KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Information ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) agreed on Tuesday to establish the NAM News Network (NNN) to replace the inactive Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool (NANAP).
Malaysia's proposal of setting up the NNN has won the support of delegates attending the Sixth Conference of the Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries, Malaysian Information Minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said after the closing of the conference here.
The NANAP, established in 1976, has been inactive for many years due to declining support from NAM countries. Information ministers gathering here agreed that it should be revitalized through a new workable mechanism, said the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on NAM Information and Communication Collaboration issued here.
"The ministers welcomed Malaysia's proposal to replace the pool with a new mechanism, to be called NAM News Network, to effect a more sustainable and efficient flow of information among NAM and other developing countries," said the declaration.
The proposed NNN, an Internet-based news exchange center, aims at enabling NAM members to tell their stories from their own perspective and promoting freer flow of information among them and with the rest of the world.
Kadir said Malaysia, as chairman of the NAM, offered to host the NNN and underwrite its start-up cost.
"Our aim is to turn it into a responsible and credible global news agency that can be also tapped by the western media," he told reporters, adding that its business would be to tell the truth although the news sometimes was not in favor of developing countries.
The information minister also said relevant work will be carried out as soon as possible to ensure that the news mechanism could operate in the earliest time and at the least cost.
Kadir expected the NNN to be in operation by the first quarter of the next year, but he declined to disclose the budget for the initiative.
He also expressed his hope that the NNN could be based in Kuala Lumpur permanently and would not change with the rotation of the chairmanship of the Conference of the Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries.
About 70 member countries of the NAM sent delegations to attend the two-day conference themed "Advancing Information and Communication Collaboration Towards a more Dynamic NAM".
