During the meeting, U. Ohn Kyaing of Myanmar was appointed as deputy chairman, while Asep Setiawan of Indonesia was appointed secretary general of the SEAPC-Net, the Press Council noted in a written statement.
The SEAPC-Net's board of directors for the next two years comprise Agus Sudibyo of Indonesia, Kyaw Swa Min of Myanmar, Chavarong Limpattampanee of Thailand, and Virgilio da Silva Guteres of Timor Leste.
The first SEAPC-Net executive board was appointed after representatives of the Press Councils of Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Timor Leste approved the SEAPC-Net's articles of association aimed at promoting the professionalism of Southeast Asian journalists.
Moreover, the SEAPC-Net also encouraged similar institutions to join it to facilitate the development of press in the region.
Nuh expressed gratitude to all delegations of the Press Councils of the four countries for electing him as chief of SEAPC-Net.
The ex-Indonesian education and culture minister was optimistic that the meeting would boost collaboration to develop the Southeast Asian press.
Chavarong Limpattampanee, one of the SEAPC-Net directors, affirmed that the creation of the organization is a historical event since it is the foremost time for the Press Council in the region to have organized network.
He noted that appointment of the leadership of SEAPC-Net was done on rotation. The organization is expected to organize its second general assembly in Myanmar in 2021.
SEAPC-Net was formed following a series of meetings between the Press Councils of Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Timor Leste in the past few years.
In the Dili Declaration 2017, the four Press Councils identified the role of the Press Council in each nation and similar institutions in several fields, including "media sustainability", "problem of defamation law", "rights to information law", and "disinformation".
Related news: Press Council reminds mainstream media not to refer to social media
Related news: Indonesian Press Council supports holding journalist competency test
Translator: Zuhdiar Laeis/Suharto
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
