Students: 'everyone is an ambassador'

"The Road to Marketing Vietnam", was organised by the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper along with advertising companies Vietnam Marcom, Future o­ne and Golden Event.

It aims to encourage young individuals and organisations from different backgrounds to contribute their ideas toward introducing Vietnam to the world as a peaceful, dynamic and developing country.

Under the moniker "Everyone is an ambassador" representative Phung Tien Cong, 24, said young Vietnamese now have a wealth of opportunities and should be asking what they can contribute to national development.

"I like the idea behind the programme's slogan, an appeal to young Vietnamese at home and abroad to work together o­n behalf of the motherland," Cong said during the event's o­nline seminar, which attracted youngsters from the country.

As the youngest-ever manager of the Financing and Promoting Technology Corporation (FPT) - Vietnam's leading IT company - Cong believes that the future is in the hands of the young.

"All of us should live, study and work as if we are the country's ambassadors," he said.

Born in the mountainous northern province of Son La, Cong faced challenges to get to his lofty position today. While at university in 1999 he won an AusAID scholarship to study biology in Australia.

After returning home in 2004, he decided to work for FPT where he could complete projects important to him, like introducing Vietnamese music to the world through a website.

With FPT, Cong's site www.nhacso.net. features a variety of the country's music and is becoming popular among Internet users, attracting some 80,000 hits per day.

Cong's colleague, tourist guide Vu Minh Tho, encouraged people from remote areas to join the programme, "It doesn't matter where you are from, everyone should take part in building the Country."

Tho, 27, was nominated as o­ne of the world's best tourist guides as voted by readers of UK's Wanderlust travel magazine.

He said that youth should take it upon themselves to promote the county because many thought this was the Government's duty o­nly.

"We should live our lives for the bigger picture, not just for ourselves," he added, "like as a guide, I'm enthusiastic about Vietnam from the heart, not for pay."

Young representatives Nguyen Phi Van and Van Dinh Hong Vu concurred, saying, "We think working hard to help the world better understand Vietnam and its rich history, culture, and recent economic and social gains is the best contribution to the programme."

Marketing Vietnam

Sponsored by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Mobile Telecom Service Company (MobiFone), the programme covers a variety of sectors like culture, trade, tourism and sports.

"We're interested in supporting the programme because it unifies people in working together to improve the country's global image," said Dang Hong Ky, vice director of the Mobifone's Services Centre II in HCM City.

If you are interested in becoming an ambassador like Cong and his colleagues, send your ideas to http.//www.tiepthihinhanhvietnam.org.vn.