OANA president Aslan Aslanov urges need to set up organization's secretariat

Baku, September 1, AZERTAC President of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Aslan Aslanov said that in the upcoming OANA meeting in Tehran, setting up a secretariat for the Organization will be proposed. Aslanov, also chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan's AZERTAC news agency, made the remarks while speaking in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency as Tehran prepares to host an OANA meeting on Monday. 'Setting up OANA's Secretariat will prove helpful in effective management of the Organization,' Aslanov said. He expressed hope that important decisions will be taken about the future activities of the Organization in the upcoming Tehran meeting. 'We have plans to make proposals like launching OANA media school, and holding training courses and conferences aimed to promote the effective activities of the Organization during Tehran meeting,' Aslanov said. Noting that 44 news agencies from 35 counties are members in OANA, the official said that the Islamic Republic News Agency is one of the most active members of the Organization. OANA president said that the Organization provides one-third of the world news at present. Referring to the rise of fake news reports in the world, Aslanov said that access to reliable news sources is needed more than ever and therefore the activities of OANA member news agencies are of special significance. Underlining the need to make use of the most advanced technologies by the media, the OANA president said that he has made every effort during his two-year tenure in office to use technologies to complete the activity of OANA website and publish news on social networks. The 43rd meeting of the executive board of Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) will be hosted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in Tehran on September 3. The day-long meeting will be attended by heads and senior officials of 19 news agencies from Russia, Republic of Azerbaijan, China, Qatar, Turkey, Oman, Mongolia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bulgaria, and the Iranian Mehr News Agency. Most of the participating news agencies are members of the executive board, and some are invited as the observers and special guests in Tehran meeting. The OANA was founded in 1961 with the goal of facilitating information dissemination in the region, supported by the UN cultural entity, the UNESCO. The organization covering two thirds of the world population has now 44 members from 35 countries of Asian and Oceania. Iran, as a long-standing member, has been the rotating president in 1997-2000. The period was followed by a term of vice-presidency until 2016. The country is now a member of OANA executive board. The last (16th) general assembly of OANA was held in Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku, in 2016 to submit the presidency to the Central Asian country. At Tehran meeting, South Korea is expected to assume the rotating presidency for the coming three years. The executive board comprises of 13 members with AZERTAC, TASS, Xinhua, Yonhap and Anadolu as its current board of directors members.