The Tunisian capital, Tunis, hosted February 2, 2009, the winter session of the High Frequencies Coordination Conference (HFCC), with the participation of 130 experts, representing 30 countries and 50 broadcasting organizations.

Tunisia's Minister in charge of Communication and Relations with the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors, Mr. Rafaa Dkhil, chaired the opening session in the presence of Mr. Slaheddine Maaoui, Director General of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and host of the meeting. Proceedings are expected to go on in the tourist resort of Hammamet till February 6.

In his opening statement, the Tunisian Minister expressed the need to coordinate high frequency broadcasts especially that the latter represents one of the handiest means to bring the news across borders with no major cost. "Although shortwave radio broadcasting needs no advance authorization; he said; international coordination is required because it allows each station to broadcast with no interference from other stations."

Minister Dkhil also highlighted the importance the Tunisian ُ Government and President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali give to developing the role played by radio, both as technology and as content, in the development process, thus allowing the establishment of several local and national radio stations.

The Director General welcomed participants and Mr. Dkhil, whose presence, he said, "reflects the high interest the Government of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali puts in ASBU's activities and programs and the support it provides to the Union's projects and achievements."

He also praised the active participation by ASBU and its member organizations in HFCC, which allowed them to choose the most appropriate broadcasting channels and helped provide better service to their Arab and international audiences.

Such a participation in the coordination process has also been economically efficient. He called on even more broadcasters to take part in the process. Mr. Maaoui said that ASBU is looking forward to digital broadcasting and is striving to encourage all its members to adopt the upgrade from the analogical system to the digital one.

The conference President, Mr. Oldrich Cip (Czech Republic), reviewed the rich history of cooperation between HFCC and ASBU in the field of coordinating high broadcasting frequencies. He stressed the importance of such an effort to achieve better broadcasting results and avoid interference through improving work equipment, especially in Africa and Asia. He called on all broadcasters to use HFCC's common database, now available on its website.