By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 08, 2018: THE 15th Asia Media Summit (AMS) 2018 is being hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), from May 10 to 12, 2018 in New Delhi. The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Textiles, Mrs Smriti Zubin Irani would be presiding as the Chief Guest over the Inaugural ceremony of the Summit on 10 th May.

The AMS 2018, an annual summit of the Asia - Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Kuala Lumpur, is a prestigious summit in the Asia Pacific Region and India is hosting the event for the first time. The Summit, with the theme `Telling Our Stories – Asia and More'', would be organized in two parts Pre-summit workshop (May 08-09) and Summit (May 10-12). Participants would represent organizations like Ministries responsible for Information and Broadcasting in the Asian region, International Organizations UNESCO, FAO, UN; Regulators; Radio and Television broadcasting companies both national/ public and private broadcasters; Television channels and networks, Institutes/Academies of Communication, Media Research; Community Radio groups; Press and Media, and broadcast equipment manufacturers.

The Summit would encourage regional and bilateral dialogue and cooperation to respond to challenges to the broadcasting sector in the region. It would provide a unique opportunity for broadcasters in the Asian region to share their thoughts on software and hardware aspects of Broadcasting. There are also opportunities for networking, facilities for business to business meetings and prospective translation of these meetings into trade and economic relations after the summit.

Dignitaries attending the Summit include Minister of Information from Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Hasanul Haq Inu, Minister of Information from Cambodia, H.E. Dr. Khieu Kanharith, H.E. Mr. Sam Seog Ko, Standing Commissioner Korea Communications Commission and Dr. Abbas Naseri Taheri, Director General, International Department and Advisor to President, IRIB, Iran . Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi Director, UNESCO New Delhi Office would also be present at the inaugural function.

Further, participation in the summit includes over 200 foreign delegates representing 39 countries of SAARC (Afghanistan, Bangladesh,  Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka); ASEAN (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) East Asia (Korea, Hong Kong, Japan); Africa (Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia); Oceania (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea) Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom) Syria, Uzbekistan, USA, China . There are over 100 Indian delegates also.

The Agenda of the summit would include Plenary Sessions on Media regulation policies: Ethics, rules and laws and Our Exciting Stories. Parallel Sessions would be held on Asian values as broadcasting themes; Should all good stories be commercially successful?; New technologies in the Broadcasting and Film Industry to Enhance Story-Telling; Media business models in the new era; Telling compelling stories: Challenges and Opportunities - Radio and Community Radio; Sustainable development Stories – Special Focus; CEO Roundtable Story-telling and the success of media.

In the concluding session, World Television Awards 2018 would be presented by Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs & Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore The Closing Ceremony would witness the handing over of the baton for hosting the next AMS to Philippines.