IT IMPORTANT FOR M'SIA, INDONESIA IN CHAMPIONING THEIR STRUGGLES

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 (Bernama) -- Information Communication and Culture
Minister Dr Rais Yatim said tonight that the peoples of Malaysia and
Indonesia need to harness information technology in pursuit of their struggles.

He said it was time for the peoples of both countries to fight for what was
rightfully theirs in the region because they shared the same culture and both
played an important role in Asean.

"We can summarise tonight that our agenda is to fight for something which
has been inter-woven through history, culture, trade and a common struggle of
the Malay archipelago.

"It is hoped that this meeting (Joint Committee on Information and
Communication Meeting (JCICM)) will discuss how we can enhance further our
struggle through information, informatics, culture, and particularly in matters
relating to information technology," he said in his speech at a dinner hosted
for Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Tifatul
Sembiring, in conjunction with the meeting here.

Also present were Rais' wife, Masnah Rais, his deputies,
Joseph Salang Gandum and Senator Heng Seai Kie and the ministry's
secretary-general, Kamaruddin Siaraf.


Rais said that in Asean, there were no other countries, apart from Malaysia
and Indonesia, which had a language which was as widely spoken as Malay and
taking into account usage of the language in Brunei, Singapore and South
Thailand, the number of people who spoke the tongue totalled more than 300
million.

He said this fact should be translated into a global struggle and with the
advent of information technology, should be used to the best possible advantage
towards meeting the objective.

"So, the JCICM meeting is a coming together whereby Malaysia and Indonesia
can collaborate with each other towards meeting common objectives," he added.

Meanwhile, Tifatul said in upholding solidarity and championing the cause of
the two peoples, both countries needed to collaborate closely with each other.

"Our kinship, history and culture is very dear to us and it will be to our
detriment if we do not defend it.

"Information technology will play an important role in this endeavor," he
said.

-- BERNAMA



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