FANA 39th Conference Kicks Off in Doha on Monday

The Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) is scheduled to hold in the Qatari capital of Doha on Monday its 39th ordinary conference. News agencies from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Jordan, Qatar, The Sudan, Yemen, and a number of media men from all over the world are to participate in the three-day event. The Director General of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Abdullah bin Fahd Al-Hussein leads his country's delegation to the meeting. The conference reviews a number of reports and studies conducted by Arab and foreign experts on ways to develop Arab news agencies making advantage of the current technological progress. Directors General of Arab news agencies will hold special meetings to discuss the agenda of the conference, particularly the Federation’s activities including training courses, meetings and conferences held in 2011 and the International News Agencies Council's meetings in Riyadh and London. The conference will also take decisions on the best report and best photograph prizes and means of developing the economic file including the economic news pool transmitted by the news agencies as well as FANA's website in addition to financial and organizational issues, including the election of FANA's President, his two Vice Presidents, the Secretary General and members of the Secretariat General. Participants in the meeting will discuss the issue of admitting the GCC as observer of FANA General Assembly and discuss a report on the ethics of the job, media means and human dignity to be submitted by the President of the Organization of Asian News Agencies (OANA). In a statement to the Qatari News Agency, Dr. Fareed Ayar, the Secretary General of FANA, said that Doha conference will represent a remarkable move in the history of FANA conferences as it is the first time since 1975 that FANA conference will have two-level chambers: one theoretical to discuss papers and studies conducted by Arab and foreign experts on ways to develop the work using the state-of-the-art technology in the field of communications and telecommunications and practical which discusses ways of developing and activating the role of the Federation amid the current circumstances at the Arab arena.