ABU DHABI- Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, has chaired the 24th meeting of ministers of culture of Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, countries, which discussed topics related to promoting joint GCC action and supporting cultural development plans.
During the meeting, Al Kaabi welcomed the participating ministers and wished Sayyid Dhi Yazan bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Saeed, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Oman, luck and success in creating a prosperous cultural future for the Omani community.
She also presented the UAE’s efforts to combat the challenges facing the cultural sector caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that a national survey was conducted to monitor the difficulties facing cultural and creative industries.
Al Kaabi stressed that a national programme to support people affected by the pandemic, launched by the Ministry of Culture and Youth, provided 140 financial grants to individuals and companies involved in the creative sector and working in 25 different fields of innovation.
"The UAE is supporting and promoting its cultural product, both regionally and internationally, as well as integrating culture in its development plans, developing the capacities of young talents, and training new generations of innovative entrepreneurs, in implementation of the country’s strategy related to cultural and creative industries, aimed at increasing the cultural sector’s contribution to GDP. The time has come to draft a joint GCC plan for the sector, and we have a rich cultural and artistic heritage, supported by significant resources and capacities and talented minds capable of leading this sector," she said.
She added the UAE’s initiatives and projects, which aim to promote the Arabic language and jointly overcome the related challenges facing GCC and Arab countries, will involve the drafting of programmes and policies to support new generations of Arabic language speakers.
"The UAE published the first report on the status and future of Arabic, which explains the difficulties facing our Arabic language. The report’s outcomes will help develop new methods of teaching the language and make it a way of communicating and acquiring knowledge," Al Kaabi added.
She also commended the adoption by GCC leaders of the "Cultural Strategy for GCC States 2020-2030," while affirming the UAE’s support for all cultural partnerships with other countries, in light of its commitment to ensuring the sustainability of Iraq’s cultural sector.
The cooperation between the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, France and other countries in establishing the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas, ALIPH, is an ideal model of effective international cooperation, she noted, while urging the GCC to adopt similar initiatives.
© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2020.
