Mekong - U.S. Partnership
HANOI – On Tuesday February 7 the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi launched the first of several English language training seminars for 17 government officials from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos as part of a broader cooperative effort under the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI). The seminars are hosted by Hanoi University and Vietnam’s participants come from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Ministry of Education and Training.
“These seminars not only provide useful skills for professional development,” said U.S. Embassy Acting Public Affairs Officer David Moyer at the opening ceremony, “but more importantly they provide an opportunity for government officials to develop new relationships with their counterparts from the LMI countries.”
The course is designed to provide 40 hours of intensive instruction in English language skills that will help the participating officials more effectively communicate with each other as they collaborate on issues of mutual concern as neighboring countries in the lower region of the Mekong River. The courses are taught by an American expert on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and will continue for six months. Similar seminars are happening concurrently in Vientiane and Phnom Penh.
The Lower Mekong Initiative, launched in July 2009, is a multinational effort intended to foster cooperation between and among Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and the U.S. in the areas of education, health, environment, and infrastructure. These sectors form the four pillars of the LMI. A primary objective of the initiative is to build local capacity to allow the region to more effectively collaborate across borders and to overcome local obstacles in meeting regional challenges and opportunities.
Source URL: http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/pr020812.html
