Objective

The overall objective of the project was to create an International Documentation and Information Centre (IDIC) within the Foreign Ministry of the LAO People’s Democratic Republic in Vientiane, Laos aimed at providing information and support to Lao Government officials involved in liaising with ASEAN and the EU (the Lao PDR being the coordinator of ASEAN – EU relations at this time) and at supporting the training efforts of the Euro-TAL project focused on strengthening Lao administrative and governmental capacity in dealing with foreign affairs and the development of a market economy. The target audience was principally Government officials, but others with an interest in international relations – especially relating to the EU and ASEAN - and in trade, economics and related issues were expected to be catered for too. 

Activities

The contribution of the College of Europe to the project consisted in the organisation and management of the following activities: 

• Advising on relevant information resources to be obtained
• Advising on suitable information management software
• Purchasing state of the art IT equipment with internet access
• Ordering relevant books and other information resources from the UK and sourcing information materials in Bangkok and Singapore
• Training staff assigned by the Lao PDR Foreign Ministry to work in the IDIC in cataloguing, accession and management procedures for hard-copy documentation 
• Training IDIC staff in conducting information research both online and in hard-copy
• Providing training for IDIC staff in procedures for running an enquiry service for stakeholders and interested user groups
• Leading IDIC staff training visits to the EU Delegations in Bangkok and Djakarta, the Foreign Ministries in Bangkok, Singapore and Djakarta, and to ASEAN Headquarters in Djakarta
• Liaising extensively with LAO PDR officials, Government officials in several regional countries, the EU Delegation in Bangkok, and suppliers in Laos, Thailand and the UK
• Designing the IDIC website