MANAMA, 22 March 2007 — The changing face of public relations and the challenges facing the industry were the focus of an international conference which was opened here yesterday by Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister Jawad bin Salem Al-Oraied.
The Gulf Chapter of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA-GC) is the organizer of the two-day conference entitled “Changing Communications, Communicating Change” at the Gulf Hotel.
Former Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki Al-Faisal and Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute in the US were the keynote speakers at the opening session.
Prince Turki emphasized the need for changing the image of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Khaled Almaeena, editor in chief of Arab News, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, general manager of Al-Arabiya News Channel, and Zogby were the speakers at a session that focused on “The Gulf Region in the International Media.” Gisele Khoury of Al-Arabiya was the moderator.
The role of public relations’ in cross-cultural understanding was the topic of another session attended by Bahrain’s Information Minister Mohamed Abdul Ghaffar, Dr. John Duke Anthony, president of the National Council on US-Arab Relations in the US and Theodore Kattouf, the CEO of AMIDEAST, USA.
Bahraini Minister of Labor Majeed Al-Alawi and Saudi Aramco’s Vice President Mustafa Jalali were the speakers at another session on “PR and Corporate Social Responsibility.” Hasan Al-Hasan, president of IPRA-GC, said the conference marked a new beginning for public relations in the Gulf region. “I hope delegates will leave the conference more energized and enlightened to tackle public relations challenges with greater insight and confidence,” he said. The conference saw two more sessions yesterday that focused on “Challenges for Women in the PR & Media Sector,” and the “Changing Face of Communications.”
Saudi Aramco, the Bahraini Ministry of Information and Tariq Al-Qahtani & Brothers are the principal sponsors.