This year’s Arab Media Summit in Dubai, now in its 25th year, is more than just an event organised by the city, says Mona Ghane l Marri in an OpEd for Euronews. It has evolved into a shared platform for an industry that has become more diverse, more global and more interconnected.
Twenty-five years ago, Dubai made a deliberate bet. It set aside land, built a regulatory framework, and invited the world's media to make the city their regional home. At the time, it was a statement of confidence in the role an open and connected media environment could play in the development of a young economy.
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Dubai is home to 25,000 private media companies
A quarter of a century later, the results are measurable. The media sector's contribution to Dubai's GDP rose to 1.42% in 2025, while annual foreign direct investment into the sector grew to US$1.62 billion in 2024, and media exports reached US$25 million in 2025. Dubai is now home to 25,000 private media companies employing 120,000 people, including media professionals and creatives drawn from one of the most international talent pools in the region. What began as an invitation has become an industry.
The Arab Media Summit is where that ambition becomes a conversation. From tomorrow and until 17 September, Dubai hosts the largest media gathering in the region, and this year its largest edition to date. What was once a single conference is now a platform of specialised forums spanning the full spectrum of modern media: an Arab Media Forum, a Government Communication Forum, a youth forum, a Films Forum, a Games Forum, Dubai PodFest and a summit for social media creators and influencers, alongside international forums convened with global partners. The Arab Media Award, meanwhile, reaches its 25th edition.
A deeper shift in the global balance of media
That range is deliberate. Media is no longer a single industry. It stretches from newsrooms and television studios to gaming, podcasting, digital platforms and individual creators whose audiences now rival those of established broadcasters. Having conversations running among these components of the industry is necessary.
It also reflects a deeper shift in the global balance of media. For much of the modern era, influence was concentrated in a small number of long established capitals. That is changing quickly. Broadcasters and digital platforms from the Arabian Gulf, Turkey, Central and Southeast Asia and Africa are now reaching international audiences directly. They are producing in their own languages, setting their own editorial agenda, and investing at scale in production, digital distribution and AI driven newsrooms.
This should not be read as a contest between one media capital and another. It is an expansion of the global conversation. The more societies are able to tell their own stories, explain their own priorities and offer their own perspectives, the richer our collective understanding of the world becomes.
International partnerships matter
That is precisely why international partnerships matter. On 16 September, Dubai will host the Euronews Forum as part of the Arab Media Summit, the first time the Forum has been held outside Europe. Its sessions will examine how regional media organisations are building global audiences, how governments and media engage in a transformed information environment, and how verification and artificial intelligence are reshaping the newsroom.
Europe and the Arab world are close neighbours. Our economic and cultural ties continue to deepen, and our audiences increasingly consume the same stories on the same platforms. Our newsrooms should reflect that reality.
Bringing European and Arab media professionals into the same room is not simply about dialogue. It leads to coproductions, new commercial partnerships, shared professional standards, and relationships that endure long after the Summit closes.
Twenty-Five years ago, Dubai opened its doors to the world's media. Today the relationship has matured. Dubai is no longer only a place from which international media covers the region. It is increasingly a place where the future of media itself is debated, built and tested.
Tomorrow, we will welcome that regional, and global, media community to Dubai. And, after almost twenty-five years, the Arab Media Summit has become more than a gathering hosted by the city. It has become a platform shared by an industry that is more diverse, more global and more interconnected.
The Arab Media Summit 2026, which takes place from 15 to 17 September at the Dubai World Trade Centre, features eight specialist forums and is expected to attract 10,000 attendees. Euronews is a partner of the Arab Media Summit.