Abu Dhabi, March 09: The three-day Abu Dhabi Media Summit will open Tuesday as international media leaders flock to the UAE capital.
The summit, organised by the Abu Dhabi Media Company, says it aims “to reflect the emergence of Abu Dhabi as a global media hub.”
The summit’s programme includes a unique combination of high-profile sessions and closed-door discussions.
“The inaugural Abu Dhabi Media Summit will bring together media leaders from every continent to the UAE capital,” said Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, chairman of Abu Dhabi Media Company.
“Our programme of events and discussions reflect both our region’s immediate media industry ambition, and longer-term opportunities for the sector worldwide,” Mazrouei said.
“We believe that this summit will become one of the most important industry forums of its kind anywhere in the world, reaffirming Abu Dhabi’s place on the new global media stage,” he added.
Dirk Meyer, president and CEO of AMD commented on the event, saying: “The Abu Dhabi Media Summit represents an unprecedented gathering of global media and technology leaders enabling the next wave of innovation that is poised to drive global media. I’m proud to be a co-chair at this seminal event in one of the world’s fastest growing markets for technology and media.”
The summit has drawn big names, including Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp, to Eric Schmidt, the Google chief executive.
Participants “are also to review radical new media in China, the media scene in India, building media brands as well as the rising star of Middle Eastern media,” the organisers said.
The event is held under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
“There’s never really been a conference like this before in our industry,” said Michael Garin, a former US television executive now on the Abu Dhabi Media Company’s executive committee.
Garin said: “What the conference does more than anything else is confirm Abu Dhabi’s geographic, commercial and intellectual position as the nexus between east and west.”
The summit serves a dual purpose, said Tony Orsten, a former Paramount Pictures executive who runs the Abu Dhabi Media Zone Authority.
“Half of our job is to help western media companies take advantage of the growth opportunity in the Arab region. The other half is to help the region’s companies to get into the media business in a more professional manner,” he said.
Orsten said: “This might become the next Davos of media.”
—Agencies