The fight against fake news in the digital era will be on the agenda as Cambodia hosts the 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 attended by some 500 participants from more than 40 countries around the world in Siem Reap province.

Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to preside over Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said this year’s Asia Media Summit is a leading international broadcasting event to give the opportunity to broadcasters, media practitioners, industry leaders, academia, researchers, experts and media policy-makers throughout the world to meet and discuss strengthening the quality of media during a time of stiff competition and technological revolution, Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) reported.

“It is a great honour and a pleasure for the Kingdom of Cambodia, especially the Ministry of Information, to host the 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 in Siem Reap,” Kanharith said.

Ministry of Information secretary of state Kem Gunawadh told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday that the summit will tackle five topics – Leadership in the 4th Industrial Revolution, Combating Disinformation/Fake News, Trends in 4k Technology, Creating Impactful Content in the Digital Era, and the Impact of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) on the Media.

“The participants in this conference are all senior officials in the information and TV and radio sectors, especially in the modern era of information and social media."

“The topics will focus on collecting views to be discussed in order to discover new trends and to respond to the needs of the audience, readers and listeners, as well as the role we should perform, ” Gunawadh said.

The ministers of information of five countries – Cambodia’s Kanharith, Laos’ Dr Bosengkham Vongdara, Myanmar’s Pe Myint, as well their South Korean and Philippine counterparts, and Samoa’s vice-minister ofnformation – will be guest speakers at the Asia Media Summit, the Ministry of Information said.

Cambodia is set to issue a Joint Declaration on Results Achieved at the 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 after the conference is completed on Thursday.

AKP director-general Sokmom Nimul said the workshops are for senior functional heads and staff from the upper/middle management of organisations to explore advances and major developments in the media landscape, as well as how these changes should be reflected in the emerging leadership mode.

The website of the Ministry of Information on Tuesday said all delegates and invited guests had arrived in Siem Reap as anticipated.

Visit Angkor Wat

Secretary of State of the Ministry of Information Chea Chanboribo told The Post: “According to protocol, Kanharith, will give a reception at the hotel where the guests will be staying before they attend the 16th Asia Media Summit, which will be opened by Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, on Wednesday.”

He said delegates would visit the Angkor Wat and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre museum while in Siem Reap.

The ministry has set up a team to ensure the guests enjoy their stay in Cambodia, he said.