To all the scriptwriters, production staff, and producers of Asian television dramas,

I am truly delighted to have this opportunity to meet you all today.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Mayor of Matsuyama City, Ehime

Prefecture, and to all the related parties, and to everyone involved with ATDC, to arrange

this valuable opportunity.

To all the scriptwriters, production staff, and producers of Asian television dramas!

In recent years, Asian dramas, starting with K-dramas, have been highly praised and

attracted attention from viewers around the world.

Asian dramas are no longer confined to a regional culture, but they have established a

strong presence as one of the centers of the global culture. I am truly pleased, and offer

my heartfelt congratulations.

However, we are also facing major challenges. The drama market is rapidly changing from

an era centered on terrestrial broadcasting to one centered on digital platforms like OTT,

and the production environments are becoming increasingly tough.

The practice of global OTTs are buying out copyrights and the rapidly rising production

costs are threatening the sustainable environment for drama production. The growing

concerns are that Asian production companies may be forced to become subcontractors

for global OTT platforms.

The crisis in the TV drama market we are currently facing, is not an issue specific to any

one country, but a challenge shared by the entire Asian TV drama industry. This is why I

believe the 17th Asian TV Drama Conference is so significant.

Let us pool our wisdom and explore together paths of cooperation and coexistence so

that the drama of Asia can transcend its regional boundaries and take a further leap into

the world. Up to now, we have overcome numerous difficulties, so I believe we can

certainly overcome this challenge as well.

To all Asian TV drama scriptwriters, production staff, and producers!

We are all important companions walking the same path of TV drama, striving to create

more interesting, more moving, and more beautiful stories. I sincerely hope that today 's

conference will be a place where we can encourage one another and share courage and

hope.