The agreement was signed between AA Deputy Director-General Cagatay Culcuoglu and his counterpart from Kyodo, Tomoki Ueda, at NAWC, during which opportunities of cooperation between international news agencies were handled. 

"We feel quite honoured and pleased with the agreement," Culcuoglu said. "It is a great step that AA will now be able to offer all its products including news, photos, and footage to Japan, the Far East and Asia through Kyodo, a step which will be further develop from now on." 

"The historical relations between Turkey and Japan will go on improving with the agreement signed in Riyadh today."

Reiterating AA's aim of ranking among the five leading news agencies worldwide as part of its centenary vision, he said, "We, thus, have been in cooperation with a number of news agencies, as well as visual and written media organisations, across the world."

Ueda also voiced his pleasure with the agreement, describing it as "a great step for the future." 

"The agreement will, at the same time, serve as a bridge between the two countries helping them better understand each other," Ueda said. 

More than 70 news agencies from all over the world and 30 speakers specialised in media and information technology and communications took part in the 4th News Agencies World Congress (IV-NAWC) hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from November 17 to 21 under the theme "Re-formation of a News Agency in the 21st Century."