Chronicling...
Topic : The launching of SSIG.
Venue : Putrajaya Marriot.
My maiden script.
19 November, 2005.
A day of reckoning as my video & script was disseminated to 176 member countries of NAM.
SCRIPT :
It was at Langkawi International Dialogue 1999, the former Prime Minister and renowned statesman of Malaysia, the Honourable Tun Dr। Mahathir Mohammad uttering the word "Smart Partnership" set the floor for the Heads of Government of the South Nations to come in unison.
The call was for all South member nations to synergise in unity and form a smart partnership solidarity. It was aimed to reap mutual benefit in the field of media and communication for the formation of smart partnership collaboration. This idealogy gave rise to the setting up South-South Information Gateway or SSIG, a media exchange centre for South Nations, housed in an all ultra-modern International Broadcast Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. SSIG will play a pioneering role in bringing together unity and fostering assistance, strengthening and providing member countries with news exchange and media broadcasting. It will cater media news and broadcast programme exchange in the hope member nations shall prosper with the prosper thy neighbour credo.
SSIG will facilitate and serve its member countries as a media hub or centre which will enable nations of the South to meet, exchange and collaborate together for a mutual aim and benefit. With cooperation from members nations, Malaysia believes this partnership to reap its potential in areas of :-
• News and Information materials
• Radio and Television reports and documentaries
• Studies, Data and Information
• Media experts
• Representative of mass media
To spearhead Malaysia’s endeavour, the national broadcasting and news agency of Malaysia - RTM, Malaysia National News Agency - Bernama and Film Negara Malaysia - FINAS will play crucial roles to spur ahead and facilitate the necessities for media exchange. With all member countries in partnership, and with good communication and state of the art technology, the wheels are set in motion for South-South Information Gateway to champion and pave the way for a new communication path. This effort will strengthen the bond amongst nations and augur well for broadcast communication. Malaysia envisages other nations with common interest and bond to reap and benefit from this endeavour. SSIG will also offer :-
• Research in media communication
• Technical facility for news coverage• Information technology and training
• Technical facilities for coverage of national events
• Training and attachment for broadcasting personnel
• Related projects on films
Acting as a depository hub, SSIG will encourage business opportunities amongst government and private sectors. It will further inculcate and contribute fast, accurate, trustworthy and business savvy news and broadcast programmes.
SSIG strategically located and timely geared will bring together much anticipated progress amongst the South Nations in cooperation, solidarity, development and unity. The call for global truth and equality in media communication will make SSIG one stop information threshold for media and broadcast technology for all South Nations to prosper in years to come.
Speech by the Indian Delegation at the 6th Conference of Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned countries at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mr Chairman,
At the outset, I wish to express our government’s gratitude at your country hosting the Sixth Conference of the Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries. Last May, your country hosted a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial meeting on the advancement of women that ended on a successful note. We congratulate your government for taking keen interest and providing visionary leadership in strengthening the cooperation in various spheres among the member countries.Mr Chairman,The first meeting of the Ministers of Information of Non-Alignment Countries held at New Delhi in January 1984 was a historic event that marked the beginning of the South-South cooperation to strengthen and develop mutual cooperation with the ultimate goal of establishing the new world information and communication order and enhancing South’s solidarity and prosperity. Since then the South-South cooperation has come a long way and indeed had become a growing reality with renewed dynamism. Our government continues to accord high priority to this cooperation. In the South summit in Havana, leaders of all developing countries recognized South-South Cooperation an essential mechanism for promoting sustained economic growth and sustainable development. The leaders recognized regional cooperation and integration being the most meaningful approach for the South to face challenges of globalization and thus take full advantage of its opportunities. Know-how, information, and communications are at the heart of human progress, and of human well-being. Theses factors have already let to profound changes in people’s lives. Recent developments in information and communication technologies have given a new dimension to know-how, to exchange of information and communication. In the development process, these are strategic factors and need to be systematically integrated in the development plans as programme priorities.But as a matter of concern the access to and use of the technologies remain extrelemely uneven. This disparity – the so-called “digital divide” – is, in large parts, a reflection of deeper social and economics inequalities both between and within countries. ICT promotes economic growth and social opportunities, but all the same, time renders many traditional economic approaches less viable. It must be noted that developing countries slow to act or are not in a position to respond are likely to find their ability to participate in the global economy and society diminished this execrating existing inequalities. There for information and communication technology an serve s a a critical enabler to narrow therses inequalities. It has the potential to increase the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of government and business. We must understand by making ICT an integral past of our development cooperation we can more effectively address economic and social dividers.We must commit ourselves to reinvigorating collaborative actions bestrewed the member countries to harness the great power of new technology as a critical development tool. But at the same time we should recognize the right of universal access to information and communication technologies and knowledge as a global public good with access to information and communication technologies is expanding rapidly, the Digital Divide is real and represents a gross imbalance in the access to or use of information and communication technologies, especially in the development countries. The spread of information and communication technologies and their universal usage requires basic infrastructure and human resource development to support. Developing countries face a challenge in this field. Therefore, the importance of partnerships between governments in this field cannot be overemphasised. Four decades later now, we are at the threshold of a dramatic expansion of South-South cooperation powered by expertise, technology and other endowments in the developing world. A vast stock of expertise and developing world has been accumulated in the developing world through years of experimentation and investment in education, health, governance, and economic reform. Strong and constent emphasis on self-reliance in its economic development programmes, especially once the last two decades has enabled India to build up a huge and versatile cadre of professionals and expertise and skills across a vast and wide – ranging spectrum of disciples. India today has emerged as a global brand name in the world providing cheaper and high-quality information technology services raking in billions of dollars from major global giants. Indian IT and IT-enabled services continue to chart remarkable growth. I assure this august gathering that the Indian government remains a committed partner to South-South cooperation. I believe the prowess of the Indian IT industry, will significantly contribute to this regional initiave in promoting such cooperation, as well as towards the transfer of new technologies and know-how. We must consolidate cooperation in this vital sector to face the challenges of globalization and enhance our solidarity and prosperity.One of the agenda of this conference is the visualizing of a NAM news organization. There is an urgent need to harness information and communication technology to promote unhindered flow of information among the NAM countries. News collections and its dissemination through agencies today are controlled by the developed world. Thus, however fair they would like to be, their social cultural identity naturally impacts their work. The result is most international news we see or read has a western perspective, very often distorted and lopsided. We in the developing countries are seeing other developing countries through the eyes of the developed world. This has placed the vast majority of humankind in the developing world at a disadvantage. We need to correct this imbalance immediately. Therefore, the need arises for consolidation of cooperation amongst Nam countries and other developing countries in news dissemination comprehensively.Before concluding, I would like to say we need to take full advantage of the greater diversity in the capabilities and experiences of the countries in the south. Our countries are endowed with a weak of human and material resources to be tapped in order to free millions from poverty, increase school enrolments and combat deadly disease, information and communication technologies (ICT) have empowered a number of emerging countries to in innovate new solutions to old problems. South-South cooperation driven by ICT could make sure of existing technology hubs to overcome the uneven diffusion of technology and its benefits among and within countries of the south. In addition to the above new drivers of South-South Cooperation, are the powerful alliances being formed as some emerging countries seek to expand and deepen partnerships with other countries in the south.
At a time when global independencies are weaving individuals, communities, and societies more closely together and news alliances are generating new possibilities, the message is clear: The time for South-South cooperation has truly arrived.I thank all of you and wish this conference a grand success.
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