At the press conference, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said that facing the global problem of the mainstream press and media, Vietnam as well as ASEAN countries are facing great competition from new media methods, as well as a complete change in information viewing habits and a new generation of information consumers.

Therefore, this is an opportunity for the countries attending the conference to share experiences, propose initiatives and reach a consensus on a common action plan to respond to the regional situation; affirming the indispensable role and more important mission than ever of the mainstream media.

“ASEAN has many advantages as well as solidarity in a bloc, good practices allow us to have confidence that we will find solutions, solutions that come from solving the digital transformation problem well; mainstream media as well as leading and orienting information on cyberspace; business models.

To do that, we must sit down and discuss solutions to handle fake news and false information; control and limit the negative impacts of new technologies introduced into the information field.

This conference was hosted by Vietnam, with the participation of 9 ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste (invited as an observer) and 3 partner countries including Japan, South Korea and China.

Vietnam chose “Media: From Information to Knowledge for a Resilient and Responsive ASEAN” as the theme throughout the entire agenda.

This theme highlights the role and mission of the media sector in the new period; making information the driving force of development; not only providing information but also promoting the transformation from information to knowledge, to build a resilient ASEAN; strengthening internal capacity, resilience and adaptation (Responsive) to affirm the role and position of ASEAN not only being inward-looking but also ready to respond to fluctuations in the current world situation.

The main contents discussed at AMRI 16 and related conferences include building a vision for ASEAN cooperation in the field of information and media; ASEAN cooperation mechanisms to respond to and handle fake news and false information online; promoting digital transformation activities in the Media sector; identifying opportunities and challenges in applying modern technologies to the Media sector; promoting and improving information provision activities across ASEAN and with ASEAN's dialogue partners.