A huge convergence of top media executives gathered in Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province of Southern China to deliberate on the future of the media in the digital age and its role in the emerging world order.
The event which kicked off Saturday with a welcome banquet hosted by Executive Chairman World Media Summit (WMS) and President Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua, is also expected to have in attendance some top government officials across the world as well as representatives of international organisations like the UN.
Welcoming participants, Mr Hua said the event which effectively takes off Sunday and themed “Boosting Global Confidence, Promoting Media Development,” will have media chiefs charting a pathway for the industry in the face of emerging global challenges and also contribute to achieving world peace, prosperity and progress.
He described the summit as the largest offline media forum convened since China’s post-pandemic era.
Various interventions are expected from participants who will speak on the summit’s sub themes; “Bolstering Confidence: Media’s Role in Promoting Human Development and Security”, “Embracing Changes: Media’s Response to New Technological Opportunities And Challenges”, “Pioneering Innovation: Media’s New Market in the Digital Age”, and “Seeking Growth: Media’s Worldwide Cooperation For A Better Future.”
Also listed as sub themes are issues around the host province: “Guagdong Nasha: Joining Hands with the World,” and of course, “Communication. Consensus. Integration. Advancement. Greater Bay Area International Communication Forum.”
While Ali M. Ali, managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), will speak on the summit’s main theme, Abdulrahman A. Abdulrauf of Blueprint Newspapers will focus on both media’s response to digital challenges on the one hand, and “Communication. Consensus. Integration. Advancement. Greater Bay Area International Communication Forum” on the other.
Also in an interview with Xinhua, Janna Tolstikova, the CEO of TV BRICS, said: “We are looking forward to exchanging experience with media from different countries at the upcoming summit, particularly with regard to the coverage of sustainable development, socio-economic and humanitarian issues.”
She further said the summit “provides a platform that encourages the exchange of experience between the world’s media, that helps to identify the main trends and key challenges in the media industry and determine how to jointly respond to these.”
While underscoring the role of the media, the TV BRICS chief said, “It is the work of the media that allows us to ‘build bridges’ between countries and entire civilisations, to introduce them to each other, to unite and bring them together.
“The media coverage of certain problems allows us to quite literally highlight some of the most important topics amidst the endless flow of information.”
Earlier, the delegates had gone on a tour of the Guangzhou Automobile Group Company (GAC) where exotic concepts of various cars were on display, with the manufacturers assuring that plans were underway to translate the concept into real products for sale across the world.
GAC, according to information obtained from its website, was incorporated in June 1997, and by 2022, GAC’ s production and sales had exceeded 2.4 million, with a positive year-on-year growth.
“Based on export planning, GAC Group successfully pushed ahead its international business, and GAC MOTOR was born with the right time. As of today, GAC MOTOR has successfully infiltrated the markets of Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and America, total of 30 countries and regions worldwide. In order to further optimize the development path, the international strategic plan has been clarified,” said the owners.
