Asean officials discuss regional awareness ….

Since yesterday, Bernama sat as a member of the Malaysia’s delegation at the Asean Senior Officials Meeting Responsible for Information (SOMRI) in Kuala Lumpur.

The two-day meeting focussed on efforts to promote regional awareness towards the creation of an Asean Community by 2015.

The officials agreed to enhance cooperation and joint activities by leveraging on new and existing regional platforms and networks of press, television, radio, film, digital broadcasting and others.

Two working groups would be formed: the first, on information, media and training (including new media) with Vietnam taking the lead, and the other, on content and production, tasked to Malaysia to prepare the recommendations.

This is in addition to the existing working group on Asean Digital Broadcasting (ADB) supervised by Brunei Darussalam.

The meeting, chaired by Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Ministry's secretary-general Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Siaraf, also entrusted the Philippines to study special projects on marketing plan so as to enable the various programmes to be implemented on a stronger footing.

All 10 Asean member countries and the Asean Secretariat attended the meeting.

Bernama was represented by Deputy Editor-in-Chief (International News Service) Ahmad Zukiman Zain alongwith officials from Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), Information Department and  National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) in the delegation led by Communications and Multimedia Ministry's deputy secretary-general Datuk Dr Rothiah Omar.