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The Secretary General of the ABU Visits Radio Romania
Monday, 1st July 2013, the headquarters of the public radio station were visited for a tour and a work meeting by dr. Javad Mottaghi, Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and Mr. Ovidiu Miculescu, General Director and President of the SRR, together with representatives of the management staff of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting.Company.
During the dialogues, the Secretary General of the ABU saluted the recent affiliation of Radio Romania to this prestigious organisation in the spring of 2013. He pointed out the principles of the Union, which are directed towards supporting cultural diversity, and he underlined the importance of radio as a "window to the world", as an essential means of communication which is capable of overcoming any type of differences between people. Although the members of the ABU come from different countries, with a variety of languages and economical, social, cultural, religious and political conditions, diversity is not considered a threat, but appreciated as an important richness.
Mister Javad Mottaghi expressed, at the same time, the Union's interest in the existing partnership with Radio Romania and its programmes, noting that "it's up to you to develop this collaboration and make your potential known to the world. I invite you to enter as many joint projects with the countries in the Asia-Pacific area as possible." As an example, he talked about the idea of the National Radio Orchestra holding new concerts in Asia, following the great success of the concert held by the Orchestra in May in Shanghai.
Mister Ovidiu Miculescu, General Director and President of the SRR, underlined the significance of the partnership for the Romanian broadcasting station, which proposes through this kind of association to take a step forward towards overcoming distances and mutual understanding between the ABU affiliated countries, using the common language of cultural dialogue, . Radio Romania has full member access to the online Asia-Pacific platform, which it will use to initiate programme exchanges with the other member broadcasting stations.
Following the meeting at the SRR headquarters, dr. Javad Mottaghi, Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, together with Mr. Ovidiu Miculescu, General Director and President of the SRR, had a meeting with the President of the Romanian House of Representatives, Valeriu Zgonea. During the meeting that took place at the House of Parliament, dr. Javad Mottaghi explained the importance of Radio Romania's affiliation to the ABU, as entry to this "exclusive club" gives the Romanian station access to the online platform which services a target number of 3,5 billion listeners! Mr. Ovidiu Miculescu insisted on the fact that through this agreement, Radio Romania has opened up a new path to promoting Romanian culture and values.
Dr. Javad Mottaghi has been Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) since 2010 and has 32 years of experience in the fields of mass-media/communication on national and international levels. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Sharif University in Tehran, and also holds a master's degree and a doctorate in a management awarded by the Teesside University in England. Before working for the ABU, he held, for 12 years, the position of director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), and was in charge of the ABA-EBU relations up to the year 1996. He has also worked for 18 years as director of the Sports Department of IRIB - the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Company. He has been a member of the WRTVC (World Radio and Television Council) since 2011, as well as an associate member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in New York. Javad Mottaghi was received the Elizabeth R. award for his exceptional contribution to the field of public multimedia broadcasting.
Having been established in 1964, ABU is comprised of 255 members from 63 countries - both public and private radio stations in Asia, the Pacific region, America and the Middle East - with an audience totalling in excess of 3,5 billion listeners. ABU collaborates with a large number of public and private radio stations in Europe, such as BBC, DW, CFI, ZDF and RAI, and also with radio stations in Russia, Turkey, Samoa, and New Zealand. Members of the ABU have access to the Asia-Pacific digital platform of the Union, which was created and it is being maintained by the public station KBS - the South-Korean Radio and Television Network, as a practical method to collaborate directly with the listeners, advertising agencies and partners across the globe. Each year, ABU holds its General Meeting, which is attended by more than 600 media managers from all over the world, as well as the Radio Asia Forum, with over 500 attendees every year and numerous other events, such as: The Digital Multimedia Symposium (with over 700 attendees and over 100 exhibitors of advanced technologies), Radio Song Festival, as well as the Gala of the Annual ABU Awards. The fields of interest of the ABU include the development of projects, co-productions and programme exchanges, as well as international training sessions and webinars.
Translated by Șerban Dudău and Elena Daniela Radu
MTTLC, The University of Bucharest