The 17th General Assembly of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) concluded yesterday, with the participation of representatives of 32 news agencies from 28 countries.
Qatar News Agency (QNA), member of OANA, participated in the general assembly with a delegation headed by QNA director general Yousuf Ibrahim al-Malki.
The general assembly adopted several resolutions, including the election of the president of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency Cho Sung-boo as chairman of OANA for the next three years, taking over from the outgoing president of OANA, Aslan Aslanov, head of Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).
The heads of Azerbaijan’s AZERTAC, China’s Xinhua News Agency, Russia’s TASS Russian News Agency, and Turkey’s Anadolu Agency were voted as vice-chairs.
The general assembly approved the acceptance of the membership of the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) as an observer member. It also agreed that Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) will host the General Assembly meetings scheduled for 2022.
In the “2019 Seoul Declaration,” participants voiced their eagerness to make every effort to counter the proliferation of fake news and to exchange technology among members to deliver news to the largest segment of readers outside OANA’s region, as well as resolutely and collectively address any piracy of OANA’s members.
OANA was formed in 1961 on the initiative of Unesco to promote regional news exchanges. A total of 43 news agencies from 35 countries are members of the organisation.
