DUBAI, 9 January 2003 — Senior media and public relations representatives from around the world will discuss critical issues at a forum organized by the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) at the Crowne Plaza in Dubai on Jan. 14.
The media panel will consist of Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Al-Maeena, MBC Business News Head Muhammad Moumenine, Business Channel producer and presenter Nima Abu-Wardeh and New World Media Managing Director Mekki Abdullah.
On the PR panel will be former CNN presenter Riz Khan, Middle East Rally Champion Muhammad ibn Sulayem, Gulf Hill & Knowlton Regional Director Jim Donaldson and Showtime PR Manager Andrew Bone.
The "Face the Media" debate will examine critical aspects of the PR industry and the media from both regional and international viewpoints. Middle East Public Relations Association Chairman Sadri Barrage said, "It will be the first debate of this kind to be staged in the Middle East, but it will be the first of many we’re planning in order to create a greater understanding of PR. It’s going to be lively, interesting and entertaining, and based on the response we’ve received, we expect a packed auditorium." MEPRA’s 20 members — PR consultancies that represent a broad cross-section of organizations in the Middle East — have invited a special audience of media, PR and marketing communication specialists, VIPs involved in various political, social and business aspects of communications and students pursuing media and marketing studies.
"The event is designed to give a fascinating insight into PR in the Middle East, which has developed over a relatively short period of time into a $20 million plus industry," said MEPRA Vice Chairman Jack Pearce.
The forum, designed to increase recognition and understanding of PR as an important economic activity in the Middle East, is sponsored by Emirates Airline, Crowne Plaza Dubai and Nokia.
MEPRA, founded in March 2001 to generate greater awareness of PR, recently signed an agreement with Zayed University’s College of Communication and Media Sciences to work together to accelerate the advancement of PR as a professional field in the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East and to include it as an area of academic study at the university.