GUANGZHOU /China/, December 4. /TASS/. A TASS delegation has held talks with counterparts from foreign news agencies on the sidelines of the 5th World Media Summit in Guangzhou, Southern China.

Ali Naderi, managing director of Iran’s IRNA news agency, thanked TASS for their support for the program of exchanges between the two agencies. Apart from that, Naderi, who is also President of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), hailed TASS’ initiatives within this organization.

A meeting with Director General of Japan’s Kyodo agency Toru MIzutani also focused on cooperation within the OANA. Mizutani invited the TASS delegation to take part in the 52nd meeting of the OANA Executive Board in Tokyo on March 6-8, 2024. The Board’s 53rd meeting is expected to be convened in Moscow in the fall of 2024 with TASS as its organizer.

In talks with Director of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Luis Morente, the discussion centered around developing cooperation on various platforms. TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, who led the Russian delegation, suggested the two agencies sign a memorandum of cooperation next year.

The Russian delegation also met with representatives of Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency, for the first time after a long break. Bakhtar Director General Zia ul-Haq Haqmal said that his agency is interested in resuming cooperation with TASS, including within international media alliances.

It is planned that participants in the summit will sum up its results on December 5.

China’s Xinhua news agency is the organizer of the World Media Summit. The event is being attended by delegations from 197 media outlets across 101 countries. A TASS delegation is taking part in the summit. Apart from that, TASS is a member of the OANA Executive Board.

The first World Media Summit was held in Beijing in 2009. The second summit was held in 2012 in Moscow at TASS’ initiative. Doha, Qatar, hosted the third summit in 2016. The fourth summit was held online in 2021.