Bernama to host OANA board meeting in February 2015

Bernama has been given the honour to host the next Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Executive Board Meeting from February 12 to 15 in Kuala Lumpur next year.

The decision was taken at the OANA's 37th Executive Board meeting which opened in Manama, the capital of Bahrain today.

Bernama is represented by Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zulkefli Salleh at the forum,  held alongside the meeting of  the Federation of the Arab News Agencies (FANA) Secretariat (board).

The two regional alliance will hold their first meeting tomorrow to establish cooperation.

The OANA Executive Board Members comprises AAP (Australia), Azertac (Azerbaijan), Xinhua (China), PTI (India), IRNA (Iran), Kyodo (Japan), Bernama (Malaysia), Montsame (Mongolia), Yonhap (South Korea), ITAR-TASS (Russia), Anadolu Agency (Turkey), WAM (United Arab Emirates), VNA (Vietnam).

The current members of FANA Secretariat are the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA), Qatar News Agency (QNA), Morocco News Agency (MAP) and Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

OANA Executive Board President and Itar-Tass Director-General Sergei Mikhailov extended sincere thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by BNA, for the excellent organisation of the meeting and the warm welcome accorded to the participants.
In a statement delivered on his behalf by OANA Secretary-General and Itar-Tass First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman, he affirmed the news agencies' role in providing accurate and credible information.

BNA Acting Director-General  Mohannad Al-Noaimi reaffirmed the importance of the Arab-Asian media cooperation in achieving a unified media strategy that meets the interests of the member states.
He expressed pride in Bahrain's hosting of the meeting, affirming the participants' keenness to prove that media success requires a positive and mature environment that promotes truth and credibility.
He stressed new agency's capability to assume their role round the clock using high skills based on justice, speed, credibility and objectivity.
He described the meeting as a good opportunity to exchange views and expertise on ways to enhance fruitful cooperation among OANA members so to be able to cope with the rapid changes in the media field.

Founded on UNESCO's initiative in 1961, OANA is the world's largest media organisation comprising 44 news agencies from 35 countries.

It was aimed at promoting alternative points of view on global developments and uphold the idea of a multi-polar world.

The OANA member countries account for two-thirds of the world news flows.