8th ASEM Culture Ministers' Meeting: Media Advisory
The eighth Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers of Culture (ASEM CMM8) will be held in Sofia in the period 28 February to 2 March. The motto of the meeting is "The role of culture in external relations: the road forward".
The forum will be chaired by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr Boil Banov.
Agenda
1 March 2018 | Thursday
09:00 - 10:00 Arrivals and handshake
10:00 - 10:40 Opening remarks
Mr Boil Banov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ms Lilyana Pavlova, Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU
Mr Tibor i Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport
Mr Jongmin Na, 1st Vice Minister, Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Head of the Delegation of South Korea (Host of the CMM7)
10:40 - 10:50 Family photo
11:00 - 15:15 Plenary session 1
Ministers will share their views on the following questions:
How does culture contribute to strengthening and consolidating international relations between countries? What are your views on developing a more open approach to international cultural relations, based on mutual understanding and reciprocity?
What measures could be taken on a national level to promote the cooperation between all stakeholders in order to ensure synergies and added value to international initiatives in the cultural domain?
16:00 - 18:30 Parallel workshops
Workshop 1: Supporting culture as an engine for sustainable social and economic development
Chair: Mr Marjan Hammersma, Director General Culture and Media, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Netherlands
Workshop 2: Promoting culture and intercultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations
Chair: Ms Aloisia Wörgetter, Head of the Task Force "Dialogue of Cultures" and the Austrian representative in the OMC group on intercultural dialogue and refugees, Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Austria
Workshop 3: Reinforcing cooperation on cultural heritage
Chair: Ms Irena Todorova, Director, Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, Bulgaria
2 March 2018 | Friday
8:30 - 9:30 Meeting of workshop co-chairs
9:30 - 12:30 Plenary session 2
Workshop wrap-up
Report on ASEF’s work in culture (2016-2018) and key messages from the ASEF Policy Panel
Ambassador Karsten Warnecke, Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
Chair’s Statement
Mr Boil Banov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria
The 9th CMM Host Country’s Speech (TBD)
12:30 - 13:00 Press conference
Accreditation information
Accredited journalists can pick up their badges on Monday, 26 February at the Registration Desk at Entrance B-2 of the National Palace of Culture between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Members of the press arriving in Sofia on the day of the event will be able to get their badges at the same entrance upon their arrival at the National Palace of Culture. Only accredited members of the press will have access to the National Palace of Culture.
Photos and videos
All media opportunities during the event (doorstep statements, handshake, roundtable, press conference) will be streamed live on the Website of the Bulgarian Presidency. Throughout the day, photos and videos will be uploaded in the Photo and Video sections of the Website. All official photos from the event are also available for download in high resolution on the Flickr account of the Bulgarian Presidency. Videos can be downloaded from Vimeo.
Press contacts
In Sofia: Veselin Jelev, [email protected], +359 883 990 247
In Brussels: Elitsa Zlateva, [email protected], +32 476 996 634