Saudi-based media conglomerate Rotana Group is to move its regional headquarters to Bahrain in the first quarter of 2014, Bahraini Minister of State for Information Affairs, Sameera Rajab, has confirmed. The move, which was originally slated to happen by early 2013, now looks set to coincide with Bahrain’s plan to open four ‘digital cities’ to […]
Saudi-based media conglomerate Rotana Group is to move its regional headquarters to Bahrain in the first quarter of 2014, Bahraini Minister of State for Information Affairs, Sameera Rajab, has confirmed.
The move, which was originally slated to happen by early 2013, now looks set to coincide with Bahrain’s plan to open four ‘digital cities’ to encourage private investment in the media sector, according to Gulf Daily News.
The digital city proposal, which will be put before Parliament and the Shura Council by October, will precede the establishment of a media academy to train young people, according to Rajab.
In December 2011 Rotana announced that Bahrain would be the base for its Arabic news channel Al Arab TV, which has not yet launched.
Speaking at that time, Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, who owns the Rotana Group, said: “We have 13 channels including groups such as MBC and Fox, and now with Al Arab we will be broadcasting to a global audience.”
“Bahrain was chosen from an economic point of view and it would further cement historic relations between the two countries,” he added.
As part of the deal, senior level management will be based at the Bahrain headquarters, while the group will continue to operate its studios located in Beirut, Cairo and Dubai.
“Rotana is already recruiting staff and it is a welcome investment that will certainly help open doors to Bahrain in new fields that have not been tapped into before,” Rajab is quoted as saying in the Gulf Daily News.
