Monrovia – As the country gears up to hold its General and Presidential election in October this year, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia H.E. Ren Yisheng at the Diplomatic Development Initiative (DipDev Init) forum says for Liberia to gain its face Internationally, the maintenance of peace should not be overlooked.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh (0886729972)-[email protected]
“The primary task for Liberia to enhance its international state image is to maintain long-term peace and stability and achieve national reconciliation and unity. This is an important prerequisite and guarantee for achieving prosperity and development and enhancing the country’s international image,” Ambassador Yisheng said.
The Diplomatic Development Initiative (DipDev Init) is a forum to enrich the intellect of young aspiring diplomats. The forum is an initiative of Ambassador Ali Sylla, Head of Mission, Embassy of Liberia in Qatar.
Speaking on International State Branding and Soft Power Diplomacy, the Chinese Ambassador to Liberia said
Liberia’s international state branding and her soft power diplomacy started back when the country first gained its independence on the African continent.
Ambassador Yisheng said the country had superior natural conditions, rich mineral resources, and huge development potential in agriculture, forestry, fishery, and tourism before the civil conflict broke out in 1989.
He added: “Liberia was an important rice-producing country in West Africa and a favorite destination for education, medical care, and tourism in the sub-region.”
Ambassador Yisheng said after the conflict, Liberia has been committed to maintaining peace and stability and trying to restore its pre-conflict position in the subregion.
Despite the country’s return to its pre-war status, Ambassador Yisheng says Liberia is faced with challenges like damaged infrastructure, inadequate exploration of development potential, insufficient public services, and lagging education and training of young people.
He said the country needs to accelerate the construction and improvement of infrastructure, especially roads, electricity, and telecommunications.
The Chinese Ambassador said, “Vigorously develop agriculture to realize self-sufficiency of staple food, and actively develop education, vocational training, health care, and tourism.”
All of those things the Chinese Ambassador to Liberia said will attach importance to the publicity of the country’s international image and public diplomacy.
Ambassador Yisheng added: “It will cultivate public diplomacy talents, and carry out relevant international cooperation.”
He told the audience at the forum that every citizen in Liberia is a unique “name card” of the country.
“All of you present here are both common individuals as well as representatives of Liberia. If your words and deeds can contribute to shaping Liberia’s favorable state image, then you have also contributed to enhancing the country’s soft power,” he said.
Ambassador Yisheng added: “If you become senior officials or leaders of private institutions, such as a minister or director in the government, a CEO of an enterprise, or a chairman of an NGO, you should attach importance to building up the awareness of the institution images and public relations while ensuring the excellent performance of the work or business.”
“If some of you become leaders of this country, you may think about this issue at an even higher level. First of all, you should make your country achieve tangible construction and development results and strive to improve the people’s well-being, which is the basis of everything.”
He called on the young aspiring diplomats to be good at exploring the value of Liberia’s unique culture, and promote it to the world in a more magnetizing approach.
Ambassador Yisheng: “We believe that, with the concerted efforts of the government and the society as a whole, the hard and soft power of Liberia will be gradually enhanced. The Chinese side including our embassy near Monrovia is ready to carry out exchanges and cooperation with Liberia in this regard.”