UAE, Germany discuss cultural partnership

Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, held a meeting through videoconferencing with Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State for International Cultural Policy at the Foreign Office of Germany.

During the meeting, both sides discussed the bilateral cultural relations between the UAE and Germany, as well as opportunities for developing their partnership in the cultural and creative sector and exchanging relevant experiences, in light of the crisis that the world is going through.

Al Kaabi briefed Müntefering on the UAE’s cultural sector and the efforts of its creative institutions to ensure the sector’s sustainability during the current crisis while explaining the objectives of the National Creative Relief Programme, which aims to provide financial grants to individuals and companies to help them overcome the current crisis and sustain their creative giving in the post-COVID-19 period.

Al Kaabi also noted that the UAE launched a national survey to learn about the challenges facing the creative sector, to develop relevant programmes and find appropriate solutions.

Al Kaabi and Müntefering then discussed ways of enhancing their cooperation under the umbrella of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, to produce a unified guide of digital policies to protect intellectual property for artists who digitally display their intellectual, cultural and creative production, to preserve their intellectual property rights.

Müntefering explained the measures taken by Germany to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the country’s cultural sector, adding that the German Government is drafting special programmes to support the creative sector and established a fund worth €5 billion to help businesses and companies.

Her ministry also established a platform to digitally display all types of cultural works to the public, in light of the closure of museums and galleries, she further added, noting that Germany will take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, EU, in July, and has strategic plans related to cultural heritage and tourism that aims to attract more tourists to EU countries.

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