Who’s Who – ABU

Who’s Who – ABU

The Union was established in 1964 as a non-profit, non-governmental, non- political, professional association with mandate to assist the development of broadcasting in the region. ABU promotes the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters as well as key industry players and facilitate regional and international media co-operation.

ABU is a member of the World Broadcasters’ Union and works closely with the other regional broadcasting unions on matters of common concern such as reserving frequencies for broadcasters, harmonisation of operating and technical broadcasting standards and systems and finalising the Broadcasting Treaty.

WHO IS WHO

	President Mr Ryoichi Ueda President, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Ryoichi Ueda assumed his post as president of NHK on January 25th, 2017, after serving as NHK’s member of the Board of Governors and the Audit Committee for 4 years since 2013. In 1973 Ueda started his career at Mitsubishi Corporation (MC). From 2008 he served as Executive Vice President of MC for the Americas, then in 2009 appointed as CFO and Representative Director of the Board of Directors of MC. From 2010 to 2013, he served as Senior Executive Vice President. In 2013 he resigned from MC to join NHK.Born in 1949, he graduated from Hitotsubashi University’s Faculty of Law, and holds an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He is married and has three daughters. .
	Vice President Mr SUN Yusheng Vice President, CCTV & Executive VP CGTN – China Mr SUN Yusheng is currently the Vice President of CCTV, the Executive Vice President of China Global Television Network (CGTN) and the Chairman of China Global Television Network Corporation.He was elected Vice President of the ABU on 4 November 2017 in Chengdu, China at the ABU 54th General Assembly. His term will be for 3 years with immediate effect.After graduating from Jilin University, he started his journalism career in China Central Television (CCTV) in 1984. As from 1997 he is supervising the public signal production and the live TV coverage of the important events, such as Hong Kong’s Return, Macao’s Return, National Day Military Parade, Encounter in the Millennium, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the BRICS Summit.His publications include Ten Years – a monograph on TV news theory.
	Vice President Mr İbrahim Eren Chairman and Director General, TRT (Turkish Radio Television Corporation) Ibrahim EREN was appointed as the Chairman and Director General of Turkish Radio Television Corporation (TRT) in July 2017 following his post as Deputy Director General of TRT as of July 2013. As he took office at TRT, Mr Eren launched TRT World, the first international news channel of Turkey as well as undersigning many national projects (TV dramas) which are widely watched in Turkey and other countries, and also initiated a mini-series. Before joining TRT, Mr Eren held the position of Deputy Director General of ATV. He graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Relations of Bogazici University and holds a master’s degree in Media Management from University of Westminster in London. Mr Eren is a member of Türksat Executive Board, a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Executive Board and a member (Director) of International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.Mr Eren is married with three children.
	Vice President Mr. Yang Sung-dong President and CEO, Korean Broadcasting System, KBS Korea Mr. Yang Sung-dong is continuing his dedicated efforts to maintain the KBS’ impartiality, editorial position in the country. Under his stewardship, KBS successfully hosted the Public Broadcasters International Seoul 2018 and KBS ABU International Radio Forum, which highlighted the critical roles of public service media in the ever-evolving media landscape. Mr. Yang is looking forward to sharing his strategic visions at the ABU General Tokyo Assembly for a better future for public service media in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Yang has an extensive background in documentary production and investigative journalism since he joined KBS as a television producer and director in 1989. He created numerous quality current affairs programs for KBS including KBS Special and In-depth 60 Minutes. He currently serves as Director of the International Academy of Television Arts, Science as well as a member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Prior to his appointment as the 24th President and CEO, Korean Broadcasting System in December 2018, in March 2019 Mr. Yang became Director, International Academy of Television Arts, Science (IATAS) He has also held high profile positions as CEO, Korean Broadcasters Association (April – Aug 2018); Executive Director, Programming and Production, KBS Busan (Oct 2013 – Dec 2015); President, Korean Producers and Directors’ Association (Sep 2007 – Aug 2008). Mr. Yang has BA and MA in Political Science, Korea University
	Dr Javad Mottaghi Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi is the Secretary-General of the ABU. He was appointed on 8 January 2010 and assumed office on 3 May 2010. Before joining the ABU, he was Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for 12 years.He has 35 years of national and international experience in media/communication in the following areas: international affairs, media/communication development and broadcasting, AV productions and co-production, ICTs, capacity building, networking, research, publications, negotiations, fund raising, news and programming for radio and television, social and cultural television programmes and sports coverage.

ABU Secretariat

The ABU Secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The present staff is 35.

	Dr Javad Mottaghi Secretary-General Chief Executive of the ABU The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, Dr Javad Mottaghi, 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.
	Technical Department Ahmed Nadeem Director, Technology & Innovation Mr Nadeem is an experienced electronic and ICT engineer with over 20 years of experience in the field of Broadcasting and Telecommunications. He has been working with ABU Technology Department since 2008. He previously worked as a Project Engineer at LSV Enterprises of Singapore (2007-2008) and before that with Television Maldives (1996-2007).
	Programme Department Koichi Okumura Director, ABU Programming Koichi Okumura joined the ABU in February 2018. He is a Japanese national and started his career with the Japanese public broadcaster NHK in 1991. He has mainly produced science programmes for the last 25 years, with the last one and a half years serving as ABU Liaison Officer of NHK. Mr Okumura holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo, Japan.
	Sports Department Cai Yanjiang Director, ABU Sports Department 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.
	Asiavision Wendy Everett Director, ABU News Wendy joined the ABU from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where her journalism career included television news, radio news and current affairs and online news and features. She was founding Executive Producer of the Australia Network satellite television news service to Asia, South Asia and the Pacific and spent three years in media development in Honiara as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Her latest role with the ABC focused on radio current affairs for the Pacific.