Firdous calls for engaging regional media for ensuring social stability, prosperity

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has stressed the need for setting up a regional framework of public outreach and strategic communications to partner with media for ensuring social stability and sound economic growth. She was speaking at the Forum of Information Ministers of China-Eurasia Expo on the 'Role of Media and Public Opinion in Promoting Regional Peace, Development, Economic Growth and Stability' here on Thursday.
The forum, being held here on the sidelines of China-Eurasia Expo from September 1 to 5, was inaugurated by Chinese Minister of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen. The Chinese news media and its Central Asian counterparts at the forum, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, vowed to fulfil their role in promoting peace and development in the region. Dr Firdous Awan said that Friday's meeting has emerged as a forerunner on regional economic development, stability and peace for China's opening up and engagement with its western neighbours.
Highlighting the role of media and public opinion for achieving the shared objectives, the Information Minister said that it was important to recognise that the media's scope had expanded in outreach and penetrated multiple social and transnational groups. She pointed out that in today's era "media and public opinion stand in the centre of a global contest of ideas and ideologies, both as recipients and proponents of arguments and as agents of socio-political and economic change."
Drawing the attention of participants to the urgent need for building bridges and confidence between the public, the media and the state apparatus, she said that in order to build social cohesion as well as to strengthen the state's engagement with the citizenry, and to promote national and regional objectives, it had become imperative for all to get necessary inputs from the media and public opinion before undertaking any major policy decision.
She called upon the governments to carve out new outreach approaches and media strategies in order to achieve objectives of national and regional growth and stability. She expressed the confidence that if we create a national and international media engagement and public outreach framework by following these lines and on the key principles of engaging and partnering with media as a respectable and dynamic stakeholder, we can secure our goals for creating regional security, prosperity and development.
The Information Minister also opined that the governments should also engage in non-media outreach, which means establishment of direct access, public engagement and cultural diplomacy with the people we are supposed to serve. Referring to the sound and strategic partnership between media institutions of Pakistan and China, Dr Firdous said the two governments should make sustained emphasis and focus on exchange of and co-operation in information and socio-cultural sectors. The broadcast media has played a major role in bringing the two countries ever closer, she added.
She said that with Pakistan and China having established a sustainable broadcast media co-operation base, the two governments were now sharpening their objectives to build on it further, especially with the rapid growth of new media in the region. In that respect, during the first official visit to China of President Asif Ali Zardari in October 2008, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) of China signed an agreement for co-operation in the field of radio and television, she added.
Highlighting the historic brotherly relations between Pakistan and China and paying rich tribute to the two great leaders of the two countries, Mao Zedong and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who were the chief architects of the Pak-China friendship, she said, the present government has declared relations with China as the cornerstone of Pakistan's Foreign Policy.
Dr Firdous said that both Pakistan and China took great pride in all-weather and time-tested friendship, which was progressing by leaps and bounds. Chinese Minister of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen in his address said the forum on news and media was just "a good start" for China's endeavour to promote regional development.
"Following this forum, the Urumqi expo will hold seven forums in different fields. Accurate and comprehensive news coverage on the expo can enhance co-operation in policy, trade, economy and culture," he said. "I hope Chinese and Central Asian media organisations can conduct strategic co-operation to increase information mutual trust and help news and information exchange between the two sides," he added.