KUWAIT, Nov 15 (KUNA) -- The Gulf Press Federation Board held its sixth meeting in the State of Kuwait on Saturday tackling a host of journalistic topics in the GCC states and cooperation among press associations and institutions in the regional countries.
President of the GPF and Head of Bahrain Press Association Essa Alshayji said in a statement to KUNA after the meeting that the board members addressed several files related to administrative and financial issues and planned activities.
The talks during the meeting dealt with multiple programs due to be launched in the realm of training to stay abreast of major changes happening on the journalistic and media arenas, Alshayji said.
"In view of the huge media inflow into the Gulf arena, it has become necessary that we have visions and analayses as to revamping the journalistic performance and expand cooperation in the training and professional spheres among the Gulf press associations with influential international institutions," he said.
Alshayji lauded the GPF plan to host and organize the Fourth GCC Meeting of Women Journalists in the Arabian Gulf states, under the theme, "the Gulf narrative of the woman in journalism and the media," due to kick off on Sunday under sponsorship of the State of Kuwait Minister of Information, Minister Culture of Minister of State for Youth Affairs Abdulrahman Almutairi.
He highly valued the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information's concern for boosting the joint Gulf media activities, providing an incubating environment for expertise exchange and revamping the profession. He also indicated that more than 30 women journalists from the GCC countries would partake in the meeting.
Meanwhile, Adnan Al-Rashed, President of the Kuwaiti Journalists Association, said Kuwait's oganization of the gathering mirrors its deep advocacy of the Gulf press role and keenness on supporting the Gulf media women.
The meeting, he added, would be a platform for swapping expertise among the Gulf female journalists, an opportunity to shed light on their achievements and their cntributions to updating the media content in the council's member states.
For his part, Mohammad Al-Araimi, President of the Omani Journalists Association, said in a statement to KUNA the discussions during the meeting tackled various issues concerning the Gulf journalists. "A lot of topics in the agenda were endorsed," he said, naming approval to boost coordination at the local and external levels among the media stakeholders.
The conferees touched on training Gulf journalists and media personnel, he said, affirming that the profession faces permanent challenges.
Fadila Al-Maaini, President of the UAE Press Association, indicated that the talks addressed plans for increasing financial resources of the federation, the holding of seminars, workshops and other activities, in addition to participation in the conference of the International Federation of Journalists, due in Paris in 2026.
Adwan Alahmari, President of the Saudi Press Association, said the federation had held six meetings in two years, adding that the next session would be organized in Saudi Arabia.
The federation looks forward to supporting the young journalists who constitute foundation of the career, he continued.
Abdulrahman AlQahtani, President of Qatar Press Center, said the meeting was quite fruitful, affirming that the debates dealt with organizing seminars and training courses for sake of developing the profession in the GCC countries. (end) mdm.rk