ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that Pakistan accords immense importance to its relations with the European Union (EU) espousing values of democracy, plurality and rule of law.
In a meeting with the Ambassador of European Union to Pakistan Jean-François Cautain in Islamabad on Friday during which they discussed various matters pertaining to cooperation in the field of media, information and culture, the minister while acknowledging the role of media in shaping minds and creating awareness, said that the ministry of Information was working on an elaborate plan to impart professional training to the media persons with a view to harness their skills and expertise.
The minister expressed the hope for support and cooperation from European Union in this regard.
The minister further said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif firmly believed in freedom of expression as it was sine quo non for democracy and free society.
Marriyum Aurangzeb informed the EU ambassador that the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage had taken myriad of initiatives to ensure welfare of the media persons as well as preservation of national heritage with the objective to promote the image of Pakistan and mitigate misperceptions about its people and the land.
The state minister said that the ministry was working on formulating a comprehensive film production and broadcast policy, first of its kind to translate the vision of the prime minister of Pakistan to revive indigenous entertainment industry, national heritage, culture and tourism.
Marriyum said that quality production would create awareness among the masses about developments in the socio-economic domain, issues of national importance and their responsibilities.
The EU ambassador assured the minister to extend all possible help to Pakistan in the field of media, information and culture.
The envoy also extended invitation to the minister of state to join the celebrations marking 60th anniversary of treaty of Rome.
