Abu Dhabi: Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, Chairman of the National Media Office and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Media Council, recently held meetings with Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin, Prince of the Netherlands and Honorary President of the World Press Photo Foundation, as well as Jean-Michel Arnaud, President of le Palais des Festivals and Deputy Mayor for Culture in Cannes. These discussions took place during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.
According to Emirates News Agency, the meetings were part of the preparations for the upcoming BRIDGE Summit, scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi this December. Al Hamed highlighted the summit's purpose as a strategic platform for forming effective media partnerships, exchanging expertise, and developing innovative models to advance the media sector while promoting dialogue and social responsibility.
The dialogue between Al Hamed and Prince Constantijn focused on joint cooperation and strategic partnerships to enhance the media's role in supporting humanitarian values and advancing global initiatives in journalism, visual storytelling, and cultural exchange. Al Hamed extended an invitation to the prince to participate in the summit, underscoring the importance of contributions from leading institutions like the World Press Photo Foundation in shaping discussions on the future of media and the power of imagery.
In a separate session with Jean-Michel Arnaud, Al Hamed discussed potential collaboration between the Cannes Lions Festival and the BRIDGE Summit. The focus was on developing talent in cinema and drama through training programs and knowledge exchange with international experts. They also examined the role of cities in boosting the creative economy by hosting major global events and building ecosystems that attract talent, investment, and innovation.