Opening Remarks at the ABU Media 2020 Conference

Media 2020 conference ''Bringing media to the future'' has started in Bucharest.

It is the first such event organised by Radio România and the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union.

President Director General Radio Romania Ovidiu Miculescu said that this remarkable meeting brings together key representatives from Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, on a timely topic of common interest that is the fast- changing media landscape.

"By the year 2020, broadcasting is expected to undergo major transformations- radio and TV content consumption on mobile phones, the Internet and hybrid platforms.

"We need to be proactive in recognizing the challenges that we face everyday, we need to exchange information and share experience", Ovidiu Miculescu has said.

In turn, Secretary General of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union Dr. Javad Mottaghi stated that we are here "to partner, we are here to enhance our partnership with East and West".

"We are here to promote dialogue. We are here to listen to each other, to learn from each other and to exchange experience that we have in our countries and in our regions.

"We are here to listen to the challenges we may face within our countries and regions and see how best we can challenges to opportunities.

"We are here to promote new initiatives, new projects, co-production, partnership that could bridge the gap between East and West”, Javad Mottaghi has told to the audience.

Also attending the event, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said that ”media is often called the watchdog of democracy"

"In the present geopolitical context, especially in our close neighbourhood with security in many places extremist tendencies rising, it is crucial that the press is aware of this important role.

"We count on you to carry on this mission by protecting and fighting for the human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as for the principles and norms of international law”, Bogdan Aurescu said.