GCC media strategy to get new boost

Manama, Oct. 21 (BNA): A common media strategy to rectify distorted views about the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been discussed by foreign media officials at a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha. The officials from the six countries that make up the GCC – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – said the latest development required the adoption of new ways in communicating with the international community in order to reflect a positive image abroad. “The meeting is within the framework of GCC media cooperation and coordination to provide the international community with insights into the civilisations and cultures of the GCC countries,” Maysa Al Thawadi, the head of the foreign media directorate at the Information Affairs Authority (IAA), said. “There is a critical need to highlight the values, accomplishments, achievements and reforms of the GCC states as well as their stances supporting peace and security in the region and well beyond, and fighting terrorism, extremism and fanaticism under all their forms,” Maysa said. The GCC strategy should be given a new boost in order to achieve its objectives in light of the latest developments and events unfolding at a fast pace, she added. “We need to take the initiative and move forward as we confront negative and adverse campaigns targeting the region,” she said. “Our interaction with international media, organizations and research centres should be proactive, constant and effective so that it becomes significant,” Maysa added. Plans in the GCC moves include organising seminars and meetings with European and Asian research centres and holding special functions at the international meetings in which the GCC countries are taking part. The GCC countries have been holding GCC Days annually in a European or Asian city in a bid to ensure direct and unbiased communication with the international communities and offer them insights into the GCC civilisations, cultures and achievements. The GCC Days were first organised in the French capital Paris, then successively in Brussels, Berlin, The Hague, Madrid, Rome, London and Seoul and Stockholm. This year, the GCC Days were held in the Japanese capital Tokyo. Ahmed Moussa Al Dhabyan, the director of media cooperation at the GCC Secretariat General, said that the GCC foreign media officials were drawing on their rich experiences to plan a new approach that would use the latest developments in the sector of communication. The world is no longer a global village as in the recent past and has now become a single house, he said. "Since the GCC has a significant economic and political status in the world, it is only normal that its media arm should be able to match up its standard," he said. The GCC information ministers will discuss the recommendations of the GCC officials at their next meeting in Riyadh, he added.