The Cultural Village Foundation Katara announced yesterday that it will host the 8th general assembly meeting of the GPDNet on February 21 and 22. The event will see participation of 22 countries, in addition to the launch of the conference ‘Public Diplomacy in the Arab Gulf States: Policies and Practices’, held by Katara and represented by the Katara Public Diplomacy Center, in cooperation with the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, on February 19 and 20, with the participation of diplomats, researchers, experts and academics from Qatar and 13 countries from around the world.
This has been confirmed in a press conference held in Katara, in the presence of Professor Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of the Cultural Village Katara, Head of the GPDNet, and Darwish Ahmed Al Shaibani, Secretary-General of the GPDNet and CEO of the Katara public Diplomacy Center, and media representatives.
Prof. Dr. Al Sulaiti expressed, during the press conference, his happiness to host two international events, the 8th general assembly meeting of the International Public Diplomacy Network, which Katara presides over its current session, pointing out that the important international meeting in which about 22 out of 27 member states of the (GPDNet) will work to develop relations, strengthen cooperation and coordination, and increase joint work among all members. The second event is the launch of the conference “Public Diplomacy in the Arab Gulf States: Policies and Practices”.
For his part, Engineer Darwish Ahmed Al Shaibani, Secretary-General of the Global Public Diplomacy Network and CEO of the Katara Public Diplomacy Center, expressed his aspiration that the meeting and conference contribute to strengthening the status and presence of public diplomacy, in an effective and sustainable manner in the process of development, progress and renaissance, stressing that they constitute an international forum that enhances scientific and knowledge exchange to reach the best policies and practices in public diplomacy,
Al Shaibani revealed that the 8th meeting of the General Assembly of the International Public Diplomacy Network will witness an increase in the level of representation of the member states of the network, as each country is represented by a high-level delegation comprising ambassadors and senior diplomatic figures, pointing out that Katara has succeeded in strengthening the status of public diplomacy and the need to give it the priority and attention it deserves.
He added that the next meeting will also witness the election of the first board of directors of the international public diplomacy network, with the aim of creating strong and lasting relations between member states, expressing his hope that public diplomacy will become an important part of the fabric of public life and that its presence will be strengthened in the general strategy of countries in the context of their foreign policies.
He said that the conference will symbolise an ideal platform to review the latest theories and ideas in public diplomacy, bringing together elite diplomats, researchers and academics from Qatar and various countries of the world, with the objective of benefiting from contemporary international experiences and exploring new horizons for public diplomacy in light of the rapid international challenges and changes, pointing out that a book containing all the research and working papers participating in the conference and will be issued by the conference and distributed to the attendees.
