Pretoria - South Africa and Russia will strengthen collaboration in media and communication, with a delegation from the European country expected in SA on Monday.
On Monday, March 6, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi will host the Vice Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Alexey Volin, in Pretoria.
During his three-day working visit in South Africa, Volin will lead the Russian delegation comprising Pushkov Vasily Vladimirovich, the Head of the Centre for International Projects and International Information Agency representing Rossiya Segodnya (Sputnik News Agency); Menshikova Natalya Alexandrovna, the Deputy Director of the Department of External Affairs representing Tass News Agency, and Pershin Andrey Evgenyevich, the Deputy Director General for Regional Development representing the Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“To us, this visit symbolises that working with our partners in BRICS, our government is beginning to put in place the building blocks of the relevant development communication to reach the masses, driven by their respective ICT industries.
“There is no denying that the media sector plays a key economic, social and cultural role in bridging the gap between government and citizens, so we are indeed looking forward to warmly welcoming the Russian delegation,” said Minister Muthambi.
Before the bilateral discussions, Minister Muthambi and Volin will have a private meeting. The discussions will centre on mutual cooperation, strengthening information exchange and interaction between the mass media of the two countries.
Focus during the talks will also be on large scale and collaborative media activities; promoting the exchange of journalists and reporters; cooperation in the field of new media; cooperation in the production of television movies, TV serials and documentary films; cooperation in the field of translation, distribution and rental of film and television productions; cooperation in the field of children’s films, cartoons, television programmes and book publishing, and the use of modern content distribution channels.
They will also deliberate on the regulation of content in the information environment, including the restriction of harmful information.
After discussions on the 25 years of bilateral relations between South Africa and Russia, there will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Sputnik News Agency.
A joint media briefing focusing on the deliberations on the outcomes of the visit will take place on Tuesday, March 7 at 3pm.
In June last year, Minister Muthambi visited Russia where she represented South Africa at the two-day VIII International Information Technology Forum in Khanty-Mansiysk. - SAnews.gov.za
