PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today treated 15 media leaders from Indonesia to a luncheon at the Prime Minister's Office here.

The senior journalists arrived in Malaysia on Saturday to attend the 2022 National Journalists Day (HAWANA) held in Melaka yesterday.

The delegation included the chief of the Indonesian chapter of Malaysian-Indonesian Journalists' Association (ISWAMI) Asro Kamal Rokan, Indonesian Journalists Association general chairman Atal S. Depari, Antara news director Akhmad Munir, Kumparan.com editor-in-chief Ariffin Asydhad and Jakarta Post editor-in-chief M. Taufiqurrahman.

The lunch was also attended by 10 committee members of the Malaysian chapter of ISWAMI, among them were ISWAMI president Datuk Mokhtar Hussain, vice president Ashwad Ismail and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) acting chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin.

Meanwhile, Mokhtar in his welcoming speech said the cordial ties between Malaysian and Indonesian media practitioners could further enhance the sharing of news as well as understanding the culture and language of the two countries.

"When we understand the culture and language of the two countries, we could avoid errors in news reporting. For example in terms of language, even though it may look like a small matter, but it has a big impact on the country," he said

Asro described the lunch invitation as an extraordinary honour in the spirit of family and togetherness.

Sharing his conversation with the Prime Minister, Asro said he commended the concept of the Malaysian Family introduced by Ismail Sabri as the concept could be the foundation to the development of a family-based nation.

"We also discussed a little bit on the concept of the Malaysian Family. For me, this concept is an extraordinary core because to develop the nation, we need to develop the family as well, " he said.

Asro who is also the former managing director of Antara, congratulated the Prime Minister for being conferred the Honourary Doctorate in Medicine by Nihon University which is the leading and oldest private university in Japan during his official working visit to the Land of the Rising Sun recently.

"We from Indonesia would like to congratulate the Prime Minister on the award in appreciation of the success of Malaysia in combating the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

After the ceremony, Ismail Sabri handed over copies of a coffee table book entitled Ismail Sabri Yaakob Teraju Keselamatan: Depani Ancaman COVID-19 written by the Media and Strategic Communications Division director of the Prime Minister's Office, Datuk Ruhaidini Abdul Kadir, to the delegates present as a memento.

-- BERNAMA