DUSHANBE, April 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — The 11th Eurasian Media Forum (EAMF) opened in the Kazakh capital Astana today.
The 2013 EAMF”s agenda includes issues of regional security after the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan, information security amid rapid development of social mass media, discussion of the situation in the Middle East, EXPO 2017 prospects and the development of a Common Economic Space in Eurasia as well as a series of other pressing modern problems.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev addressed the forum participants.
In his address, President Nazarbayev touched upon issues related the withdrawal of NATO-led forces from Afghanistan, prospects of founding the Eurasian Economic Union with participation of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in 2015 and problems of modern journalism.
On the Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakh president noted that creation of the Eurasian Economic Union was motivated by purely economic expedience. “It is not true to consider the Eurasian Economic Union as revival of the Soviet Union,” President Nazarbayev noted.
Concerning the state of modern journalism against the backcloth of the rapid development of new technologies and social networks, Nazarbayev expressed his opinion about the future of traditional media: “I think newspapers will not die out as some experts predict.”
Kazakh president called on journalists to actively cover events taking place in Central Asia and underlined the significance of media in the modern world.
A delegation of Tajik journalists is also participating in the 11th Eurasian Media
Today was the opening day of the event, which was first held in 2001.
According to some media sources, outstanding public figures, journalists, politicians, writers, scientists and world-renowned public opinion leaders will be speakers at the 11th Media Forum conference. Among them are US Pulitzer prize winning journalist Roy Gutman, a bestseller author and the New York Times observer Greg Palast, Russia Today newscaster Oksana Derevyanko, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece and member of PASOK Theodoros Pangalos, President of American-Iranian Council (AIC) Hooshang Amirahmadi, TV presenter of In the Context program Maxim Shevchenko, Al Jazeera English presenter Stephen Cole, Al Jazeera English TV presenter and producer Riz Khan and others.
Notable participants of the previous conferences include former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami, Russia”s former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former head of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe General Wesley Clark and many other guests.
Founded in 2001 on the initiative President Nazarbayev’s daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, the Eurasian Media Forum (EAMF) is a non-political organization, which aims to promote mutual understanding between the East and the West via a dialogue.
