BIMP-EAGA media roundtable set
By Rose B. Palacio
Davao City (17 October) -- The BIMP-EAGA Media and Communicators Association (BEMCA) will hold its 2nd Roundtable for Media this October 25 at Marco Polo hotel in Davao City, said BEMCA Protem committee chair Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
The event will focus on developments in economic cooperation in the East ASEAN Growth Area, and on how to enhance the exchange and dissemination of EAGA-related news and information throughout the sub-region.
Organized with the support of the Asian Development Bank, the participants will include senior journalists, wire service representatives, and public information officials from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Chair Bangkuai said several other important BIMP-EAGA meetings will be held in Davao area that week, including the 15th Senior Officials meeting and 12th Ministers Meeting, as well as separate conferences on EAGA local government, investment, and information technology.
Invited participants may confirm acceptance by October 13 to Ms. Tina Cuyugan at mcuyugan@adb.org, tel (+632) 632-4444 local 70394, or cellphone (+63917) 505-9833.
The roundtable would bring together senior officials of major news wire agencies of the four EAGA countries; senior journalists of print media organizations with a national readership; and members of the BEMCA Protem committee; Mindanao-based journalists with previous BEMCA involvement would also be invited to the event.
Output of the roundtable would include: briefing of participants on developments in BIMP-EAGA; agreed specific mechanisms, in particular the media news exchange, to implement the BIMP-EAGA Communications Strategy, with private media engaging as active partners. Drafts of the proposed news exchange mechanism will be circulated among roundtable participants; and a signed joint statement on the establishment of the EAGA News and Information Exchange. (PIA XI) [top]