Katara Public Diplomacy Center (KPDC) held a public diplomacy training course at the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), on Monday as part of the training plan for Qatari public diplomacy - January 2023. The course brought together 32 male and female employees representing nine government agencies and cultural, media and sports institutions nationwide. It focuses on understanding the origins and development phases of public diplomacy up to the present day.
State protocol and diplomatic etiquette expert, Omar Ghanem, said that public diplomacy deals with the emotions of public opinion and complements the message of traditional diplomacy, with the aim of crossing the political borders that separate societies and address people directly through various cultural, economic and educational tools to achieve communication between peoples.
He highlighted culture as a main public diplomacy pillar that establishes pan-peoples strong relations, noting that Qatar invested in distinct cultural tools, the most important of which was the Cultural Village Foundation - Katara which reflects the State of Qatar's cultural and historical roots and promotes its heritage, traditions, and societal values, as well as its role in converging world cultures through its activities, cultural weeks, restaurants and various facilities.
The public diplomacy approach is not new in Qatar, with the country investing huge resources in this field, Ghanem added.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 produced a new concept of ambitions and potentials for achievements, Ghanem said, pointing to the timing of the training course that came after Qatar's World Cup hosting, which requires preserving the sustainability of the World Cup legacy in introducing the cultural heritage and contributing to promoting the country's mental image.
On Thursday morning, the KPDC, in cooperation with the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau, will hold a lecture entitled 'Public Diplomacy and Leadership Development', to be presented by Hamad Bin Khalifa University's Professor Mustafa Elamin.
