Asean Information Officers Meet In Kuala Lumpur

Ravichandran D.J Paul KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- The 11th Conference of Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) starts on Tuesday with officials deliberating on ways to create greater Asean Community consciousness among the region's more than 500 million population. The biennial conference kicks off with Asean senior officials responsible for information (SOMRI) evaluating past efforts and proposing new ideas to help realise the ASEAN Community plan by 2015. The three-day conference with the theme "Media: Connecting peoples and Bridging Cultures Towards One Asean Community" will be held at the Royal Chulan, here. Asean information practitioners have adopted numerous approaches in getting the Asean Community message across by utilising the available media resources of the member states, especially the digital media. Among the programmes undertaken so far were the Asean Computer Games: Asean Chronicles: The Legend of the Golden Talisman, the Asean quiz, and the Asean Television News. According to the conference secretariat, the preliminary meeting would continue on Wednesday with dialogue partners - China, South Korea and Japan - to broaden networking and cooperation. On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to officiate the 11th Conference of AMRI to be Chaired by Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim. Officials attending the meeting would also look into the challenges posed by the new media apart from creating awareness on current issues like the economic crisis in the West, climate change, food security and others. -- BERNAMA