Coordinating Forum for ASEAN News Agency with LKBN Antara, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises. During Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023, Indonesia continues to promote collaboration among ASEAN news agencies through various channels and opportunities (Photo:antaranews.com)

Jakarta (VNA) -  ThroughIndonesia's initiative, several representatives of the state news agencies ofASEAN member countries have agreed to continue developing cooperation toenhance the understanding of the region's population regarding ASEAN policiesand initiatives.

The consensus wasreached at the forum between news agencies which was held online on September 1 by Indonesia’s state news agency ANTARA in collaboration with Indonesia's Ministry of ForeignAffairs and Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

The forum featured Luis A. Morente, Director of the News andInformation Bureau of the Philippines News Agency; Mohd Iswandi, head of Bureauof Bernama of Malaysia; Paul Ravi, Senior Editor of International News at Bernama;Manuel Pinto, President of the Executive Board of the Timor Leste News Agency, andrepresentatives from other news agencies.

Irfan Junaidi, Director of News at the Antara news agencyaffirmed that collaboration among ASEAN media is crucial to be continuouslyimproved to further open channels of communication among countries in theregion through conventional, mainstream, and new media.

He said that throughout Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN in2023, Indonesia has been encouraging collaboration among ASEAN news agenciesthrough various channels and opportunities.

For his part,  HartyoHarkomoyo, Director for Information and Media at the Indonesian Ministry ofForeign Affairs highlighted that information and communication technology hasadvanced significantly since the official media collaboration in ASEAN in 1989during the First Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information. Allsides must harness these developments to enhance ASEAN awareness holistically.

One of the concrete implementations of this collaboration in thenear future is the inauguration of the ASEAN Newsroom Corner at the MediaCenter of the 43rd ASEAN Summit.

In addition, capacity building and trainingwill also be conducted, including workshops, conferences, and competitiveactivities.

Delegates at the event  discussed the use of new media platforms to i🥀nspire the people in the region, thereꦰby making them an increasingly integral part of the ASEAN Community./.