Oriented on making people closer

The Forum of Heads of news Agencies "China-Central Asia" was held in Beijing on Tuesday, May 23, a few days after the historic summit of the heads of state of China, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took place in Xi'an.

Today's meeting is dedicated to cooperation in the field of mass media of six countries, where Turkmenistan was represented by the MEDIA TURKMEN news agency. The forum is organized by the official news agency of the Government of the People's Republic of China "Xinhua".

Director General of the Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua opened the event with a keynote speech in which he noted that the recent China-Central Asia summit had created a new platform for cooperation between our countries, opened up new prospects, which is of epochal importance in the history of the development of relations between China and the five Central Asian countries. The heads of State signed the Xi'an Declaration of the summit, adopted a list of agreements and initiatives, outlining a grandiose plan for further development.

Fu Hua stressed the irreplaceable and important role of news agencies in promoting these agreements.

"We are all witnesses, writers and participants in cooperation between China and the countries of Central Asia, as well as conductors of ties between peoples and supporters of cultural and humanitarian exchanges," the head of Xinhua said.

He noted that the news agencies of our six countries cover such important topics as the joint construction of the Belt and Road, paying special attention to such major projects as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway, the China-Tajikistan highway, the China-Central Asia gas pipeline and the China-Europe international rail freight. A large number of news reports covering all media forms were released. They attracted wide attention of the international community and played a "symphony" of cooperation between China and the countries of Central Asia.

-A thousand rivers become wider when they flow into the sea. It's time to raise the sail when the tailwind is blowing. Relations between China and the Central Asian States are entering a new era. Media cooperation between China and the Central Asian states has also opened up new opportunities," Fu Hua said, stating Xinhua's readiness to cooperate with Central Asian news agencies and other media to expand exchanges, strengthen mutual understanding, deepen mutual trust, and news coverage in various fields.

As an important force for promoting peace and development, the media of China and the Central Asian States should assume historical responsibility and show commitment to the era, resolutely defend multilateralism and recognized norms of international law, firmly defend international equality and justice, objectively cover domestic, regional and global news, comprehensively demonstrate the achievements of cooperation between China and the Central Asian States. This was also expressed by the heads of the media of Central Asian countries: Director General of the National Information Agency of Uzbekistan Abdusait Kuchimov, Director of the National Information Agency of Tajikistan "Khovar" Subhiddin Shamsiddinzoda, Director of the Kyrgyz National Information Agency "Kabar" Mederbek Shermetaliev, Deputy Director General of the Television and Radio Complex of the President of Kazakhstan Tlegen Abishev and Director General of IA "MEDIA TURKMEN", editor-in-chief of the ORIENT website Bekdurdy Amansaryev.

In his speech, Bekdurdy Amansaryev focused on the tasks of media interaction in the light of the initiatives announced at the summit by President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the agreements of the heads of state.

"All the tasks and solutions formulated at the Xi'an summit are the most important topics for today and the foreseeable future for the mass media of our countries," Amansaryev stressed.

He also added that the format of China-Central Asia cooperation will not only help strengthen cooperation between China and the countries of our region, but will also contribute to the rapprochement of the positions of the Central Asian states themselves with each other.

And this is one of the main tasks of the Central Asian Expert Forum, which is represented by the centers and institutes of strategic studies of Central Asian countries.

In particular, the analysis of the positions and approaches of the Central Asian countries on solving common regional problems and developing a common vision of the prospects for regional cooperation, searching for "points of intersection" of the national interests of the countries of our region, coordinating positions on specific issues in order to further deepen cooperation between the Central Asian states themselves.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the 1st China-Central Asia Summit, did not accidentally turn to the historical parallel, noting that Xi'an is the starting point of the Silk Road.

Nowadays, Xi'an is a sister city of the Turkmen city of Mary, in ancient times one of the richest trading cities along this route, and today it is a geographical zone of the supergiant hydrocarbon field, from where Turkmen gas flows to China.

The shift of mega-trends in world politics, according to the head of Turkmenistan, dictates the need for multilateral efforts in promoting a new philosophy of international relations. And the media plays a huge role in this.

Today's meeting of the heads of media agencies can be seen as a start to discuss and develop a strategy for our further joint work, where the individual opinion of each side is too important to find a common denominator and for this strategy to be an effective platform, and not just a memorandum on paper. It is the media that can become the driving force behind the implementation of many agreements between the heads of our states and the provisions of the Xi'an Declaration, Amansaryev stressed.

He expressed confidence that this cooperation will have a positive impact on the professional level of media workers, followed by the exchange of practical experience and the creation of joint events and programs in the field of journalism and communication.

-Our countries are striving to form a new agenda, and therefore our agencies have the task of forming an information picture where the experience of successful cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian and other spheres will resist tension and incitement to hatred. And how this experience contributes to the development of our countries and the prosperity of our peoples," Bekdurdy Amansaryev said.

He also suggested considering the possibility of creating a joint media platform where it will be possible to jointly promote this new agenda in specific areas, including economics, science and education, culture, tourism, ecology, etc., share your good news and find out what interesting and useful neighbors have right now, tell the world that there is there are so many opportunities for cooperation and building bridges! "We must set an example of a new information world and order in the era of information wars and fakes," the head of the MEDIA TURKMEN news Agency summed up.

The speeches of the heads of news agencies made it possible to feel the sincere desire and deep expectations of everyone regarding the deepening of exchanges and cooperation, which was enshrined in the final document of the Forum.

The document, in particular, noted that the mass media of China and Central Asian countries are an indispensable and important part of the global media arena, as well as an important link for Chinese-Central Asian cultural and humanitarian exchanges. Xinhua News Agency is ready, together with the media of Central Asian countries, to continue to deepen cooperation, intensify dialogue and exchanges, and make joint efforts to help build a Chinese-Central Asian community of a common destiny.

The sides expressed their readiness to further strengthen cooperation based on the consensus of the heads of state participating in the China-Central Asia summit, and enrich cooperation formats in order to achieve new results.

The media of China and the five Central Asian countries agreed to expand exchanges and cooperation in the collection and dissemination of information, to choose topics of mutual interest for planning and organizing joint interviews, as well as to cooperate in the field of reporting activities in order to jointly tell the "stories of the Silk Road" and promote the "spirit of the Silk Road", as well as actively develop cooperation in the scope of application of advanced media technologies.

ORIENT news

Photo: ORIENT editorial office