Communication important in building global citizens with local values - Salleh

Communication plays an important role in building citizens with global and local values that are balanced, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.

Salleh said the values could be instilled to a high degree if communication was well-managed.

"Communications management that is good will place Malaysia at the same level as other nations in various sectors such as the socio-economic sector and also provide political stability," he said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Communication and Media (i-COME16), here, Sunday.

The text of his speech was read out by the Ministry's Deputy Secretary-general (Operations) Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Mohamad Nor.

On the three-day conference, Salleh said that he believed that it offered an intellectual platform that would allow academicians and researchers to work together for a better future.

Themed 'Exploring Communication: Beyond National Cultural Adaptation, Images and Identity', the conference is being participated by 153 delegates from 21 countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

Also present were International Communication Association (ICA) president Prof Dr Ang Peng Hwa and i-COME16 executive director Prof Dr.Hassan Abu Bakar. - BERNAMA