Andhra assures support to World Newspaper Congress

Hyderabad, Nov 4: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah Wednesday promised all possible help to the organisers of the World Newspaper Congress-2009 beginning here Nov 30.

The chief minister directed the departments concerned to plan the arrangements in coordination with the organisers for the four-day event.

Around 1,800 delegates from around the world will participate in the World Newspaper Congress being held for the first time in South Asia.

The congress will be a combination of three events -- World Newspaper Congress to be attended by leading newspaper publishers, World Editors Forum to be attended by senior journalists and editors, and Info Services Expo exhibition where suppliers to the newspaper industry will exhibit their products.

President Pratibha Patil will address the joint sessions of the 62nd World Newspapers Congress and 16th World Editors Forum Dec 1.

The state government in coordination with World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Indian Newspaper Society (INS) is making arrangements for the event to be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) from Nov 30 to Dec 3.

The chief minister Wednesday held a meeting along with the organisers and the departments concerned, where he said the event was an opportunity for projecting Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad as prime destinations for investment and tourism.

He said the state's information and public relations department would be the nodal agency for the event.

The events, originally scheduled for March, were postponed due to poor delegate response after the downturn impacted travel budgets at media houses.

The Paris-based WAN, formed in 1948, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers worldwide.

Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual media executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional press groups.