Members of the AIBD Executive Board (EXBO) gathered recently in Maldives to identify approaches to strengthen the Institute’s sustainability and improve delivery of services to members.

Members of the AIBD Executive Board (EXBO) gathered recently in Maldives to identify approaches to strengthen the Institute’s sustainability and improve delivery of services to members.

They urge the AIBD secretariat to explore new revenue streams and ensure means to distribute funds equitablyfor its various training activities that will benefit member states.

“We need to spread funds, whether training for radio, or for TV, or for various areas of competence. AIBD should make a study of fair distribution and geographical coverage”, Dato’ Abu Bakar Ab Rahim, EXBO Chairman and Director-General of Radio Television, Malaysia, said.

Ms Yan Ni,SPT ViceChairperson and Director of Asian, Africanand Latin American AffairsDivision, SAPPRFT, China, recommended that AIBD pursue  a regular evaluation of all AIBD workshops and seminars or seek out members’ feedback in order for members to know the value of AIBD training programmes to their organization. She also said results should also be made available to GC members.

AIBD Director Chang Jin said the organization conducts such evaluation every year and promised to make this available as part ofthe Director’s Report during the GC.

EXBO members met on 21 August 2017 to examine the Institute’s accomplishments during the one-year period. Their meeting was a part of the 16th AIBD General Conference & Associated Meetings in Male’, Maldives from 21-22 August 2017.

In their discussions,some EXBO members called on AIBD to conduct more in-country workshops and suggested additional topics, including training on media management, new media and use of smartphones in broadcasting.   

Chairman Bakarrequested members to help share expenses with AIBD in pursuing in-country workshops, thereby reducing operational costs of the organization. He said they must let AIBD know their training needs so that the organization can identify appropriate experts to conduct in- country workshops.

The AIBD Director welcomed co-funding mechanisms in conducting some in-country workshops, saying this collaboration has been in place in Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and Malaysia, among others.

The EXBO also urged the secretariat to align its activities and collaborate with ABU not only to optimize financial assets, but also to ensure their activities do not duplicate. If similar activities are planned, a collaboration would best achieve the intended outcomes.

On the proposal by the secretariat that EXBO membership be expanded to include affiliate members, the EXBO decided to keep the status quo. It requested the secretariat to clarify the status, representation and rights of full and affiliate members, and study thoroughly how affiliate members can be better integrated into AIBD affairs.

The EXBO members also agreed to keep the status quo in response to the proposal of the secretariat that the President and Vice President of the General Conference be automatic Chairman and Vice-Chairman of EXBO.

The EXBO meeting began with the report from Director Chang Jin on some of the Institute’s accomplishments during a one-year period.  

He said some 840 broadcasters from 45 countries covering mostly Asia-Pacific benefitted from AIBD-organized training workshops and seminars covering the period of 1st July 2016 to 30th June 2017.

Topics covered media management, media literacy, media law and ethics, entertainment, children and youth programmes, digitalization, disaster risk reduction, new and social media and radio production, among others.

In his presentation, he said the Institute approved five new affiliate members. These were Asian TV in Bangladesh, iM4U Radio Sdn Bhd (iM4U FM) in Malaysia, Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation, Startimes Communication Network Technology CO. Ltd., and China Communication Research Centre of SAPPRFT, China. Three affiliate members were suspended while membership of two others was terminated.

AIBD currently has currently 108 (43 full-member and 65 affiliate-member organizations, representing 46 (26+20) countries. 

Member states represented in the EXBO meeting were Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Indonesia and Pakistan did not attend the meeting.