Abu Dhabi (WAM/VNA) - Under the patronage of His Highness SheikhMansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairmanof the Presidential Court, the first day of the Global Media Congress closed atthe Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) on November 14 after a livelyseries of presentations, panel discussions and keynote speeches that broughttogether renowned figures from the world of media, communication, andtechnology.

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

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

With the first day of the Congress taking in conjunction with COP28, there wasa special focus on the role that the media can play in addressing environmentalissues 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 environmentaland climate change issues and help drive real change to protect globalecosystems. The Global Media Congress is playing a decisive role as a forum formedia leaders, creatives and activists to tackle one of the most critical issuesfaced by this generation and those to come. In keeping with the aspirations ofour wise leadership, ADNEC Group remains dedicated to helping innovative ideasflourish and nurturing meaningful industry partnerships."

This year’s Congress will also host five accompanying features – some being heldfor the first time – which include the innovation and startups platform withover 24 startups, the training and education feature with more than 30workshops, the Future Media Labs with elite-level discussions in six closedsessions, 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 specialstall. The participation of the VNA delegation, headed by Nguyen Duc Vu, VNATechnical Centre Director, is in line with the partnership agreement that theVNA has signed with the WAM for media cooperation at multiple levels.

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

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