Some 500 delegates are attending the General Assembly and its Associated Meetings.
In his opening remarks, the Director General of Turkish Radio and Television Corporation – TRT, Mr Şenol GÖKA said that it is an immense pleasure for his organisation to host the one-week long event. He added that he is very proud of the remarkable achievement of the ABU.
The ABU President, Mr Cho Dae-hyun said that ABU’s activities are meant for the future generation of the Asia-Pacific region. He underlined that the Union is coming with new and innovative projects to enable members to face the digital challenges.
“It is our function to serve them on all platforms,” the ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi stated and he added that ‘we are here, to talk and exchange views and focus on commonalities and what unites us.”
All those attending the opening ceremony were impressed by the spectacular performance of the TRT Choir.
During the plenary session, the General Assembly approved the reports presented by all the departments of the ABU – Programme, Technical, Sports, News, Copyright and Finance. The ABU President also launched the ABU Music Exchange – a new activity where members can upload and down rights free music.
"In 2015 ABU opened a new chapter in its 50 years of history. Last year, we could afford to look back and reflecton our values and achievements. This year we look forward and plan the future of the Union. We exist to serve the audiences of the most dynamic region in the world with the fastest emerging economies and growing populations. As the largest broadcasting union, we serve through our more than 275 members in 68 countries 60 % of the world’s population.
The listening and viewing habits of Asia are changing all the time. The young have different demands on the media from the old; the poor have different needs from the rich; women, the persons with disabilities and disadvantaged must be given equal opportunities; whole communities has to be protected from natural disasters.
The list is endless but the way forward lies in empowering the audiences of Asia – Pacific with Education, Education, and Education! It can only be achieved on a grand scale, through the mediausing the advantages of the digitalisation.
The challenge is enormous. We have to think out of the box to find innovative and creative ways to serve our audiences, whether they be viewers, listeners, on-line users or social networkers; whether they live in modern metropolitan centres with information and communications ever-present at their fingertips or in rural areas where analogue radios and communal TVs still provide their main window on the wider world.
Our gathering in Istanbul will be an opportunity to look not only at content, technology, providing news and current affairs, sport and entertainment, but the role of media as a game-changer in education, health, disaster preparedness and nations-building. As broadcasters, we know we can always do things better. This General
Assembly is our chance to join together to achieve that across all our activities. Our aim this year is nothing less than to begin our journey to empower more than half of the world." - introduction of 52nd ABU General Assembly & assiciated meetings.
