Nurmyrat Yylkybayev, co-founder and deputy director of Turkmenistan's Orient news agency, says the media is key to promoting cooperation between countries in the Global South and in facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience, which leads to overall progress.

Yylkybayev was speaking in a video message to greet the opening of the 12th Global Video Media Forum (VMF) held on Dec 3-4 in Quanzhou City of east China's Fujian Province, under the theme "Intelligence Without Frontiers, Vision Beyond The Horizon -- Media's Role in Communication and Cultural Exchange."

The VMF is an annual professional journalism forum launched by the CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+) in 2011, focusing on the latest video content communication and innovation trends, and providing a highly specialized, unique and interactive platform for domestic and foreign media peers.