GCC states agree on joint media programs

Officials of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed on broadcasting regularly schedules and advertisements about joint activities and actions of the member states of the council throughout every week. Mohammad Al-Awwash, Kuwait's assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Information for radio affairs, said the radio stations of the GCC countries, on rotation basis, would air "such messages about the common activities, with emphasis on the Gulf identity." The agreement was the fruit of meetings of Al-Awwash's GCC counterparts that concluded in the Saudi capital, late on Monday. Elaborating on outcomes of the meetings, Al-Awwash said the conferees approved an interim, tentative plan for implementation of the GCC Secretariat-General memorandum regarding the 2010-2020 GCC media strategy, blessed by the top GCC leaders at the 31s session of the Supreme Council, that had been held in Abu Dhabi. The assistant undersecretaries agreed on the necessity that the GCC countries coordinate during celebrations of national occasions, through joint programs aimed at motivating all GCC countries' citizens to sense each others' jubilation during such ceremonies, Al-Awwash said. They also agreed on broadcasting joint "Gulf soires" and holding intensive media training courses, he added. Al-Awwash, who has taken part during his visit to Riyadh in the recent 85th meeting of the executive council of the union of the Arab radio stations, said this meeting addressed media issues related to the disturbances, prevailing across the Arab world. He added that the Kuwaiti delegation, during the meeting, affirmed necessity that the Arab media cover these events in a professional and objective manner so that Arab viewers would not shift to foreign news sources and media outlets. Furthermore, the Kuwaiti delegation pointed out that only a countable number of joint training courses had been held, and called for transferring the headquarters of holding these activities from Damascus to other Arab capitals, due to the extraordinary conditions in this country. Also during his presence in the Saudi city, Al-Awwash, in line with instructions by the Minister of Information Sami Al-Nesef for boosting cooperation with Gulf media organizations, visited the headquarters of the Gulf radio and television in Riyadh, and held talks with the general-director, Dr. Abdullah Abul-Ras, and other officials. Al-Awwash's delegation also visited the main offices of the Saudi Information Ministry, holding talks with the assistant undersecretary, Ibrahim Al-Sagoub, on means of enhancing media cooperation.