The Minister of Culture meets with his Italian counterpart at the beginning of his visit to Egypt, and they discuss new horizons for future cooperation in the fields of cinema, arts, and heritage preservation.
Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, met today the Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano and his accompanying delegation, at the beginning of his visit to Egypt, to discuss ways to enhance future cooperation between the two countries in the cultural, artistic, literary and cinematic fields, in addition to discussing the way of implementing joint projects that would enrich the cultural movement in the two countries, and preserving heritage. Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, stressed the depth of historical and civilizational relations between Egypt and Italy, pointing to the importance of cultural cooperation in light of the progressive movement of the world. He expressed his appreciation to the efforts exerted by Italy to enhance cultural cooperation between the two countries, stressing the ministry's readiness to provide all necessary support to implement joint projects.
Sangiuliano stressed that the two countries can cooperate according to a joint action plan that would enhance both sides, and that there are many zones in which cooperation can be achieved, such as exchanging art exhibitions, holding joint cultural and cinema festivals, organizing training workshops, and producing joint films.
He pointed out the importance of cooperation in the field of cinema, noting that his country sees Egypt as a strategic partner in this field; due to Egypt's rich history in the film industry, and the strong presence of the Italian films in the hearts of the Egyptians
The Italian Minister proposed strengthening the partnership between producers in the two countries, and providing the necessary facilities to enhance joint production, and he also invited Egypt to participate in the "Mediterranean Cinema Festival", sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Culture.
The meeting also discussed the importance of joint cooperation in the field of preserving intangible cultural heritage, as the two sides agreed on the importance of preparing joint files to register intangible cultural elements on the UNESCO Urgent Safeguarding Lists, and to benefit from Italian expertise in this field.
The two sides stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of translation in Arabic and Italian languages and proposed establishing a joint translation award to encourage translators in both countries.
The meeting also discussed the ways to enhance cooperation in the field of arts and architecture, as the importance of Egypt's participation in the "Venice International Biennale" was emphasized, in which Egypt has had a permanent pavilion since 1938, with the possibility of granting Egypt a pavilion in the "Turin Biennale" being discussed.
At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed on the importance of intensifying communication and consultation between them, to develop a joint action plan to enhance cultural cooperation between the two countries, and to identify the projects that will be implemented in the next stage.
The meeting was attended by "Mr. Clemente Cantestabile,the Diplomatic Advisor of the Italian Minister of Culture.
From the Egyptian side: Amir Tadros, Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Eng. Mohamed Abu Saada, Head of the National Authority for Urban Harmony ,