The News Agencies World Council (NACO) has gathered in Baku for a meeting hosted by AZERTAC.

Participants in the meeting include AZERTAC Director-General Aslan Aslanov, CEO of Press Association Clive Marshall, president of Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Abdullah Bin Fahd Al-Hussein, Director General of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Sheikh Mubarak Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah, Director General of Bulgarian BTA agency Maxim Minchev, First Deputy Director General of Russian ITAR-TASS agency Mikhail Gusman, Secretary General of the News Agencies World Congress Uffe Riis Sorensen, Secretary General of the Federation of Arab News Agencies Farid Ayar, Secretary General of the European Alliance of News Agencies Erik Nylen, International Relations Manager of Spanish EFE agency Juan Mario Calvo and members of delegations.

The meeting is a preparatory event for the 5th News Agencies World Congress (NAWC) to be held in Baku on November 16-17, 2016.

The Council members will review the program of the Congress, the list of speakers and terms of a photo contest to be held as part of the Congress.

The NAWC Congress is attended by heads and representatives of the world`s leading news alliances and organizations, as well as the media experts and observers.

AZERTAC was chosen as the host of the 5th News Agencies World Congress and its president for the years 2016-2019 at the 4th Congress held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on November 20 last year.

The NAWC was founded with the aim of ensuring and improving the members' ability to perform as key operators in the fast growing diversity of the global media market.

The objectives of the NAWC are to strengthen unbiased news reporting, support the principle of freedom of the press and contribute to the general understanding of the news background. The organization is working to inspire and support news agencies, sharing knowledge of the most modern and important developments in the media business.