KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Malaysia highly encourages the literary promotion of great works from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member countries during its chairmanship of the bloc next year to promote intercultural exchange.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Asean bibliophiles should work hand in hand to promote intercultural exchange within the region.
“There are famous Indonesian literature works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Hamka, WS Rendra, and also Jose Rizal in the Philippines,” he told the press after launching ‘Let’s Read 10 Minutes Programme@BERNAMA’ at Wisma Bernama today.
Also present were Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia Joachim Bergström and Malaysian National News Agency chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.
Fahmi said promoting such work will require coordination and collaboration between ministries. Malaysia will also work on data protection and fighting online harm during its Asean chairmanship next year.
“There is still a lot to do to bring Asean close together, have greater dialogue and more conversations among Asean nations.
“Right now, many of my Asean counterparts have expressed concern about scams in the region, and social media platforms are not doing enough to protect Asean citizens from scams,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bergström said Sweden will foster dialogue on sustainability, health, and human rights with the region during Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean next year.
“We (Sweden) will press forward all conversations that we had with Malaysia (at the Asean level) next year,” he said.
Sweden will also reach out to libraries and reach new audiences to cooperate with to raise conversation and converse ideas.
“Health issues, social issues, and issues relating to children are good areas to engage in and foster dialogue,” he said.
Bergström added that Malaysia and Sweden enjoy good bilateral relations, and 100 Swedish companies currently operate in the country.
Green transition, eco-friendliness, planetary health, and combating climate change dominate the Malaysia-Sweden relations agenda.
— Bernama
