19th OANA general assembly opens in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG (Russia): The 19th General Assembly of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), a major gathering of news agencies, kicked off in Russia's second-largest city today.
Hosted by the country's TASS agency under the theme "News Agencies and Challenges in the Modern World", the first plenary session of the general assembly started with an opening speech by TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov.
It was followed by a video address by Hossein Jaberi Ansari, IRNA (Iran) Managing Director and current President of OANA.
The Iranian delegation was unable to travel to the former imperial city due to the ongoing conflict between the country and Israel.
More than a hundred representatives of news agencies from more than 30 countries are attending the assembly here.
Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is represented by Chief Executive Officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Editor-in-Chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj.
The 54th OANA Executive Board meeting in Kuala Lumpur last February decided to grant TASS the right to host the 19th General Assembly in St. Petersburg.
According to TASS, OANA delegates are also expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) taking place here.
The General Assembly, which is the highest governing body of OANA, will elect a new executive committee, vice presidents of the organisation, and technical and ethics committees.
The gathering here will also see TASS assuming the presidency of OANA for the next three years, during which the agency will be responsible for managing the organisation's website and other organisational matters.
OANA was established in 1961 on the initiative of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to facilitate direct and free news exchange among news agencies in a region that accounts for over half of the world's population.
OANA currently has 41 member news agencies from 33 countries, with 13 agencies serving on its Executive Board.

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