TVEAP was admitted as an Affiliate Member in June 2006. This formalises a fruitful partnership that the two organisations have sustained for the past few years.

AIBD is a regional inter-governmental organisation servicing countries of the Asia Pacific Region in the field of electronic media development. AIBD has more than 100 member organizations. This includes 52 broadcasting organizations representing 26 Member Countries and 45 Affiliate Members. In addition to this, AIBD enjoys working closely with close to 50 partners and over 100 broadcasting organizations in Europe, Africa, North America and the Arab countries. 

Privately owned or commercial broadcasters and broadcast related organizations have the option of becoming Affiliate Members. TVE Asia Pacific joined this category of membership, which counted 45 organisations or companies in mid 2006.

“We are delighted and honoured to formally join AIBD as an Affiliate Member,” says Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO of TVE Asia Pacific. “We have nurtured an excellent relationship with AIBD over the years, and now look forward to playing a greater role with both AIBD and its diverse set of members.”

“AIBD Member Countries warmly welcomed TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) as a new Affiliate Member,” says Dr. Javad Mottaghi, Director AIBD.  “This membership would strengthen the excellent cooperation that currently exists between AIBD and TVEAP, and would also pave the way for a fruitful professional partnership in the extremely desirable area of broadcast development at the regional level.”

The AIBD is mandated to ‘achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the Asia-Pacific region through policy and resource development’. In fulfilling this mandate, the Institute works closely with broadcasters, regional organizations, NGOs, academic institutes and private sector companies.

AIBD’s particular strength is to act as a trusted, neutral media platform where the Asia -Pacific region’s broadcasting, ICT and development issues can be discussed by all concerned players. This is best demonstrated by the Asia Media Summit, held in the Malaysian capital every year in May. It is the largest annual gathering of media managers and senior broadcast professionals in the Asia- Pacific region – home to the largest television audience on the planet.

Some 440 decision-makers, media professionals and scholars attended Asia Media Summit 2006 from 68 countries in the Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America. TVE Asia Pacific was a co-sponsor of this major event, along with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) UNESCO, UNDP-APDIP, ITU, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) , UNICEF, World radio Television Council (WRTVC), UN-ESCAP,  and China Central Television (CCTV) among others.

Another area of synergy for AIBD and TVE Asia Pacific is training and capacity building.
More than 23,000 broadcasters and media professionals have benefited from various AIBD training programmes over the years. Some 1,400 broadcasters from 50 countries are retrained through AIBD programmes every year.

Indeed, training was the original focus of the Institute. As far back as 1967, a UNESCO survey identified training as the most important need for broadcast development in the Asia Pacific region, which led to AIBD’s founding. AIBD was initially established as a UN project by UNESCO, following upon the initiatives of regional broadcasters meeting.

After some years, the Institute was handed over to its Member Countries as an Inter- Governmental Organization as a common resource to support the specialised field of broadcasting development. The Agreement establishing AIBD was concluded in August 1977 in Kuala Lumpur, where the AIBD Secretariat is also hosted by Malaysia.