UAE to build the greatest bridge in the world

Bridges are rarely just physical structures. They are declarations of intent. If they could speak, they would say: “We will connect. We will reach out. We will move beyond the familiar.”

Throughout history, bridges have shaped civilizations — uniting cities, opening trade, carrying ideas, and signaling that isolation is never destiny.

Today, the UAE is building a bridge of a different kind. Not of steel or stone, but of knowledge, creativity, and collaboration. It stretches across languages, nations, and disciplines, transforming talent, research, and imagination into shared value. It is a bridge that moves not just people, but ideas — and through them, communities, economies, and cultures.

This bridge comes alive in BRIDGE Summit, the largest debut media event in the world taking place in Abu Dhabi. The inaugural edition will be held from December 8 to 10, 2025, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Here, creators from every corner of content and culture — literature, publishing, translation, film, television, digital platforms, social media, music, performing arts, gaming, augmented and virtual reality, design, architecture, crafts — meet alongside universities, research centres, incubators, policymakers, and industry leaders. The summit is not a showcase; it is a launchpad. It transforms conversations into action, dialogue into ventures, and networks into lasting partnerships.

BRIDGE is designed to do more than inspire. Co-production labs turn ideas into ventures. Regulatory dialogues bring frameworks closer to practice. Marketplaces link projects with funding and distribution. Showcases and professional standards elevate skills. Trust is built, communities take shape, and collaborations grow into measurable impact.

This is not an event — it is a year-round ecosystem. BRIDGE is a living network where creators meet investors, policymakers meet innovators, platforms meet content companies, and universities meet accelerators. It integrates culture and creative industries into the global economy while promoting inclusion, access, and opportunity.

Strategically, BRIDGE advances four dimensions:

● Economic: accelerating startups, attracting investment, generating high-quality jobs, and converting creative output into measurable economic impact.

● Social: giving diverse voices access, embedding lifelong learning, building digital skills, and ensuring creative economies benefit communities.

● Cultural: enriching public taste, safeguarding languages and traditions, and expanding the frontiers of artistic and technological innovation.

● Regulatory: aligning legislation with industry practice, fostering dialogue between institutions and creators, and establishing professional standards that support quality, sustainability, and global competitiveness.

The United Arab Emirates chose to build this bridge because it moves with a clear mission: to take on an unprecedented global role—one that turns the connection of minds and energies into a permanent, open pathway in every direction.

The UAE, which has made openness and diversity the foundation of its modern identity, sees the leadership of the future beginning with the creation of intangible infrastructures. It believes that with its experience in building international platforms, it can transform BRIDGE into a major nexus in the global content network—one that offers the region and the world a practical model for managing hidden value as a sustainable strategic asset.

-- Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed is the Chairman of the National Media Office, and Chairman of the UAE Media Council, Chairman of BRIDGE