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The CEO of the world’s preeminent youth media company visited Abu Dhabi yesterday to discuss its plans to expand into the region.

VICE Media’s co-founder and CEO, Mr Shane Smith, is planning to bring the company’s unique, youth-oriented digital, mobile and linear programming to MENA for the first time, by launching operations in the UAE in partnership with Moby Group.

During his visit to Abu Dhabi, Mr Smith met with H.E. Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairwoman of Abu Dhabi’s media zone, twofour54, to discuss how VICE Media will help meet the huge demand for youth-focused programming in the region through telling honest and compelling stories that are adapted for the region’s interests and sensitivities.

Chairwoman of twofour54, H.E. Al Kaabi said: “VICE Media’s expansion into the region from the UAE is exciting news for the industry and will help to meet the growing appetite of Arab millennials for world class digital content. Abu Dhabi is unique in this region by providing a supportive editorial and regulatory environment that enables businesses like VICE Media to create and distribute quality content that engages the community. twofour54 plays a leading role in enabling the growth of the UAE’s media industry and we look forward to working with Mr Smith and VICE Media as the company enters the market here.”

Mr Shane Smith, co-founder and CEO of VICE Media, said: “We’re very excited to launch this joint venture in the hub of the region’s media industry, the UAE. We’ll be building a state-of-the-art production and editorial studio that will tap into the best young filmmakers, journalists and producers from across the region, giving the burgeoning local youth audiences the gold standard of millennial programming.”

In setting up in the region, VICE will partner with Moby Group, which has been established in the region for more than a decade.

“We moved Moby Group’s headquarters to the UAE a decade ago, attracted by the stability and advantages it offers for businesses and particularly for media companies,” said Saad Mohseni, Chairman and CEO of Moby Group. “Our partnership with VICE for MENA now marks a new chapter in our relationship with the UAE. By leveraging the UAE as headquarters for the most exciting new media platform in the region, we hope to make a transformative contribution to the development of the media industry here.”

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