The Asia Content Business Summit held its first-ever conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the Red Sea International Film Festival on Dec 7 with Saudi Arabia officially joining the group, signaling a promising direction for cross-regional dialogue and cooperation within the Asian content industry.

This edition of the film festival, which runs from Dec 4 to Dec 13, also witnessed the debut of an official China Pavilion, further highlighting the increasingly strong exchange and collaborative momentum among major Asian film markets.

Apart from Saudi Arabia officially joining the summit as a member, Abdullah Al-Muhaisen, Saudi Arabia’s first film director and a former advisor to the royal court, was also appointed as a senior advisor to the summit. His appointment “aims to further advance strategic collaboration between Saudi Arabia and other Asian nations in the content industry”.

With the theme “Asian Collaboration in Content Production and Distribution”, the conference brought together industry leaders and experts from Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, among others.

The conference explored pathways and opportunities for strengthening intra-Asian collaboration in areas such as content creation, distribution, and talent development.

Al-Muhaisen, the keynote speaker, elaborated on the central role of content in preserving and promoting cultural exchange. He emphasized that cross-border collaborative content production and distribution is not only essential for industrial development, but also a vital link for deepening mutual understanding among civilizations and their peoples.

Fred Wang, the summit chairman and also secretary-general of the Asian Film Awards Academy and the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, shared the academy’s efforts in fostering collaboration in Asian content production, particularly through initiatives like the “Film Camp”. The latter is dedicated to nurturing young Asian film and television talents and building a sustainable talent ecosystem for the industry.

Haifa Reda Jamal Al Layl, president of Jeddah’s Effat University, which established the first film school in the kingdom, detailed the institution’s ongoing commitment to cultivating local creative talent and underscored the importance of educational and practical cooperation with peers across Asia and globally.

The summit is an annual high-level industry dialogue platform focusing on content creation, distribution, investment, and technological integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

The summit aims to gather industry elites, share cutting-edge insights, and promote practical cooperation to drive the synergistic progress and sustainable development of the entire Asian content ecosystem.