MANILA -- The recently-signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Philippines' Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and Myanmar's Ministry of Information will strengthen the experience and skills of media practitioners in the country.
"We need this so that we can broaden the horizon of our media workers. It gives me so much fulfillment. We can now send our media workers there. We can now send our materials there to be aired in Myanmar. We are also helping our media workers gain more exposure, experience, and credentials in their portfolio," PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Andanar said he also plans to give media workers from partner-countries a tour in the Philippines once the construction of the Mindanao Media Hub is finished.
"After matapos yung (After the completion of the) Mindanao Media Hub, we will start inviting also media workers from their country. That will be our showcase of state-of-the-art media hub. You go to Manila to study the metropolitan media operations and then you go to Davao for the regional. So basically, you see two different aspects of creating, producing, disseminating news. That would make the entire experience memorable and more meaningful and fulfilling," he said.
The four-storey media hub, located in Davao City, is eyed to be completed on the first or second quarter this year.
Andanar said the exchange program will cover not only government media but private media practitioners, as well.
Aside from Myanmar, the PCOO has already established MOUs in information and media cooperation and exchange with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia.
He said MOUs with other ASEAN countries, like Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, are in the works.
Andanar said the MOU will also provide an opportunity to promote the Philippines' tourism, arts, culture, and education in the government media arms of partner-countries.
He and his counterpart, Myanmar's Union Minister Dr. Pe Myint, on Friday signed an agreement involving exchange of information, personnel, facilities, and conduct of training between the two countries.
The PCOO earlier signed agreements on information exchange with China, South Korea, Cambodia, Hungary, and Russia. (PNA)
