Arab Media Forum 2017 kicks off in Dubai on April 18

DUBAI: The two-day 16th edition of the Arab Media Forum (AMF) is set to kick off on April 18 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai under the theme “Civil Dialogue.”
The annual event, to be held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, is expected to attract industry leaders and media professionals to highlight the most pressing issues currently facing the media.
In a statement to the media, Dubai Press Club (DPC), the organizer of AMF, said that this year’s forum theme — “Civil Dialogue” — “will highlight the role of media in taking the lead in facilitating cross-cultural discussions, inspired by Arabic and Islamic values and the UAE’s vision that aims at providing happiness to people through spreading hope, peace and tolerance.”
Dubai Press Club President Mona Ghanim Al-Marri said that this year’s forum continued to solidify its message by inviting media to confront social challenges by highlighting facts and actively engaging communities to achieve growth, stability and prosperity.
She added that selecting this theme reflected a firm belief in media’s ability to bridge cultural and social gaps and promote the values of tolerance and coexistence because the theme endorses diversity as a way to build a new civilization that orchestrates harmony between people, religions, politics and cultures.
“Over the past years, the world witnessed many developments and changes that brought big challenges on the political, economic and cultural levels,” said Al-Marri. “Limiting the consequences of these challenges requires better collaboration and understanding, which produce a constructive dialogue between civilizations — a dialogue that innovatively discusses the way forward and sets development schemes that change the stagnant situation in the Arab world.”
According to Al-Marri, the media today needed to take the lead in promoting this dialogue based on the values of respect, coexistence and tolerance.
The forum’s organizing committee is working on the final preparations for what is billed as the biggest media event in the region.
AMF is one of the most important events that DPC organizes, in addition to the Arab Journalism Award ceremony, the Arab Social Media Influencers Summit and the Emirati Media Forum.