(Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, 24 June 2008)

Cai Wu

Minister of Culture, the People’s Republic of China

This is the fifth meeting of culture ministers organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Being one of the most important mechanisms of multilateral cultural cooperation in the framework of the SCO, the meeting provides a communication platform on a regular basis for us working in the ministries of culture of each member state, as colleague and as friends, to reflect on the past, to map out our future, to discuss and decide, shoulder to shoulder, the critical issues in cultural cooperation. Our meeting embodies the “Shanghai Spirit” of “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversified civilizations and common development”.

Last April, the ministers or vice ministers of culture of all the SCO member states closed a series of important documents and exchange programs in Dushanbe after studying and analyzing the past experience. Since then, these documents and programs have played a vital role in guiding the cultural activities for the past year. I’d like to highlight an important guiding document concluded in that meeting: the inter-governmental agreement on cultural cooperation, which was officially signed at the summit of the Council of Heads of State. We believe that through joint efforts, this year’s meeting will definitely be a success. And here I’d like to express my sincere thanks to the Secretariat of the SCO and personnel of the host country for their considerable and excellent preparations for this conference.

On the agenda of this meeting, I’d like to mention the following points:

Ⅰ. Set the agenda of the meeting

China approved the agenda of this meeting.

Ⅱ About major cultural events within the SCO framework since the last meeting

We considered the programs specified in the Plan of Multilateral Cultural Cooperation of the SCO Member States have generally been realized and completed rather well.

1. The 3rd Art Festival of SCO member states held during the summit in Bishkek last August was a huge success. The heads of states and delegations highly praised the amazing performances staged in the Festival by the artists from six member states. The success should be ascribed to the personnel of each state’s culture ministry for all the efforts they paid and I’d also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation, in particular, to the Ministry of Culture and Information of the host country, Kyrgyzstan, and the ministries of culture of all the other member states.

2. Being a memorable event in SCO cultural Speech at the Fifth Meeting of Culture Ministers of SCO Member States (Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, 24 June 2008) Cai Wu Minister of Culture, the People’s Republic of China Cultural Policy Cultural Policy 4 CHINA FORUM, AUTUMN 2013, Special Issue on China Culture cooperation, the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cultural Cooperation of the SCO member states last August during the SCO summit is of great importance. The agreement provides the principles and guidance for the cultural cooperation in the framework of the SCO. It takes two years for the concerned parties, after tremendous efforts and in the spirit of mutual respect and understanding, to reach the agreement on all the terms and ultimately sign the document. The SCO cultural cooperation plan for 2009—2011 we are going to sign after negotiations is based on the fundamental principles set in that agreement.

3. Melodies of the East, an international music festival held in Samarqand, Uzbekistan, last August and the Issyk-Kul International Film Festival held in Kyrgyzstan last July were earlier included in the SCO cultural cooperation plan and China, bringing its delegations, actively participated in those activities. The successful events are not only a grand showcase for artistic exhibitions of culture but also galas for artists from member states to learn from each other and enhance the friendship between them.

4. According to the SCO cultural cooperation plan, the album sponsored by China with the assistance of the other member states named Dialogue among Civilizations——Cultural Insight into the SCO Member States came out just before this meeting. The album weighs much as it is the very first jointly-published album of member states in the cultural field. On the part of China, it attached great value to the preparations for the album and it also received vigorous support and cooperation from other member states. My sincere thanks go to all of you for your friendly cooperation. We propose to continue our cooperation in this field to issue publications of other genres besides the album.

In every agreement reached at the SCO summit of the Council of Heads of State, there is an invariable content——to strengthen the practical cooperation among the member states and solidify the foundation of the organization. We feel rather delighted to witness the success achieved in the aforementioned cultural events which exhibited the concerted efforts of the ministries of culture of member states in the practical cooperation.