The Cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Adel Safar on Tuesday discussed the first version of the new media draft law.
The talks focused on proposals and notes regarding the new media draft law which will be posted on the Prime Ministry website and the websites of Information Ministry and other media institutions with the aim of using the citizens’ viewpoints and observations to reformulate the draft law.
The Cabinet approved a draft law on increasing Syria’s contribution to the capital of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.
A draft law on ratifying the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement signed between Syria and Algeria was also approved.
The Cabinet approved a draft law on ratifying a memo of understanding on cultural and scientific cooperation between Syria and Iraq.
The Minister of Industry reviewed his Ministry’s vision on increasing the competitiveness of industrial sector, supporting small and medium-sized industries and developing public sector industrial companies.
In a statement to the press after the meeting, Minister of Information Dr. Adnan Mahmoud said that the Cabinet gave considerable attention during this meeting to discuss the new media draft law.
He said that with the Ministers provided opinions and suggestion to enrich the draft law in order to boost mass media’s role in interacting with public opinion issues and guarantee general freedoms based on respecting the constitution and the law while taking into account the rights of journalists and their duties towards state and society.
He pointed out that the final draft will be the first of its kind in the Arab area to cover all forms of mass media, and that the draft law is comprehensive in this regard and relies on the different standards of which medium.
Dr. Mahmoud said that journalists should review the tools, mechanism and methods they use to raise the level of Syrian mass media to the level of citizens’ awareness and issues, calling for reconsidering the role of press offices in ministries.
The Minister stressed the need for mass media to meet the Syrian citizens’ needs and interact with their issues, calling on local mass media establishments to use all their resources and capabilities to underline points of weakness and error and accentuate achievements so that they can be built upon to achieve the interests of citizens and society.
