The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) is set to build a business centre "Asbu Link Centre" in Tunis and other investment projects will be launched in the country over the next 5 years worth a total of over TND 200 million, ASBU Director General Abderrahim Sliman announced on Tuesday. The new 15-storey ASBU centre will be built over an area of 33,000 square metres, he specified. The building will house theatres, offices and a co-working space. It will be equipped with all the amenities including restaurants, accommodation units and other services for its customers and visitors, Sliman pointed out at a press briefing to present the programme for the 23rd Arab Radio and Television Festival, due to be hosted on June 12-15, at the City of Culture in Tunis. The conference was attended by Minister of Cultural Affairs Hayet Ketat Guermasi, Director General of the Tunisian Television Establishment Awatef Dali, Director General of the Tunisian Radio Establishment Henda ben Alaya Ghribi and Central Director of Promotion at the National Office of Tunisian Tourism (ONTT) Lotfi Mani. This annual event of regional scope is organised by ASBU in partnership with the Tunisian Radio and Television Establishments and the Arab Satellite Organisation (Arabsat). It is a new partnership marking the return of the festival to Tunisia, after a single edition held at the end of 2022 in Saudi Arabia. Guermazi underlined her department's willingness to continue its support for the Asbu festival as part of a partnership that is the first of its kind since the festival had been founded in 1981. She praised the choice of theme for this year's festival, "Arts and Culture Bring Us Together," which expresses "the close link between the arts sector and the media." ASBU is an Arab professional organisation founded in 1969 with a view to fostering inter-Arab cooperation in the audiovisual, Radio and Television sector. Since its creation in 1981, the Arab Radio and Television Festival has been organised in Tunis, which hosts the headquarters of the Arab Radio and Television Union (ASBU). In 2015, the Festival has become an annual event. For the fourth time, the City of Culture will be hosting this major event, which was previously held in Yasmine Hammamet. On the agenda are four competitions, two official and two parallel, open to audiovisual media professionals, at the end of which several prizes will be awarded to the winners and their television and radio works. The festival will see the participation of 15 television channels and 15 radio stations in the official selection, with 90 television works in the official competition and 50 works in the parallel section. In the radio selection, 129 works have been chosen, including 108 in the competition. The Thétre de l'Opéra in Tunis will host the opening ceremony, with Tunisian artist Mohamed Ali Kammoun offering a performance called "Arab Perfumes," and the closing ceremony will feature Egyptian singer Tamer Hosny. The opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast live on various Arab television channels and radio stations, both public and private.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse