SHARJAH, 18 January 2005 — With a target of about 300 million Arabs from Morocco to Oman, the printing and publishing industry has a huge potential for business in the Middle East region. Add to that nearly two billion people in the Indian Subcontinent and Iran, and the industry has a market that has a gross domestic product of $1.8 trillion. These were some of the figures heard at the inaugural Middle East Publishing Conference, which was launched at Dubai’s Knowledge Village.
Some 300 delegates from publishing houses and media organizations across the world are attending the two-day conference. It will discuss the whole gamut of issues of concern to the printing and publishing industry, with particular focus on the Middle East.
These include the impact and opportunities of new media and technology; publishers and the Internet; media research — the basis for a profitable business; establishing media credibility; challenges and opportunities in developing markets; effective distribution systems; editorial responsibility and cultural sensitivities. Delegates gathered here will provide in-depth analyzes of newspaper and magazine markets, and present global best practices to help the development of Middle East publishing.
Addressing the conference, Ahmad ibn Byat, director-general of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone, noted that a big chunk of the Mideastern population is youth and this means constant expansion of the market for published material. “Besides, the quality of education is witnessing major improvements in a number of Arab countries, necessitating the need for more educational material — another huge opportunity,” said Byat.
According to Byat, publishing has reached a stage of maturity in the Middle East, having grown by 42 percent in the UAE alone over the past two years. He called on the region’s countries to strike the right balance between cultural sensitivity, freedom of expression and business growth, and to correct the lack of facts and figures on the industry in order to develop the industry further. “We need to improve media research to ensure accurate circulation figures and readership levels that can be qualified and confirmed by independent third parties.
Credible information on circulation figures and target demographics for specific publications is an urgent need,” said Byat. “Without this information, advertisers cannot make informed decisions when planning their media buying strategy,” he said. Dubai has been at the forefront of creating the necessary conditions and infrastructure for the expansion of the publishing industry, with future growth predicted at between 15 and 30 percent, he added.
Ahmed Al-Mansoori, president of the Dubai Consultancy, Research & Media Center, questioned why Arab publishing is detached from the Western world where newspapers and magazines have a direct effect on people’s lives and affect them politically, economically and socially. “We can’t go further by denying our weaknesses and blaming the Arab reader by saying that he doesn’t read,” according to Mansoori.
