AdAsia 2019 concludes: Pakistan is now safe and stable, says Alvi

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday said that Pakistan is now safe and stable and moving forward.

Addressing the participants of concluding session of the Asian Advertising Congress, AdAsia 2019, at Alhamra Hall here, the President said, "Today is digital age where checking fake news is a challenging task; different means of communication are also working with the spirit of competition and sometimes there appears fake news."

Alvi maintained that with population of 200 million, Pakistan is a big market where there is huge potential. Tourism is one of the sectors with huge potential. There are tourist spots in northern areas, he said. He hoped that the participants of the moot would serve as ambassadors of Pakistan in their respective countries. He said in advertisement money-back term is of vital importance and the guarantee of return of money is vital for any other sector.

Other speakers said that advertisement worked as a mirror for economic reality as well as socio-cultural realities. Ad was part of the media content. Advertisement industry had been passing through many phases in the past; however, it was expected that the industry would rise again to its heights, they said. They said that the conference would help the industry to promote culture of positive working not only in the country but in the world also. Around 900 delegates from advertising and creative communications from the country and around the world participated in the conference.

AdAsia 2019 was hosted jointly by the Asian Federation of Advertising Agencies (AFAA) and Pakistan Advertising Association (PAA). AdAsia is a prestigious bi-annual international advertising conferences series held by AFAA. The 30th and previous edition of AdAsia was held in Bali in 2017.

The 16th Asian Advertising Congress was held in Lahore in 1989 which was attended by over 800 leading advertising and media specialists from around the world.

Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi, while chairing the 16th meeting of the Board of Governors (BoGs) of National School of Public Policy (NSPP) stressed the need for establishing a close collaboration with training institutions of excellence in the world to learn from best global practices and emerge as an internationally competitive training institute.

Different items of agenda, including ratification of decisions taken during 15th meeting were discussed and decisions were taken after thorough deliberations for the smooth and efficient functioning of the institution.

Terming training of the faculty as important, the President said that through training they could learn and employ modern training techniques and tools to further improve the existing models.

"The vision of NSPP as an excellent institution imparting training to the civil servants must be maintained," he said. He emphasized the need to involve private sector to benefit from its input and experiences.

Rector, NSPP Azmat Ranjha, briefed the participants of the meeting about the efforts being made for further enhancing the quality of training at NSPP.