TİKA Supports Pakistan’s National News Agency

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) renovated the Urdu News Service at the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Pakistan’s national news agency.

Established in 1947 as Pakistan’s national news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has 9 bureaus and 7 broadcasting stations and reports news stories in 7 languages, namely Arabic, Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi, and Brahui, as well as English, the country’s official language, and Urdu, a lingua franca.

In addition to 400 editorial staff members and over 100 correspondents working in Pakistan, the Agency employs foreign correspondents in Washington, London, New Delhi, Beijing, and New York. APP reports nearly 35,000 news stories, including 30,000 in English and Urdu and 4,500 in other languages, and releases an average of 2000 photos and videos every month.

As part of the project implemented by TİKA, the office of the Urdu News Service at the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) was renovated, and inadequate technical devices and equipment were replaced with modern ones. The unit was put back into service at a ceremony attended by Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan; İ. Mustafa Yurdakul, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Islamabad; Muhsin Balcı, TİKA’s Program Coordinator in Islamabad; Akhtar Munir, Managing Director of APP; and many invitees.

In her speech at the ceremony, Minister Aurangzeb thanked Türkiye and TİKA for their contribution and stated that the Urdu News Service would serve better in its renovated office.

İ. Mustafa Yurdakul, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Islamabad, noted that APP’s institutional capacity was strengthened through the modernization of its technical capacity in order to enable it to report news stories more effectively and efficiently. He added that the cooperation between Türkiye and Pakistan has improved in every field.