An overview of the Global Media Congress. — WAM/VNA Photo

Abu Dhabi — Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, the first day of the Global Media Congress closed at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) on November 14 after a lively series of presentations, panel discussions and keynote speeches that brought together renowned figures from the world of media, communication, and technology.

The day began with a keynote speech from H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of State for Tolerance and Coexistence, who welcomed the Congress participants to the event and emphasized the media’s power to foster international cooperation, the sharing of essential values and interests, and an appreciation of human achievements across national boundaries.

Adding his welcome to that of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan in a further keynote speech, Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director-General of Emirates News Agency (WAM) and Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee for the Global Media Congress, observed that “our gathering today at this important global event gives us great scope to share ideas on contemporary challenges faced by the media sector along with investment opportunities that to help us advance best professional practices across multiple media sectors. We will also examine how we can build a future media industry that shares knowledge and information in ways that maximise the happiness of peoples and sustain the development of societies.”

With the first day of the Congress taking in conjunction with COP28, there was a special focus on the role that the media can play in addressing environmental issues and climate change.

Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNEC Group, said: “Today’s sessions affirmed the media’s potential to highlight key environmental and climate change issues and help drive real change to protect global ecosystems. The Global Media Congress is playing a decisive role as a forum for media leaders, creatives and activists to tackle one of the most critical issues faced by this generation and those to come. In keeping with the aspirations of our wise leadership, ADNEC Group remains dedicated to helping innovative ideas flourish and nurturing meaningful industry partnerships."

This year’s Congress will also host five accompanying features – some being held for the first time – which include the innovation and startups platform with over 24 startups, the training and education feature with more than 30 workshops, the Future Media Labs with elite-level discussions in six closed sessions, the influencer innovation feature with dedicated dialogue sessions, and a new media sessions and round tables feature with experts, speakers, innovators and global media leaders.

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) is participating in the event with a special stall. The participation of the VNA delegation, headed by Nguyen Duc Vu, VNA Technical Centre Director, is in line with the partnership agreement that the VNA has signed with the WAM for media cooperation at multiple levels.

The VNA's stall at the Global Media Congress 2023

“Our partnership with WAM is based on our conviction that media entities around the world need to be strengthen their bonds in order to effectively handle the challenges facing the sector. The GMC is the definitive venue in which media figures and leaders from different parts of the globe put their heads together to come up with lasting solutions for the problems we face and ideas to take our industry to higher levels of productivity and credibility,” Vu said.

The inaugural edition in 2022 was a resounding success, attracting over 13,656 visitors during the three-day event. — WAM/VNA