The Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Anucha Nakasai, chaired the 15th Conference of the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) on Friday, March 12 under the theme “ASEAN: A Digital Community with Accessibility for All.”
The virtual meeting took place at the meeting room on the first floor of the Government Public Relations Department (PRD) Auditorium, Soi Aree Samphan, Bangkok. Joining the meeting were Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, PRD Director-General Lt. Gen. Sansern Kaewkumnerd and PRD executives.
As host of the 15th AMRI, Thailand emphasized efforts to promote and upgrade the joint operations by ASEAN member countries in effective communication management, especially in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 situation.
Mr. Anucha proposed that the 10 ASEAN countries cooperate in developing information exchange mechanisms and in issue management, so that information to be exchanged between them will be accurate, transparent, and up to date, and people in ASEAN will not fall prey to fake news and misinformation.
In this conference, Thailand pushed for the adoption of guidelines to promote broadcasting access services, namely Closed Captions, Audio Description, and Sign Language Interpretation, for all groups of people, including the vulnerable population, such as persons with disabilities and senior citizens. These guidelines will build on the work of ASEAN on the migration of analog to digital television broadcasting.
ASEAN Member States gave importance to digital readiness among ASEAN citizens. Emphasis was placed on three issues – accessibility, understanding, and participation – in order to achieve the goal of developing digital skills for ASEAN citizens, so that they will be able to counter fake news. Another objective is to promote the use of technology to create new products and services in order to contribute to the ASEAN economy.
Photos: Tayland Haber – Asean News
Source: PR Thai Government