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Published on March 21, 2008

Earlier in the week, representatives from media organisations, both practitioners and educators, met for a two-day gathering hosted by the Foreign Ministry and the Public Relations Department.

The EAMF will meet annually at an agreed time and venue, attended by a core group that will coordinate among the member countries and follow up on various proposals and joint programmes. Both the Foreign Press Centre of Japan and the Korean Press Association have pledged to provide fellowships and internships for journalists from the APT. All of which are welcome developments.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, who delivered the opening speech to the meeting, congratulated the group and expressed the wish that the EAMF would help strengthen the community-building process in East Asia.

During the two-day deliberations, participants agreed that increased news flow and analysis from APT countries was pivotal to address the imbalance of information. This, indeed, is essential. They also said that the EAMF could serve as a sounding board for the APT meeting ahead of their annual summit.