Thursday, April 20

—    08.00-09.30:    Registration of delegates

—    10.00-10.30:    Conference Opening Ceremony

       Conference Chair: Jim LAURIE, Journalist, broadcaster, Executive Producer, Focus Asia Productions, Director of Broadcasting, University of Hong Kong

       Welcome Address from the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
       Nursultan NAZARBAYEV

       Welcome and Conference Introduction by the Chair of the Eurasian Media Forum Organizing Committee, Dr. Dariga NAZARBAYEVA

—    10.30-11.00:   Coffee break

—    11.00-13.00:   Plenary Session #1

THE CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE: THE EMERGENCE OF CHINA, INDIA & CENTRAL ASIA
We are in the midst of an historic economic and geo-political shift in this region, with demand for natural resources re-aligning the business landscape for the next 50 years.
The recent move by the Russian Federation to demand market prices for gas from its neighbors and the consequent interruption to supply and the threat of diplomatic and economic action against Iran are indications of what could be in store and why resources from stable partners are essential not only for the fast growing economies of Asia, but for Europe and the U.S. as well. As a result of this emerging trend, foreign investors have looked to Kazakhstan and other countries of Central Asia as investment hubs.

This panel will explore the questions raised by this historical shift:

What influence will demand from China and India have on the region, specifically Kazakhstan?
Are there long term implications of Russia’s recent actions?
How does the Iranian situation change the economic and political importance of this region?
As news groups, are we seeing this as a historical shift?
Can the governments of the region avoid the "oil curse" through measured diversification?
Will foreign investors look beyond the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan and Central Asia?
How will this shift alter the roles of Russia, China, India and Kazakhstan in the future and for groups such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?

Producer/Chair: John Defterios, Vice President of Content and Principal Anchor, FBC, United Kingdom
Panelists:
Richard Holbrooke, Chairman of the Asia Society, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former Assistant Secretary of State, USA
Karim Massimov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Dr. Kenneth Courtis, Former Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asia, Japan
Dr. Armen Sarkissian, Director, Eurasia Programme, Cambridge University, UK
Dr. Nawal Kishore Choudhary, Director General & Chief Executive Officer, Mittal Steel Temirtau
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, Director, Institute of Social and Political Research, Russia

— 13.00-14.00: Lunch

— 14.00-15.30: Plenary Session #2

PUBLIC BROADCASTING: OLD MODELS AND NEW CHALLENGES
While the broadcasting world has changed, the key objectives of public service broadcasting - to provide high quality and impartial programming, free from commercial or political interest - remain the same. The new technological environment, commercial realities and in some cases political interference have forced every public broadcaster to examine how these core values can be maintained.
While the established public broadcasters continue this introspection there is a great desire within nascent countries across Eurasia and beyond to develop sustainable, financially viable and independent state broadcasting services that meet the aims and objectives of the public service ideals.
In this session we will examine:

What lessons can be drawn from the BBC model – did the recent incidents surrounding the Iraq Dossier undermine or reinforce the credibility of the BBC and public service broadcasting?
What are the successful models for editorially independent, financially transparent and viable state broadcasting? Can these models be successfully adopted in New Europe and Eurasia?
How, where and why is public service broadcasting under threat?
How relevant and realistic are the aims of public service broadcasting today? What management, financial and editorial structures best suit the 21st century public broadcaster in this region and beyond?

Chair: Jim Laurie, Journalist, broadcaster, Executive Producer, Focus Asia Productions, Director of Broadcasting, University of Hong Kong
Panelists:
Raymond R. Wong, Chairman, Committee on Review of Public Service Broadcasting, Hong Kong
Dr. Werner Rumphorst, Director of the Legal Department of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Switzerland
Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Austria
Yoshinori Imai, Executive Editor and Program Host, NHK, Japan
Jumat Engson, Regional Director, RTM, Malaysia
Sergey Brilev, Presenter, “Russia” TV channel, Russia

— 15.30-16.00: Coffee break

— 16.00-17.30: Plenary Session #3

GLOBAL NEWS SHAKEDOWN
It seems that every month a new news channel is being launched somewhere in the world. On a global scale, over the next year we can expect to see an English language Al Jazeera International, an Arabic language BBC, and a French language global news channel all launched into the 24 hour news space. Additionally there are numerous new regional 24 hour news channels including services in Russia, India and Venezuela. What is going on? Has there been a massive explosion in the demand for news that can legitimately sustain all these services, or is it that anyone with sufficient finances and an opinion to express now does so through a bespoke 24 hour news service? And in this ever crowded broadcast environment how do the long-time industry incumbents, CNN, Al Jazeera, Euronews, ARTE for example, competitively maintain their brands, develop their services and secure financial viability? How do these channels successfully produce services that have appeal across geographical and political boundaries? Is it more than just producing multilingual output?
In this session we will examine

Why are so many news services being launched?
How do you maintain and build brands in such a competitive space?
What are the best strategies for producing integrated – multi-cultural/political/lingual news services?
What are the success criteria for critically acclaimed commercial services such as Euronews and what lessons can be learned for any potential Eurasian service?
Is it feasible for every region, language and political opinion to be serviced by a 24 hour news channel – what is the outlook for stability and growth in this space?
When and why do these services fail?
What services are we likely to see springing up for Eurasia?

Chair: Jim Laurie, Journalist, broadcaster, Executive Producer, Focus Asia Productions, Director of Broadcasting, University of Hong Kong
Panelists:
Donald Lawrie, Director of Worldwide Distribution, EuroNews, France
Alan Yang, International News Director, TVBS, Taiwan
Christoph Lanz, Managing Director, Deutsche Welle Television, Germany
Salim Amin, CEO, Camerapix, Founder and Chairman of the Mohamed Amin Foundation, Kenya
Jim Gaffey, Independent producer, NextStep Television, USA
Gadilbek Shalakhmetov, Founder of Intergovernmental “MIR” Television channel, Member of Parliament, Kazakhstan
Akram Khouzam, Producer, Russia Today channel
Jihad Ballout, Director of media relations and the spokesperson, Al Arabiya News Channel, UAE

— 16.00-17.30: Roundtable (Abai Room, Mezzanine floor)

REAL AND VIRTUAL POLITICS: MASS MEDIA AS MEANS OF MASS COMMUNICATION AND MASS MANIPULATION

Political, economic and spiritual independence of the modern mass media: experience of Central Asian countries
The level of mass media’s engagement into social and political processes: journalist as an observer and as a participant; involvement of media into forming “virtual politics”
Opening up the Central Asian media space for foreign mass media: legal, cultural and moral considerations; the role of corporate associations and unions, the level of their representative functions, authority and lobbying potential
Public Media: public control over mass media. How realistic is the task? Experience of the Commission on communication, information policy and freedom of speech in the media at the Russian Public Chamber
Central Asian region: involvement of media into informational wars
Public opinion: who and how forms it? Who and in which way uses it in their own interests?

Co-producers: Yaroslav Skvortov, Dean of the International Journalism Faculty, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia
Alexey Vlasov, Director of analytical programs of the International Institute of Post-Soviet Studies, Russia
Chair:
Irina Zvyagelskaya, Vice-President of the International Center for Strategic and Political Studies, Russia

—    19.00-22.00:    Welcome Reception hosted by the Mayor of Almaty city
       Mr. Imangali Tasmagambetov
       Abai Opera and Ballet House