With the rapid development of the industry in Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, the cinema operators involved recognise the extent to which the business opportunities and policy challenges they face – such as film theft, technology standards, theatrical release practices, international trade practices and the highly valued relationship with partners in film distribution – are shared by counterparts across territories.

The Emerging Markets in the Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans are at an early stage in the growth and development of their cinema markets, but in combination they offer a significant opportunity for investors, studios, distributors, exhibitors and the specialist supply chains to the industry.

650 million people live in the target markets but there are only 170 million recorded cinema ticket sales officially recorded. GDP in the area is $5,200bn with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE and Egypt being the biggest markets.

The conference aim is to deliver an informative and engaging programme of events for the emerging cinema markets in the African, Central Asia, MENA and Balkan regions, where information sharing, building knowledge and networking are the priorities. It is a high-profile event generating invaluable networking contacts.

This is an opportunity to establish Istanbul and Turkey as the base where emerging cinema and film markets meet and develop