From left to right: Gil Hwan-young, President of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS),
Director General Iİbrahim Şahin (TRT)

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung opened the 50th General Assembly of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), congratulating the EBU's largest sister union on its achievements.

The Union has initiated many practical cooperation projects that enabled its members to grow in capacity and sphere of influence in the dynamic and thriving Asia-Pacific region,” the Prime Minister told the Assembly, which was meeting in the Vietnamese capital on the theme "Serving our Audience in the Digital Era".

Elections for the new ABU President and a vacant Vice-President post were also conducted. Gil Hwan-young, President of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), will replace Acting President Naoji Ono, of Japan's NHK. Both KBS and NHK are EBU Associate Members.

Additionally, İbrahim Şahin, Director General of EBU Member Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), was elected to be one of ABU's three Vice-Presidents.

Nearly 700 delegates from 155 organizations in 54 countries registered for the series of sectoral meetings and seminars culminating in the Assembly on 28 to 29 October of broadcasters which serve half the world's population.

ABU Secretary-General Javad Mottaghi told the Assembly that membership of the ABU had risen to 260 organizations in 2013 from 230 last year and 192 in 2010.  Participation in the Asiavision news exchange has risen to 28 broadcasters from 23 last year and 19 in 2010, with an average of 25 stories per day.

Asia has changed, and the ABU is changing to become a more member oriented and future oriented organisation," ABU Secretary-General Javad Mottaghi told the Assembly. 

Kim KyungHee of KBS, South Korea, former Chair of the ABU's Planning and Strategy Group, said the ABU is "well on the way to becoming a world media powerhouse".

The Assembly agenda included a panel session entitled "Making sense of a fragmenting media landscape", bringing together seven of the Asia-Pacific's most senior media CEOs, and a professional discussion on frequencies for radio and TV broadcasting.

More news can be found at the ABU website.