OANA TO CELEBRATE 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN DECEMBER

From AHMAD ZUKIMAN ZAIN
ULAN BATOR (Bernama) - A special event to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) will be
held in December at the place where it was formed -- Bangkok.

OANA President Hilmi Bengi made the announcement at the start of the
organisation's 33rd executive board meeting here Tuesday.

He thanked the Thai News Agency (TNA) for agreeing to host the celebration,
which Bengi described as "the most important event".

OANA was formed with the backing of UNESCO in December 1961, as an effort
to facilitate a free flow of news and information in Asia and the Pacific.

TNA Editor-in-Chief for Asean News Division Noraphon Pacharoen said the Thai
agency has slated Dec 7 to 9, for the OANA event.

Mongolian Prime Minister S.Batbold who addressed the meeting, said the
role, significance, prestige and influence of the organization that unifies the
region’s news agencies was high.

"News agencies have always been playing important roles in countries'
history. Their importance remained unchanged today," he said.

The meeting approved National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon's application for
membership, boosting the number to 43 news agencies from 34 countries.

It also reviewed decisions made at the last OANA General Assembly in
Istanbul (November) and was briefed by Anadolu of Turkey on the new OANA
website.

The 11-member board comprised Anadolu of Turkey as president, four
vice-presidents, namely Bernama (Malaysia), Antara (Indonesia), Itar-TASS
(Russia) and IRNA (Iran).

The remaining members are Yonhap (South Korea), Press Trust of India (PTI),
Azertaj (Azerbaijan), Australian Associated Press (AAP), Xinhua (China) and
Montsame (Mongolia).