India fastest growing advertising market : Irani

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani on May 10, 2018, said that time has come to put laws, ethics and rules into place which will help in balancing the media industry so that one dominant player can’t rule the roost.

Inaugurating the 15^th Asia Media Summit (AMS) 2018 here on May 10, she said that India will have around 969 million internet users by 2021 and Indian media industry looks upon the digital world not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity. ” How do we attract, retain and develop talent which frees good content from the trappings of revenue needs and brings about a balance in media institutions,” Irani asked.

The 15^th Asia Media Summit is being hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), from May 10 to 12, 2018, in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s Summit is ‘Telling Our Stories – Asia and More’, which would encourage regional and bilateral dialogue and cooperation to respond to challenges to the broadcasting sector in the region.

Giving a perspective of the expanding Indian media industry, Irani said, “India is the fastest growing advertising market expected to touch 10.59 billion US Dollars by the end of 2018 and the mobile spend is estimated to grow to 1.55 billion US Dollars in the year 2018. We have a vibrant media industry which has a direct established impact of Rs 1.35 lakh crore and indirect and induced benefits of Rs 4.5 lakh crore, with close to 4 million people associated with it.” The Minster expressed hope that the Asia Media Summit will throw up new ideas so that we can look at pathways to strengthen media institutions for a better mankind, according o a PIB release.

Addressing the inaugural session, Minister of Information from Bangladesh, Hasanul Haq Inu, outlined six complex challenges the world faces today, namely – poverty, gender disparity, terrorism, ICT revolution, climate change and uneven globalization. Expressing concern at cybercrimes, he stressed on the need to fight a war against cyber criminals to keep the media safe and expanding.

Minister of Information from Cambodia Dr Khieu Kanharith said, “We are trying to improve the state of the press in Cambodia, we seek to maintain strong relationships with the fourth estate.”

Shigeru Aoyagi, Director, UNESCO, New Delhi Office, talked about the role of media in creating peace and partnership on the planet. Quoting from the UNESCO constitution – ‘Since the war is created in the minds of men, we have to build peace in the minds of men’,  Aoyagi called upon the media to tell stories responsibly and in a very constructive way.