President of the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (Broadcom), Safa Shafeeq has urged collaborative efforts to enhance opportunities to showcase local voices on international platforms.
Speaking at the second television festival of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in China, Safa insisted that such platforms enable people to connect other cultures and showcase nationalism.
Reflecting on the Maldives, Safa pointed out that though Maldives is a small island nation, it is rich in heritage, storytelling and resilience, adding that its television sector is young, dynamic and eager to learn.
“We see immense value in partnerships across the SEO to co-produce content, train our storytellers and showcase local voices on international platforms,” she said.
Safa expressed excitement about the growing space for women in media and for young creators in television who are telling stories with fresh eyes.
She urged to ensure that these creators are supported with opportunities, funding and platforms to shine, calling upon participants to strengthen audiovisual collaborations, not just through policy, but through action.
“Let us invest in shared content, in training and capacity building, in translation and accessibility, so that the people of each SEO nation can hear, see, and feel the stories of their neighbors,” she added.
On the sidelines of the three-day festival, Broadcom and China's National Radio and Television (NRT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the fields of broadcasting and audio-visual.
The festival focused on showcasing the cooperation achievements of SCO countries in television and radio exchanges.