AMS 2018 -Closing Remarks – Director, AIBD
The 15th Asia Media Summit,
Closing Remarks
Chang Jin, Director, AIBD
17.30 Friday 11th May 2018
Taj Diplomatic Enclave, New Delhi, India
Honourable Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, AVSM,Minister of State of Information & Broadcasting and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports,
Dr Abbas Naseri Taheri, Director-General, International Department and Advisor to the President, IRIB, Iran and President, AIBD General Conference,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All delegates,
Good evening.
We are near the end of a very successful 15th Asia Media Summit.
While immersed in the proceedings of our Summit, I believe all delegates coming from the Asia-Pacific region and other parts of the world have been deeply impressed with the warm hospitality of our hosts, the beauty in the land, the culture and the people, the talents and wisdom of the professionals of the country, and the vision of its leaders. We also admire the warmth and ability of the young volunteers from this great country of India. So first of all allow me to say, thank you very much, India!
We had gathered on this beautiful land to discuss ‘Telling our Stories –Asia and More’. Stories are the embodiment of values and culture, and vehicles to carry the same. It is through stories that we preach, understand and appreciate what life is about. It is in stories that we record and epitomise what we hold dear to our heart. The vivid impressions we have from various sessions of this Summit is only highlighting again the role of storytelling in the ecology of the media industry.
As the only inter-governmental organisation in the region for the electronic media industry, AIBD organises this summit for it to be a forum for media professionals and experts, and our unique feature is the full support and involvement of government leaders and government departments.
It is a great honour for this Asia media summit to have received a message from the honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Modi points out that our region has emerged as one of the most promising regions for media business, especially the broadcasting sector. The opportunities for international cooperation range from technology partnership to sharing of successful strategies of inclusive communication and our eventual aim shall be to deepen the media and democratic space in the region. Prime Minister Modi praised the theme ‘Telling our stories- Asia and more’as conveying the noble aim of the summit, of giving voice to the whole population in the region.
We are extremely grateful to Honourable Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shrimati Smriti Zubin Irani for her gracing the Inaugural Session with her presence and her keynote address. She calls for better strategy in media policies and she also appreciates the theme in storytelling which could give rise to the flourish of cultural traditions of not only nations but also all human kind.
This summit also received a video message from Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Her Excellency Amina Mohammad. Ms Amina appreciated our theme of storytelling and supported the summit to explore media’s role in sustainable development.
This Asia Media Summit registered 395 delegates from 41 countries and regions. We conducted 6 pre-summit workshops covering the topics of Storytelling- principles methods and aims, Augmented reality and virtual reality, Media law and ethics, Digital terrestrial television broadcasting- transition strategy, A world of listening- new ways to tell our stories, and Mobile journalism. We had 5 plenary sessions on Media regulation policies: ethics rules and laws, Mythology folklore and contemporary stories, Telling compelling stories- challenges and opportunities, Radio and community radio, Sustainable development stories- special focus, and CEO round table- storytelling and the success of media. We had 4 parallel sessions: should all good stories be commercially successful, Asian values as broadcasting themes, New technologies in the broadcasting and film industry to enhance storytelling, and Media business models in the new era.
Honourable ministers of information from Bangladesh, Cambodia and Korea and more than 60 speakers from our region and other parts of the world and the host country India deliberated deeply and thoroughly on the various topics of our summit.
Alongside the proceedings of the summit, there were also discussions for more cooperation among member countries of AIBD and our partners in the region and the world. Specific suggestions were made on improvement of media policy for better and fairer society, concerted efforts in the SDGs, and setting-up of new regional mechanisms of media content exchange.
I believe this summit has unleashed, I quote from Prime Minister Modi, “a new spirit for creative collaboration, for a better and more effective media partnership in the region, and new initiatives for future of the media in our region.”
Finally I would like to thank all members of AIBD and all delegates for participating and continuing to support the Asia Media Summit. It has grown up and become one of the premier platforms in Asia-Pacific to discuss and debate the most important current topics of the industry. With this flagship event, AIBD envisions to explore new dimensions and opportunities in the fast changing expressions in media industry through a collaborative and inclusive network and contribute to the growth of this industry in the rich cultural heritage of the Asia-Pacific region.
We will soon announce the host and venue of the 16th Asia Media Summit. I hope you continue to support, and can benefit immensely from this Summit.
Thank you very much.
