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Who’s Who – ABU

WHO IS WHO

Professor Mehmet Zahid Sobaci
President
Director General of TRT, Turkiye

Prof. Mehmet Zahid Sobacı graduated from Uludağ University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration in 2001. He completed his master’s (2005) and doctorate (2009) education at Uludağ University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science and Public Administration. He became an associate professor in 2013 and a professor in 2020.

His areas of expertise are reform in public administration, public policy, and social media-politics relationships. The books titled “Administrative Reform and Policy Transfer”, “Public Administration in Theory and Practice”, “Social Media and Local Governments: Theory and Practice”, “Sub-National Democracy and Politics through Social Media” and “E-Parliament and ICT-Based Legislation: Concept, Experiences and Lessons” are among his main works.
Many of his articles were published in national and international journals in his areas of expertise. In 2014, he received the TÜBA (Turkish Academy of Sciences) Notable Work (Honourable Mention) Award in the field of Social Sciences with his editorial work titled “Public Policy: Theory and Practice”. Between 2015-2018, he carried out studies in the field of Internal Politics at SETA (Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research), a non-profit research institute.

He served as the Vice Director of the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye between 2018 and 2021. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Press Advertising Agency between 2019-2022.

Prof. Mehmet Zahid Sobacı has been serving as TRT Director General since 2021. Steering Türkiye’s first and only public service media TRT with the vision of “strong broadcast, strong impact”, he upholds a broadcasting approach that focuses on humans at both national and international levels, prioritizing in-depth, innovative, and comprehensive content as well. Launching Türkiye’s International Digital Platform “tabii”, Director General Prof. Sobacı also introduced TRT Français, TRT Balkan, and TRT Afrika digital news platforms, adding them to TRT’s international broadcasting family. The International Emmy Award received during this period has been credited to TRT’s success.

He was elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) at the 60th ABU General Assembly held on November 1, 2023.

Inoue Tatsuhiko
Vice-President
Executive Vice President of NHK, Japan

Inoue Tatsuhiko joined NHK as a news reporter in 1980. He started his career at NHK Nagasaki Station in southern Japan, covering disasters, incidents, and other news for six years. From 1986, Inoue specialized in politics and foreign affairs, becoming head of the Political News Division in 2005. He then served as Controller of Editing in the News Department. In June 2011, shortly after the great earthquake and tsunami hit the eastern area of Japan, he was assigned as Director of Programming Department, which put him in overall charge of organizing a whole range of NHK programs, including news programs focusing on protecting people’s lives.

Inoue became NHK’s Executive Board member and was appointed Senior Director in 2014, which involved him in the drawing up of NHK’s mid-term corporate plans.

Inoue served as President & CEO of two technical affiliates, NHKI-Tech and Broadcasting Satellite System (B-SAT) for a six-year period from 2016, providing support for broadcasting technologies and Japan’s satellite broadcasting infrastructure.

In February 2023, Inoue was appointed Executive Vice President of NHK in recognition of his wide-ranging professional expertise, extensive ties with people both inside and outside of NHK, and vast managerial experience.

Mr Sunil
Vice-President
Additional Director-General of Prasar Bharati, India

Mr Sunil, is the Additional Director General of India’s public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati with its two components, Doordarshan India (DDI) and All India Radio (AIR).

At the corporate level, he currently heads the Technology Division, International Relations, Design and Planning Wings of Terrestrial Transmitters, TV Studios & Satellite Division, Global & Domestic Distribution. He has headed the Direct to Home (DTH) Division of DDI, Marketing division and the Central Archives division of Prasar Bharati.

Mr Sunil is the President of the Broadcast Engineering Society of India (BES) and Governing Council Member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), which has 27, 000 members across the country and globe.

With over a three decades of experience in the field of broadcast engineering, Mr Sunil has worked on the installation of broadcasting projects in India and overseas.

He has been a Member of the Technical Advisory Group of ICC (INSAT Coordination Committee) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was the winner of the ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award for 2018 and is Vice Chairman of the ABU Technical Bureau.

Ahmed Nadeem
Secretary-General

Mr Ahmed Nadeem is the Secretary-General of the ABU. He was appointed on 24 November 2022 and assumed office on 1 April 2023. Nadeem is an experienced electronic and ICT engineer with over 25 years of experience in the field of Broadcasting and Telecommunications. He joined the ABU in 2008 as Head of Studio Technology and Training at ABU Technology Department. He assumed the position in Director ABU Technology in 2018. Before joining the ABU, he worked as a Project Engineer at LSV Enterprises in Singapore (2007-2008) and before that he worked as Chief Engineer at Television Maldives, the public broadcaster in the Maldives (1996-2007).

ABU Secretariat

The ABU Secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The present staff is 35.
Ahmed Nadeem
Secretary-General
Chief Executive of the ABU
The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, Ahmed Nadeem, who is the chief executive of the ABU and is responsible for all of the Union’s activities. He reports to the Administrative Council and the General Assembly. The Secretary-General’s office handles the administration, staffing, public, international relations, finance and information systems of the ABU. The Secretariat has four other departments: ABU Programming, ABU Technology, ABU Sports and Asiavision, each headed by a director who reports directly to the Secretary-General.
ABU Sports
Cai Yanjiang
Director, ABU Sports
Yanjiang was from CCTV where he was Senior Producer of the CCTV sports channel. He graduated from the China Central Academy of Drama with a Masters degree in Film and Television theory. Yanjiang joined the ABU in July 2012.
ABU News
Deborah Steele
Director, ABU News
Deborah is a former ABC news executive, editor and journalist and a strategic communications specialist. She led the ABC’s Asia – Pacific newsroom from 2009-2017 and established Australia’s first 24/7 multiplatform newsroom producing content for digital, television and radio for the ABC’s domestic and international services. She has extensive experience in identifying and developing strategic opportunities, strengthening stakeholder relationships and building Asia- Pacific partnerships.
ABU Programming
Yasu Nagahata
Director, ABU Programming
Mr. Yasushige Nagahata is a Japanese national and started his career with Japanese public broadcaster, NHK in 1997. He has mainly directed and produced entertainment programmes for the last 24 years. He holds a Bachelor of Art degree from Boston University, USA.
ABU Technology
Dr Veysel Binbay
Director, ABU Technology
Veysel Binbay is a Turkish National and has been working in Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) since 1998. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree (Gazi University, Turkey), MSc (Graduate Degree, Dicle University, Turkey) and PHd (Doctorate degree, Dicle University, Turkey). He is experienced in the design, setup, and operation of analogue/hybrid/digital radio and TV broadcast systems; he also has experience in developing software.