Sharjah: The Arab Media Leaders Forum (AMLF) will feature more than a hundred leading journalists, media professionals, senior management and owners.

The Sharjah Press Club of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau will host the fifth edition of AMLF, an initiative by the Arab Media Forum Authority, on September 26 and 27.

The forum will open with the session titled, ‘The Reality of Arab Media and the Desired Future’. It will discuss the development trajectories and capabilities of media institutions in the region, as well as the role of institutions in developing the media industry and the social responsibility of media institutions.

The second session, ‘Recent Developments in Media and Professional Variables’, tackles the role of Arab media and the contemporary challenges they face, while highlighting the significant, dramatic changes which have occurred in the industry so far.

Leading Arab opinion-makers and media leaders from across the Arab world will also take part in a brainstorming session on the impact of the media, its objectives and its plans to boost and manage further development in this vital sector.

Shaikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, said that Sharjah’s hosting of the fifth edition of AMLF reflects the depth of media relations between the two sides.

He lauded Kuwait’s continuous efforts to support the Arab media in confronting the challenges and pursuing an agenda of growth while pointing to its remarkable achievements in the media sector.

Al Qasimi stressed Sharjah’s keenness to promote media in the Arab world and create a media environment that encourages development and innovation in accordance with the vision and directives of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

He cited a number of achievements made by the emirate in the media sector. He pointed out that Sharjah established the UAE’s first newspaper, ‘Oman’, in 1927, and the country’s first Arabic daily, Al Khaleej, in 1970. That was followed by a series of developments and initiatives aimed at developing the working of the media.

Meanwhile, Madi Abdullah Al Khamis, Secretary-General of Arab Media Forum, emphasised that the current developments and challenges facing the sector are the top priorities of AMLF, through an agenda that considers these issues to be firmly in the hands of Arab media leaders.