By Khaled Al-Abdulhadi

KUWAIT: The ministry of information held a discussion on Monday with local media in order to boost cooperation and understanding between the public sector and the private sector as part of their strategy for 2021-2026. Representing the ministry was Undersecretary Mohammed bin Naji and Assistant Undersecretary for the Press, Publishing and Publications Sector Lafi Al-Subaei, who briefed the audience about the ministry's strategy. In attendance were representatives of media companies in Kuwait, who after the briefing, made inquiries and discussed important issues within the industry.

Bin Naji expressed the importance of this discussion. "We want to discuss all issues and considerations so we can improve, especially when it comes to the upcoming National Assembly elections," he said. Subaei said: "We are very keen on this responsibility as managers across all departments, but lately our responsibilities increased, so a combined goal is necessary as the responsibilities do not only fall on us as managers only, but as citizens of this country."

Lafi Al-Subaei

Strategy

"The strategy was planned with the cooperation of media experts in both sectors to ensure the best outcome. Through this professional strategy, our hope is to overcome all obstacles that hinder our work and our communication with the public," bin Naji explained. He also stressed on the media's responsibilities "The media is a powerful aspect of society in shaping public opinion, so we must cooperate to deter rumors from spreading and ensure all our news comes from an official source," he said.

"The public wants beneficial content that helps improve their awareness and increase their knowledge," bin Naji added. On official sources, Subaei said: "We are planning to provide a centralized media program that will combine all news concerning the ministries that will all be obliged to send the latest official news to all media outlets in Kuwait."

Cooperation

The talks also expressed the importance of having a capable and adept workforce that is able to collaborate, as it can affect the country as a whole. "It is important that we enhance the media in a professional way through hiring capable employees based on specific criteria, and we are ready to cooperate with all media companies to establish training workshops so that we ensure the highest standards of media are being met," explained bin Naji.

"Most of our work is with private media companies, including providing permits to events, publications, television and cyber journalism. We understand journalism must have its freedom to thrive, but we all also have our own responsibilities to safeguard the reputation of the country, especially since cyber journalism is now the main front for Kuwait's image to the world," Subaei noted. "Criticism is an important part of development, so we want to ensure that all criticism is constructive and focuses on the improvement of all factors that lead us to a better path. However, we insist that we will resist all destructive criticism that hinders the image of our nation as a whole," he added.

KUWAIT: Local media representatives participate in a discussion with the ministry of information on Monday. – Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

The upcoming National Assembly election will prove to be a test of the cooperation between the two sectors, and to that extent, Subaei said: "Our true challenge is to reflect and preserve the democratic process in Kuwait. We aim to preserve Kuwait's historic reputation as a democratic country, so we must ensure that it is not being abused because of personal interests. So through our own responsibilities, we can ensure that the abuses cease."

Bin Naji also expressed plans concerning the establishment of a media city. "We have all the plans from current and previous ministries, and we are going to study them all in order to ensure that the best plan is executed for the Media City project, which we expect to accomplish within the next five years," he said.

Expats

Concerning the Kuwaitization of the workforce and the importance of expatriate workers in the country, bin Naji said: "The media sector is not a sector for one specific nationality. I have personally worked with many expats who are all an important addition to the work behind the scenes. Currently, we need their talents, especially since there are not many nationals who can occupy the positions they hold. They have had an honorable history in working in this field and we are excited to cooperate with them where they are needed."

The discussion is part of the ministry's 2021-26 strategy, which aims to create knowledgeable material that incorporates heritage and modernity. It also aims to promote diversity and document a national memory which will be culturally engaging locally and internationally. The conference aimed to increase discussions between the two sectors and improve their facilities, in order to have them operate according to the latest technologies to keep up with global trends so that Kuwait's national identity is competitive across the world.