Report on the AMED Media Roundtable, 6 August 2010

At the second Asia-Middle East Dialogue Ministerial Meeting (AMED II) in April 2008 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo announced that Singapore would organise an AMED Media Roundtable in 2009, bringing together senior Asian and Middle Eastern editors for a discussion on how our media organisations could work together. Singapore hosted the inaugural AMED Roundtable on 6 August 2009: 34 journalists from the Middle East and Asia attended the event.

Media Sessions

2 The AMED Media Roundtable consisted of three media sessions and a media roundtable lunch with Senior Minister (“SM”) Goh Chok Tong. (The AMED Media Roundtable programme is attached at Annex.) After Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew gave the opening remarks, Ambassador-at-Large of Singapore Lam Chuan Leong kickstarted the day with a media session on the ongoing global economic crisis, offering his analysis on the events leading to the global recession, possible scenarios of recovery and possible risks which could hamper economic growth. This was followed by a second media session by Acting Dean Scott Fritzen of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, where he gave his views on the transformation of government and governance in today’s world. Lastly, the Editor-in-Chief of the Singapore Press Holdings, Mr Patrick Daniel, fronted the last media session with his presentation on promoting media cooperation between Asia and the Middle East. The three media sessions were lively and well-received.

Media Roundtable

3 During the media roundtable lunch, SM Goh and the participants had a lively and frank exchange of views on issues ranging, Asia-Middle East cooperation, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

4 Asia-Middle East Cooperation. Singapore’s participant, Mr Ng Tze Yong from The New Paper, kickstarted the discussion when he sought SM Goh’s evaluation of how Middle Eastern news had been covered in the Singapore media. SM Goh replied that the Singapore media, particularly the print media, often reported Middle Eastern news through the lens of western news agencies.

5 Senior Presenter Ms Nadine Hani of Al Arabiya and Foreign Editor Ms Baria Alamuddin of Al-Hayat pointed out that news stories in the Middle East were not picked up in the Asian media. Ms Alamuddin added that the Middle Eastern media needed more access to people in the Governments of Asia. Ms Nadine believed that Asian media should look at the websites of Middle Eastern media as source of news for the region. She acknowledged that most of those sources were in Arabic, but added that several English sites had emerged. The Asian media could then tap on those nascent Englishlanguage sources for information on the region. Ms Alamuddin agreed, and suggested that both Asian and Middle Eastern media could agree on a way to exchange news articles and information. The Editor-in-Chief of the Gulf Times, Mr Marzook Basher Binmarzook, said that a Middle East-Asia media association could be formed with a news website and forum to facilitate the exchange of information and views.

6 The London Bureau Chief of Al Arabiya, Mr Mohamed Cherabo, commented that there was a complete absence of Asian news in Arab papers. He speculated that budget was a concern for Arab newspapers: Arab readers were mainly interested in stories that shocked the readers, such as stories on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Iraq and Afghanistan. There was therefore little space for stories on Asia. Mr K Venugopal of The Hindu’s Business Line observed that the problem with newspapers in a country like India was that it was overly nationalistic, and therefore focused and reported mainly on national issues, and chose to overlook stories from other countries, including Singapore.

7 SM turned to Mr Patrick Daniel for his views. Mr Daniel replied that there was already an established network connecting certain Asian media. The formation of a media association, and a partnership between Asian and Middle Eastern media could be explored to share stories and views.

8 Leadership Succession in Singapore. Chief Editor Mr Karaniya Dharmasasputra of Vivanews pointed out that one of the key factors which had contributed to Singapore’s success was an orderly transition of leadership. Good leadership was important in ensuring political stability, law and order and security – this made Singapore an attractive place of investment. SM offered his view that a good leadership should also identify and anticipate trends so as to take advantage of opportunities.

9 Arab-Israeli Conflict. SM stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence between the Arabs and the Israelis.

Conclusion

10 The inaugural AMED Media Roundtable was successful and would hopefully pave the way for deeper cooperation between Asian and Middle Eastern journalists. To expose Asian journalists to the Middle East, a Middle Eastern country could host the subsequent AMED Media Roundtable. The institutionalisation of media linkages between Asia and the Middle East would encourage people-to-people interactions from both regions and increase the media profile of Asia in the Middle East and vice versa.

Annex

Thursday, 6 August 2010

Asia-Middle East Media Roundtable

Media Reports

The Straits Times

7 Aug, 2009
Views of Asia, Mid-East must change: SM

By Shefali Rekhi

IMPRESSIONS of Asia and the Middle East remain fettered by images of their past which need to be erased to showcase changes and deepen understanding, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Addressing a roundtable discussion of 40 editors and senior journalists gathered for the inaugural Asia-Middle East Media Roundtable in Singapore yesterday, he also urged journalists and opinion makers to galvanise that process.

At the last Asia-Middle East meeting held here, he said he was surprised to hear one of the delegates say that until he came to Singapore, he did not know that ‘Asians could run such a beautiful workplace’.

‘That’s the kind of ignorance we have. People think only Westerners can manage beautiful cities,’ he said.

At the same time, Mr Goh noted that the Middle East is not just about oil and gas, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the war in Iraq.

Instead, he said: ‘The Middle East has a lot of opportunities and is rich in culture.’ Mr Goh also said that he regrets having waited until 2004 before reaching out to the region.

‘So much has been happening that I didn’t know. I was taken aback by all that was happening’, he said.

The Senior Minister, who has been at the forefront of the Republic’s efforts to build ties with Middle Eastern economies, also noted that the West has always acted as a magnet for the two regions, while Western agencies have been the source for news.

He said that both Asian and Middle Eastern media organisations have a part to play in improving knowledge and understanding.

Participants at yesterday’s event made suggestions on how this could be achieved, including the setting up of a website to exchange news and views from Asia and the Middle East, and more networking sessions.

At the same time, the media representatives highlighted possible obstacles, including limited budgets which restrain them from recruiting journalists in different locations, and inadequate translation services.

Nevertheless, they appeared to be taking their first steps down the road to mutual understanding, as issues of significance to both sides were discussed and name cards exchanged.

Singapore Press Holdings' editor-in-chief for English and Malay newspapers Patrick Daniel told the gathering that The Straits Times had started a regional grouping of newspapers in Asia called the Asia News Network, and that linkages with media organisations in the Middle East could be explored.

The challenge, he said, would be how to ensure that stories about Asia get prime space in the Middle East.

Acting Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew and associate professor Scott Fritzen, vice-dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, also addressed the roundtable discussions.

The media roundtable was proposed by Foreign Minister George Yeo in April last year.

Gulf News

Singapore's hospitality sector focuses on regional markets

10/06/2009 11:30 PM | By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor

Singapore: When Abdul Rahman Al Janahi was planning to take one of his family members for medical treatment abroad, many recommended one destination: Singapore.

The East Asian country has been attracting increasing numbers of visitors from the Middle East, mainly the Gulf region, who are seeking either business opportunities, medical treatment or simply leisure and shopping.

"Based on its reputation for medical treatment, everybody from friends to medical doctors advised us to go to Singapore," Janahi, a UAE national, told Gulf News. "Frankly, the law and order there is very respected. Their medical services are also of a good quality," he said.

Singapore, which uses its political stability and low crime rates among the main factors to attract visitors, has succeeded in adding its name on the list of top financial and commercial hubs of the world.

Now, the cosmopolitan 49-year-old city state is working on promoting itself as a tourist destination in the potential markets mainly the Middle East, Russia and Vietnam, Singaporean officials say.

According to official figures, Singapore receives 400,000 people seeking medical treatment every year. At the same time, it is pouring investments in tourism products, such as multi-billion-dollar shopping districts, including the famous shopping area of Orchard Road, and is opening new shopping malls and hotels.

Apart from priding itself of having the world's largest observation wheel - the Singapore $280-million (Dh734 million) "Singapore flyer", work continues round the clock on the adjacent Sentosa Island to build many tourist projects, including a casino.

The cost of establishing the resort, World at Sentosa, scheduled to open in 2010, is expected to reach more than S$6 billion. The island was awarded the "most popular large attraction" at the Asian attractions awards.

At the same time, mega projects are coupled with the country's plans to host some international gatherings, such as the recent Formula One event and the Youth Olympics next year.

"We see the prospects for tourism are still very good because of the range of projects being carried out," Mudh Rostam Bin Umar, Director of Communications at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), told a group of visiting journalists from the Middle East.

STB is an economic agency for tourism with a mission to make tourism a key driver of economic growth by marketing the country as a "must-visit" destination.

So far, other Asian destination such as Thailand and Malaysia have been more popular among people of Middle East as family and honeymoon destinations.

Umar believes the region offers a "complementary" experience for the visitor saying there are packages which include Singapore and both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Singapore realizes the difficulty of being one destination for all types of tourists. In terms of priority, therefore, officials in Singapore say leisure and business tourism come at the top followed by heath care and education.

The government also focuses on the country's education sector, which highlights the potential of attracting students.

A total of 44,080 Middle East-based travellers have visited Singapore in the first five months of 2009, an eight per cent increase over 2008, official figures show.

While the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the strongest growth markets, visitors from Kuwait have also seen an increase thanks to new flights to Singapore.

The top five markets contributing visitors to Singapore are Indonesia, India, Australia, Malaysia and China. They accounted for more than half of the arrivals in Singapore in the first five months of this year.

British and American travellers were ranked eight and 10 respectively in terms of numbers. Also, "they are important because they are business visitors or bring business activities", Umar noted.

Global fears from H1N1 have been cited as a reason behind a decline of visitor arrivals from both China and Japan in the first months of 2009.

Avenues: Drive to boost GDP share

Tourism is still not among the top 10 income sources for Singapore.

Other important sectors, such as trade and banking services, are the backbone of the economy. But Singapore is planning to increase the share of tourism in its economy.

Officials hope to attract nearly 17 million tourists annually by 2015, triple the turnover and double its share in the GDP. Until then, the country is trying other avenues to receive more visitors.

One of the big opportunities, which is also a challenge, is hosting the 2010 Youth Olympic Games - the biggest global event to be hosted by Singapore. Nearly 5,000 athletes aged 14-18 years and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with an estimated 800 media representatives will take part in the 26-sport competitions on August 14-26 next year.

The event is expected to attract between 25,000 and 35,000 visitors, the officials said. Singapore eagerly wanted to host the event that is estimated to cost nearly $ 75 million (Dh275).

"The high cost is what Singapore will get from the Olympics," said Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports & Ministry of Transport).

"Olympics is by itself a brand," Luck added enthusiastically. "It [Olympics] brings up the level of excitement of the city," he told a group of reporters from several Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Furthermore, Formula One which was held last month was expected to attract 100,000 spectators, nearly 40 per cent of them tourists, according to official figures.

The event was expected to generate $168 million for the country, which prides itself as combining many Asian backgrounds in one pot, including Chinese and Malay.

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