to support ministries, sectors and localities in the digital transformation process, they added.