Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa opened the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Tuesday with a keynote dialogue titled “Syria of the Future”. According to Euronews, it was the first appearance by a Syrian head of state at the event. Al-Sharaa said regional escalation appeared to be approaching, while urging states to remain calm and cooperate.

Organisers said the three-day summit at Dubai World Trade Centre is the largest in its history, with more than 175 sessions, over 400 speakers from 23 countries and eight forums. The programme has expanded beyond journalism to include film, gaming, podcasting and influencers, reflecting a broader definition of the media industry.

The UAE also presented its fullest account yet of the cyber-attacks it faced this year. Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, told Euronews that missile and drone strikes on ports, refineries and airports were accompanied by cyber-attacks on the same targets. He described the episode as involving cyber-crime, cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare, and called for an international convention governing state conduct in cyberspace.

Dubai officials used the summit to highlight the media sector’s economic growth. Nehal Badri, secretary general of the Dubai Media Council, said media accounts for 1.4% of the emirate’s gross domestic product, compared with 0.5% when the council set its strategy in 2023. The emirate’s target is 3% by 2033, while registered media companies have reached 25,000.

Badri said the priority was not only attracting companies to Dubai but retaining them. She said institutions based in the emirate were increasingly able to tell their own stories, rather than relying on narratives produced elsewhere. Mona Ghanem Al Marri, vice chairperson and managing director of the Dubai Media Council, said foreign direct investment in the sector reached $1.62 billion in 2024.

Other sessions examined gaming, television and diplomacy. Speakers included representatives of Yalla Group, the UNDP and Gulf television, while UAE official Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi urged media organisations to invest in people-to-people diplomacy. He said the UAE’s rule-of-law requirement applied across its diverse population, and cited its relief operation in Nepal, where flooding and landslides have affected thousands.