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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |

Haiti Govt Photo
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The
VI Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest
Appropriate Authorities, convened by the Organization of American States
(OAS), opened this morning in Port au Prince, Haiti, with a ceremony
that featured the participation of the President
of Haiti, Michel Martelly, and the Assistant Secretary General of the
OAS, Albert Ramdin.
During the two-day meeting, ministers and senior officials responsible
for culture from 22 OAS member countries, as well as representatives
from regional and international agencies, the private sector, academia
and civil society will debate the topic "Cultural
Interdependence in the Context of Globalization," the central theme of
the meeting.
In his remarks during the opening ceremony, President Martelly spoke of
the cultural traditions of his country, noting that "this wealth of
heritage constitutes a shared asset of the Haitian nation and it enables
us to embrace, with strength and intelligence,
the diversity of our artistic expressions and movements. This heritage
also represents a common foundation for exchanges and a fertile ground
for promoting interculturality, since we are here at a regional cultural
event."
The Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, emphasized
the cross-cutting nature of culture within the Organization,
highlighting its role in the promotion of creative industries, as well
as its links with improving competitiveness in SMEs, innovation,
trade, and tourism. He also noted that although the production of
cultural goods and services represent a significant and growing share in
the economies of the OAS member states, more work is needed to fully
capture the economic contribution of this important
sector.

Haiti Govt Photo
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For her part, the Minister of Culture of Haiti, Monique Rocourt,
stressed that "The Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture
and Highest Appropriate Authorities, taking place here in Haiti, is
certain to further motivate us to pool our resources
and talents for the development of cultural industries and thus to
create wealth for the region. You are in a country where everyone is
convinced that development and well-being will come from culture."
The VI Meeting of Ministers of Culture is an opportunity for the highest
authorities on the issue from the Americas to meet, which happens every
three years; this meeting builds on the outcome of the previous meeting
held in Washington, DC in November 2011.
It provides an opportunity for member states to exchange experiences,
discuss public policies that encourage cultural entrepreneurship,
exchange experiences on the development of systems related to improving
the capture of data and measurement of the contribution
of culture to the economy, and to discuss the design of cultural
programs.
The event serves as an important platform for the exchange of
experiences and best practices, the consideration of technical
cooperation proposals, and the strengthening of communication between
government agencies, the private sector, and civil society.
The meeting is part of the cultural initiatives promoted by the OAS,
which aim to promote policy dialogue and consensus at the hemispheric
level on priority topics of the public policy agenda in the field of
culture, within the framework of the Inter-American
Council for Integral Development of the Organization.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at
www.oas.org.

Haiti Govt Photo
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