By Rafiq vayani
DUBAI: His Excellency Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy accompanied by Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of INDEX Holding and a number of officials inaugurated today the Dubai International Content Market Conference and Exhibition – DICM at the iconic Jumeirah Beach Hotel Conference Center in Dubai.
DICM, the 2-day premier media and entertainment event dedicated to content creators and distributors, brings together the top experts, speakers and leading figures in the industry, with the aim of exploring the latest trends and developments in the local and international media and entertainment market.
Dubai International Content Market comes at a time when the media industry in the MENA region is witnessing revolutionary changes with the opening of the Saudi market and the stronger influence of the millennial generation in both creation and consumption of content.
On the first day, over 500 pre-registered buyers, sellers and producers were welcomed by the organizers.
The conference program started with a strong lineup of media executives represented by Ahmed Abdel Hamid of Majid Kids TV, Tareq Abu Lughod of Arab Media Network and Bashar Douba of Cubic Connect who discussed about ‘The Content Acquisitions Process in the MENA region’.
Commenting on this occasion, Eng. Anas Al Madani, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO of INDEX Holding said: “The media and digital content sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed a remarkable development in the past few years, thanks to the tremendous technological development coupled with the increasing demand for video on demand services and other entertainment platforms that has recently emerged in the market, which called for the need to keep abreast of these changes that have affected the way people see and interact with content in the region. Therefore, the Dubai International Content Market (DICM) forms an ideal platform to attract people from all over the world to develop the content varieties and promote opportunities for growth and expansion in the lucrative MENA markets.”
He added: “The Dubai International Content Market agenda for this year will discuss the current and future challenges facing the content industry and tackle some of the pressing topics by hosting top-notch speakers and experts from the region and the world to share their experiences, knowledge and insights on the latest developments in the industry.”
He concluded: “In 2018 everyone placed the region under their radar with the opening of the Saudi Market which is home to 30+ million people. And since 8.3 out of 10 households watch TV on average of 4 hours every day, there is a clear demand for content to be produced and distributed.”
Dubai International Content Market team have successfully implemented the pre-arranged meeting service which, along with the ‘plug & work’ exhibiting concept created 530 pre-arranged meetings between participants. This comes as a huge breath of fresh air for those international clients who need to meet exclusive clients which cannot be seen at other markets.
The Dubai International Content Market is organized annually by INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions – a member of INDEX Holding and this edition is supported by Dubai Film and TV Commission and Dubai Media City.
