More than 300 delegates from Asian and European countries gathered at a seminar in Hanoi on December 15 to share experiences regarding the preservation of cultural diversity.
The seminar, themed “Preserving and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions: sharing Asian and European experiencesâ€, is the first of several Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) activities focusing on cultural diversity.
It is co-organised by the European Commission delegation to Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).
Addressing the event, MCST Deputy Minister Tran Chien Thang said that the two-day event provides an open forum for discussions on cultural expressions in order to preserve and promote identities in cultural diversity. Through the seminar, Vietnam wants to share its opinions and policies on cultural development.
Ambassador Sean Doyle, Head of the EC Delegation, spoke highly of Vietnam’s policies, saying that the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to join the UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and make it a national policy would help ethnic groups to preserve their identities in a culturally-diversified environment.
According to UNESCO Representative Ana de Oliveira E. Silva, the cultural diversity will help countries to have more diversified outlooks on protecting and respecting others’ cultures and raise public awareness of cultural preservation and development.
The seminar will run until December 16, with speeches to be delivered by 30 speakers from Asian and European countries.