Hanoi (VNA) – Since its establishment in 1961 atan initiative of the UNESCO, the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies(OANA) has become a forum at which news is directly exchanged among newsagencies, helping popularise the official news from each country to the regionand the world, a leader of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) has said.

In an interview on the threshold of the 44th meeting of the OANA Executive Board in Hanoi from April 18-20 under the themeof “For a professional and innovative journalism”, VNA Director General NguyenDuc Loi further affirmed that the information released by the organisationconveys a message of a human society and a region of peace, prosperity andmutual understanding among the peoples of the countries. OANA membership sees44 news agencies from 35 countries, including major and influential ones, whichhas created a strong voice of the organisation over the past nearly sixdecades.

In the recent years, in face of the diverse development ofnew media forms on the basis of the modern technology as well as the rapid spreadof fake and wrongful news, the OANA not only plays the role of providinginformation directly to press outlets and partners but also shoulders the responsibilityof journalists in verifying information, thus creating the trust from thepublic to the official media, the official said.

Director General Loi added that the OANA also serves as aquality professional forum among the top journalists in the region and affirmsitself as a regional press organisation which has been enjoying rising prestigein the world media and working in an effective way.

On the role and contributions by the VNA in the OANA, Loistressed that the early joining of the organisation, in 1969, shows thenational news agency’s proativeness in the international integration.

During the war, the VNA’s membership of the OANA effectivelyhelped bring information on Vietnam to the world so that foreign friends could understandand support the Party and State’s policies and stance. The news agency has alsoreceived very valuable and heartfelt help from friends in many fields togradually perfect and develop itself into a multimedia group as it is now, theofficial said.

Since its participation, the VNA has been an active memberof the OANA, updating information to the organisation, taking a full andresponsible part in activities within the framework of the OANA. The VNA hasbeen elected to the OANA Executive Board for two consecutive terms since 2013, DirectorGeneral Loi highlighted.

The official further stressed that in the current context,the intensive and extensive international integration by the VNA will helppopularise information on the party and State’s policies and guidelines to thepublic in the region and the world over. He also highlighted that the selectionby the OANA of the VNA as the host of the meeting affirms the role and thevoice of Vietnam’s national news agency in the multilateral news organisation.

In the context that news agencies are facing the challengeson the reform of content and technology, the selection by the VNA and the OANAsecretariat of the theme of the meeting manifests the responsibility of thehost to the development of the organisation so as to strongly popularise themain flow of information in the world, thus helping build a healthy, professionaland innovative journalism in Asia-Pacific, General Director Loi affirmed.

The 44th meeting of the OANA Executive Board willbe an important event of the journalist circle in the region, manifesting theVNA’s proactiveness and activeness in the current intensive and extensiveinternational integration, the official concluded.-VNA