Finishing touches being made to ABU General Assembly in Hanoi
With less than a week to go till the ABU 50th GA and meetings start in Hanoi, more than 600 delegates and guests have already registered.
Organisers say the Union’s 50th General Assembly and meetings – due to start on 23 October – is shaping up to be a landmark in the progress of Asia-Pacific broadcasters towards meeting the challenges of the digital media world.
ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi says the General Assembly and surrounding events have come at a crucial time for the region’s media.
“If this truly is to be the Asian Century as many people predict, our public media above all must be ready,” he says.
He says the focus this year will be on audiences and how best the media industry can serve them in a world where digital television and radio, social media and mobile devices are becoming the norm.
The week-long schedule of events includes meetings of several important ABU bodies in areas such as programming, news, sport, technology and planning, though Dr Mottaghi says many of the 600-plus attendees will probably find most fascinating the special seminars, panels and side events.
These will include forums on gender issues and the question of public trust in the media, as well as how broadcasters can cope in the digital world and how they can find space on increasingly crowded broadcasting spectrum.
There will be the prestigious ABU Awards ceremony to recognise excellence in broadcasting as well as a gala concert for the ABU TV Song Festival on 26 October at the Hanoi Opera House.