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Opening Ceremony of the 8th APTIF |
The Eighth Asia-Pacific Translation and Interpreting Forum (the 8th APTIF) was held on 17-18 June 2016 in Xi’an, China. The forum is co-hosted by FIT and Translators Association of China(TAC) and organized by Xi’an International Studies University(XISU). Some 500 participants from over 30 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific Region and beyond were in attendance. Jing Junhai, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Zhou Mingwei, President of TAC, Zhuang Changxing, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Province, and FIT President Henry Liu, among others, addressed the Opening Ceremony.
Centering on the theme of “Translation and Interpreting in Tomorrow's Asia-Pacific Region”, participants shared views on the role of translation and interpreting in boosting regional development, challenges and opportunities brought about by regional initiatives, translator and interpreter training, technological innovations in the language industry, standardization of the language profession and other related subjects in three plenary sessions (keynote, plenary panel and plenary speeches) and 28 parallel sessions.
One of the highlights of the forum is that, the Joint Committee of the APTIF was formally established during the forum. The committee aims at engaging more translation and interpreting institutions of the region for the sustainable development of the APTIF. Ten translation and interpreting associations and institutions from Azerbaijan, China, China’s Hong Kong, China’s Macau, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea joined the Committee as founding members. The first general meeting of the Committee was held on the sidelines of the forum, in which the Executive Board members of the Committee were elected, with Mr. WANG Gangyi elected Chair of the Board. The permanent Secretariat of the Committee will be hosted and staffed by TAC. FIT President Henry Liu thanked the generous support from TAC for hosting the Secretariat and wished this Committee every success.
Participants have reached a broad consensus during the forum. They stressed the important role played by translators and interpreters worldwide, highlighted the growth prospects and momentum of language service industry in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, and agreed to enhance exchanges and cooperation. The forum published Xi’an Consensus at the 8th APTIF.
The APTIF was honored by the presence of the FIT Executive Committee which held its meeting in Xi’an at the invitation of TAC. FIT advisors and Council members also attended the event as speakers or moderators. FIT thanked TAC and XISU and all the organisers and volunteers for a most successful APTIF8 highlighting the social aspects of the interpreting and translation profession, exploring the latest technological innovations and showcasing the achievements of Shaanxi, of China and the wider Asia Pacific translation, interpreting and terminology profession to the world.
The Ninth APTIF will be jointly hosted by the Korean Association of Translators and Interpreters and the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in 2019.