On the afternoon of 13 June 2024, the opening ceremony of the Chinese Training Course for Myanmar officials was successfully launched. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Permanent Secretary U Aung Kyaw Moh of the Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Director-General Zaw Phyo Win of the Strategic Studies and Training Department of MOFA, Director-General Dr. Khin Thida Aye of ASEAN Affairs Department of MOFA, Deputy Chief of Mission Saw Sandy Zaw of the Myanmar Embassy in China, and President Wang Jinhong of Chinese Plus attended the opening ceremony. The Chinese Training Course will be conducted online for 27 government officials of Myanmar MOFA, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and Ministry of Commerce, aiming to improve the Chinese proficiency of the trainees, thus better serving Myanmar-China and ASEAN-China cooperation.
In his opening remarks, SG Shi applauded the Paukphaw friendship between Myanmar and China and their close connection in economic, political and cultural exchanges. Taking language as the medium, he hoped that, through this course, the trainees will not only have a better command of Chinese language, but also have a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and society, so as to enable them to better serve as a bridge advancing cooperation between the two countries.
Permanent Secretary U Aung Kyaw Moh recalled the successful visit of SG Shi Zhongjun to Myanmar last year, and said that among the booming exchanges and cooperation between Myanmar and China, the academic and education sector has emerged as a pivotal mechanism, consistently enhancing the dynamic synergy between both countries. With the ACC being one of the principal promoters in this area, the Chinese training course will support Myanmar in cultivating qualified and skilled translators and interpreters who will serve as invaluable assets in fostering and promoting Myanmar-China friendship.
President Wang Jinhong introduced the Chinese Plus, a resourceful and specialized international Chinese language education cloud service platform, serving over 10 million users in 162 countries. She also shared with the trainees about the teaching plan.
Mr. Ye Zaw Myint, Head of Branch 2, Planning and Administrative Department of MOFA spoke on behalf of the trainees. He expressed gratitude to the organizers for the training program, and expressed willingness of the cohort to devote themselves to learning Chinese language and better serving Myanmar-China exchanges and cooperation in the future.
The very first class of the course was conducted after the opening ceremony. The trainees were introduced to the Chinese language system and the cultural background of the Dragon Boat Festival.