Ashraf Abo Arafe
The Sultanate of Oman will be the guest of honor of the 16th Arab Media Forum, which will start in Kuwait on Sunday under the patronage of Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
The Sultanate is participating in the activities of the meeting with a delegation led by Dr. Abdulmonim bin Mansour Al Hosni, Minister of Information. The Omani delegation is represented by the various public and private media sectors in the Sultanate and Sultan Qaboos University represented by the Media Department at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The “Omanization & professionalization of the Omani Media” approach is the focus of the Sultanate’s participation in the Forum, a strategic approach that is implemented across the various sectors of the Omani media, audio and visual. The Sultanate is also participating in a unique and diverse pavilion at the exhibition that accompanies the Arab Forum. It also includes visual presentations about the Sultanate and its media activities, a wide range of publications of the Ministry of Information, and a photo exhibition that reflects Omani life and nature in the Sultanate. The Sultanate’s participation programs also include a panel discussion by students from Sultan Qaboos University.
For his part, Madhi Al-Khamis, Secretary-General of the Arab Forum, hailed the Sultanate’s choice to be the guest of honor of this session, describing Oman-Kuwait relations as distinct in various fields. He said that the theme of the forum “Media – Industry Variables” is being held at the Sheikh Jaber Cultural Center, based on the belief of the importance of the media industry and its vitality and the need for “Arabs not only consumers but producers of the media industry”.
The forum, which is attended by a number of foreign ministers, media ministers, media professionals, writers, journalists and students of the media faculties in various Arab universities, will discuss a number of topics, including the role of the media in the industry of public opinion, censorship and accountability and spreading the truth to the public professionally and objectively.
