Ibero-American Culture: a tool to face the crisis

Secretaría General Iberoamericana,
23 April 2009, Portugal

The Ibero-American Ministers of Culture, who gathered on April 22 in Lisbon, decided to give a boost to the promotion of Spanish and Portuguese on the internet and in the realm of science and technology.

Enrique V. Iglesias, Ibero-American General Secretary, thinks that culture can be an efficient tool in Ibero-America against the economic crisis.

The Ibero-American countries approved a declaration that urges a defence of minority cultures in the region and puts into action various cultural cooperation programs and initiatives. Iglesias also pointed out that the Ministers agree on the fact that “it would be a mistake for the countries to sacrifice a source of wealth like investing in cultural industries” and highlighted the fact that culture is not part of the problem of the economic crisis - “instead, it can be part of its solution”. 

Ministers agreed to advance a program of intensive translation of works from Spanish to Portuguese and vice versa and to promote the use of both languages in cyberspace and in the realm of science and technology.

OEI’s General Secretary, Álvaro Marchesi, in charge of creating the plan to promote Spanish and Portuguese on the Internet, stated that studies have demonstrated that both languages are weak in comparison to English.

The objective is to strengthen the presence of both languages on the Internet and in the world of science.

The Portuguese Minister of Culture, José Antonio Pinto, considered that in this meeting Ibero-America reinforced its cultural commitment and showed it is determined to meet the goals put forward.

During the Conference it was agreed to promote more regional programs following the existing guidelines of programs like Ibermuseos or Iberorquestas, and the commitment was pledged to create an Ibero-American Youth Orchestra.

It was also decided that new initiatives to support the mobility of culture’s professionals, and to organize seminars on scientific and educational information and training programs to produce promoters of scientific culture would be put into motion throughout 2009.

The conclusions of this XII Ibero-American Conference on Culture will be submitted to the Summit of Head of States that will take place in Estoril (Portugal) on November 30 and December 1.

The ministers reviewed projects like the Freedom Route that promotes mutual awareness between peoples, and the Ibero-American Cultural Chart intended to create a common cultural space that stimulates creativity and cultural industries.

The Spanish Minister, Ángeles González-Sinde, stated that Spanish and Portuguese should support each other in order to be “languages with a future” and presented a proposal on how to protect Ibero-American countries’ cinematographic heritage.

http://www.segib.org/noticias.php?id=752&idioma=esp