Dubai ‘best place’ for the growth of media outlets

Dubai is the best place for media outlets to grow, says MBC Group Chairman Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim. He was addressing at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai on Wednesday.
“Press enjoys freedom in the emirate and this is one of the reasons why we decided to shift our operations from London to Dubai,” Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim explained.
“We launched the Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) Group as a pan-Arab media in 1991 in London — to be able to exercise freedom of the press — as most Arab countries were not open to the idea of press freedom,” he told delegates. The problem faced by the team was to reach the audiences due to non-cooperation by most governments.
“We tried to enter Egypt and the government did not let us enter to protect the local television channels. However, when an invitation came from Dubai, we started to engage with Dubai government,” he said. “Initially, I was reluctant to relocate as we might have to compromise on the content – fearing that we might become subject to censorship and interference.” Dubai provided the solutions to MBC’s problems and invited the channel with open arms to move to Dubai, assuring it complete freedom, he said.
“Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, convinced me. After our meeting with his team, especially Abdullah Al-Gergawi and himself, I was convinced that we could shift our operations to Dubai.
“Since then, we were never asked by the government how we run our business and why we do what we do. There has been no government interference on our program – this is due to the commitment and the vision of Sheikh Mohammed,” he added.
“It is due to our faith and conviction that we later launched Al Arabiya news channel in Dubai – to cater to hard news, although we had our concerns on how the global community would react and if we would come under political pressure,” he said. “Once again, Sheikh Mohammed reassured us of all type of support and protection. He went on to inaugurate the channel.”