India will host the first World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit, WAVES in Goa from 20th to 24th November this year. This will be held as part of the International Film Festival of India, that is scheduled to be held from 20-28 November in the global tourist-potential city of Goa.
Addressing the Curtain Raiser event organized in Delhi recently, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said India is one of the largest film producing countries in the world. He said WAVES will be the key event to shape future of India’s media and entertainment industry.
According to him, the WAVES initiative will add a new dimension for industry collaboration, networking and growth in the media and entertainment sector. He said the sector had produced 3,000 hours of content for the OTT platforms in 2023 itself.
Addressing the gathering at the event, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said WAVES will be a significant milestone in development of India’s entertainment industry. He highlighted that the focus is on creating more jobs in media and entertainment industry. He said media and entertainment world is going through a structural change.
“IP rights hold huge value in the media and entertainment sector; we will be strengthening the ecosystem for protecting IP rights,” said the I&B Minister. “The media and entertainment (M&E) world is undergoing a structural change and has seen immense technology infusion,” he said. “This has opened many opportunities, but also caused concerns among few participants who have not been able to keep up with the change.”
Vaishnaw said the government was also exploring ways to make available low-cost funds to the media and entertainment sector with learnings from the venture capital model.
The media and entertainment sector is pegged at $27.5 billion in India and the government seeks to position WAVES as a platform to evoke ideas, fuel conversations, facilitate knowledge exchange and engage in meaningful collaborations with industry leaders from across the world.
It also seeks to present India as a business-friendly country and an investment destination for the sector.
I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju said the WAVES event would seek to position India as a global leader in the media and entertainment sector.
