Congratulations pour in for ISWAMI Malaysia's new leadership

JAKARTA: The Association of Malaysian Indonesian Journalists (ISWAMI) Indonesia expressed hope that the new leadership of ISWAMI Malaysia will strengthen relations between the two countries through mass media cooperation.

ISWAMI Indonesia president Asro Kamal Rokan said he hoped the new president of ISWAMI Malaysia, Ashwad Ismail, who was appointed yesterday, could further strengthen relations through the exchange of information.

"Congratulations to Ashwad and the ISWAMI Malaysia management. The media's role is to bridge the relationship between our two countries," Asro said in a statement.

Ashwad, who is ASTRO Awani editor-in-chief, was appointed as the president of ISWAMI Malaysia for the period 2023-2025 on Thursday. He replaced Datuk Mokhtar Hussain who ended his term at the Election of Committee Members at the ISWAMI General Meeting 2023-2025 held in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, the head of the Advisory Council of the Central Indonesian Journalists Association, Ilham Bintang, also congratulated Ashwad, while hoping that the existing cooperation between ISWAMI Indonesia and Indonesian-Malaysian journalists will become closer.

ISWAMI was established in 2005 to bridge the relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia after various issues emerged, including overlapping Ambalat ownership claims, and borders and labour issues.

It was founded by Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar, Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Datuk Zulkefli Salleh, Datuk Zulkifli Hamzah and Sabaruddin Ahmad Sabri, while from Indonesia, Tarman Azzam, Syaiful Hadi, Syamsuddin Ch. Haesy, Ilham and Asro.

-- BERNAMA