Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

Several leaders, decision-makers and professionals in the world’s media industry, who were in the Kingdom to attend the 10th anniversary of the Asia Media Summit (AMS), lauded Saudi Arabia for its commendable role in promoting media and its keenness to cash in on the merits of the fast changing media landscape. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, they voiced their excitement and joy in seeing the enthusiasm of the Saudi media officials while hosting the summit, which came to an Arab country for the first time.



Yang Binyuan, director of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), said that he was amazed with the unique culture of Saudi Arabia and friendly behavior of its people. “We are excited that such a big event is taking place in the Kingdom, and are proud to see that an Arab country is hosting AMS for the first time in its 11-year history. I hope through AMS, we can provide a very good platform for broadcasters and media personnel from around the world to share experiences and expertise,” he said. “We see the Kingdom as a major partner in going ahead with our mission of sharing media experiences and practices in developing media content, skills and technology.”



Referring to choosing Saudi Arabia as the venue of the AMS, Binyuan said this was in recognition of the Kingdom’s legacy of embracing people of different cultures and hundreds of nationalities. “Our summits have been held in countries with varying levels of development and with people belonging to a mix of race, religion and culture.”



Inaugurating the summit, Rosarita Niken Widiastuti, president of AIBD and director of Radio Republic Indonesia, praised the Kingdom for playing a positive role in promoting media ethics. She said that the workshops that preceded the summit discussed various aspects of the current position of the new media and the latest trends in the field. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, she lauded the very good arrangements made for the summit.



“AIBD, which groups more than 100 media organizations from 54 member countries, wants that each member country and organization shall be responsive to the development of technology, skills and content catering to the needs of the public, especially in the new media because it has big penetration to our audience,” she said.



Poonam Sharma, director of global media services company MediaGuru, said: “I am so excited to see the grand scale arrangements and great significance being given to the summit in the Kingdom. It is fantastic that so many minds from the broadcasting industry gathered together to share their views and ideas as well as to try to understand the region, besides the market and the potential opportunities it has,” she said.



Sharma, a Singapore-based veteran in the Asian broadcasting industry who moderated the first session of the summit, said that the summit put more emphasis on the great opportunities in the media field like mobile television, social media and satellite channels.



“We want to know what the world is thinking and how it is reacting. It is a unique experience to have people from different fields of the industry gather under one platform and sharing their ideas, experiences and visions so as to come out with the best outcome,” she said.



Reacting to the Kingdom’s hosting of such a global summit, Maha Akeel, director of Information and Public Relations at the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said the summit gave a wonderful opportunity for Saudi media leaders to interact and exchange views with mediapersons from other countries. “The summit gave a more accurate picture of KSA to the outside world. Our media can benefit from the new experiences and innovations brought in by the countries in the Asia Pacific region,” she said.



V.K. Hamza Abbas, chief editor of Gulf Madhyamam daily, said the summit was effective and fruitful in embracing the new positive trends in the media field.



He underscored the need for establishing a world standard media and Internet city in the Kingdom. “There should be vast infrastructure facilities to make the Kingdom a ‘controlled and streamlined’ media hub in the region,” he said.



Abbas also appreciated the leadership role of Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja in hosting such a big summit of media leaders from across the world as well as for the stupendous growth of the Kingdom’s media industry.



Manil Cooray, deputy director of AIBD, said: “We are highly impressed to be in the Kingdom that gave an opportunity for many mediapersons to shed their stereotype image. The Kingdom is not at all a restricted and restrained world for the media as some people think. We want that diversity among cultures must be protected through media where considerations such as gender, race or religion do not matter.”