News editors from 24 leading media organisations in 20 countries began two days of discussions on how they could improve their news and information exchange, as well as how to more effectively portray the Asian reality to other continents.

The event was hosted by Lao Press in Foreign Languages, which publishes Vientiane Times, the national English-language newspaper of the Lao PDR, and was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Media Progamme Asia.

ANN hopes to cement a number of initiatives that will fulfill the growing interest in and demand for news from Asia by other countries.

Editor-in-Chief of Lao Press in Foreign Languages, Thonglor Duangsavanh, said the ANN meeting in Laos underscores his newspaper’s commitment to working with other Asian media outlets.

Vientiane Times is also encouraging ANN members to gain a deeper insight into developments in Laos through briefing sessions on the new rail network linking Southeast Asia and China and the upcoming Visit Laos Year 2018.

“I hope that ANN news editors will share their points of views and give advice on how Asian media outlets can cooperate and help each other to achieve the goals of enhancing and improving news coverage of Asian affairs by Asian media, provide members with reliable access to news sources, and help promote the professional development of journalism in the region,” Thonglor said.

Executive Director of ANN, Pana Janviroj, said Asia’s landscapes are changing rapidly whether in relation to regional security, politics, technology innovation, or lifestyle. ANN members are working together on quality reporting for readers and viewers around the world.

“This Vientiane meeting will discuss details of the ongoing collaboration and also set new pan-Asia news topics which members will together carry out,” Pana said.

Participants are also meeting with local officials during a special talk on “Laos’ railway network with Southeast Asia and China” by Deputy Director General of the Railway Department, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Sengthavisay.

He gave a presentation on the Laos-China railway which is currently under construction and will be 414km long when complete.

Today they will discuss the ‘fake news’ issue, which is posing a challenge for the network’s journalists and others around the world.

ANN has been in existence for 17 years and is the world’s largest and most active media alliance of its kind.

It is set to relaunch a website in the fourth quarter of this year on top of the global e-newsletter which is edited out of offices in Delhi and Bangkok.

The new database service from selected members will also be launched out of Singapore shortly. ANN is also stepping up cooperation in VDO sharing and co-production via Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

ANN members exchange news and photos on a daily basis, carry commentaries from member media, and organise new media workshops for journalists as well as public conferences.

The alliance works closely with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Media Progamme Asia.

ANN members comprise The Korea Herald, China Daily and China Post, Gogo Mongolia, Yomiuri Shimbun and The Japan News, Dawn (Pakistan), The Statesman (India), The Island (Sri Lanka), Kuensel (Bhutan), Kathmandu Post (Nepal), Daily Star (Bangladesh), Eleven Media (Myanmar), The Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post (Indonesia) , The Star and Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia), The Phnom Penh Post and Rasmei Kampuchea (Cambodia), Borneo Bulletin (Brunei), The Straits Times (Singapore), Vietnam News (Vietnam), Philippine Daily Inquirer (The Philippines), and Vientiane Times (Laos).