Remarks by Hon’ble Sujata Koirala, former deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs and central committee member of the Nepali Congress on March 19, 2021 at ICAPP cultural conference.

Hon Jose de Venesia, the Founder and Co-chairman of the ICAPP Standing Committee

Hon Cho Byung-jae, General Secretary, the ICAPP Standing Committee

Hon. Khuon Sudary, Chairperson of the ACC,

Hon members of the ICAPP Standing Committee,

Distinguished delegates, and participants

Friends from media,

 

Let me extend my sincere greetings to distinguished ICAPP delegates and participants and thank them for their active participation.

We have come  to the  end of an online conference on Harnessing Culture and Innovation for Shared Prosperity during COVID-19 and Beyond.

Conference had two components: investing in culture and creativity for inclusive growth and promoting culture innovation nexus. I believe views expressed by delegates have enriched the discussions.

We, as Asians, that our  culture is a source of wisdom, harmony, and compassion. are proud of the richness of Asian culture and its diversity. Culture is a way of life. It mirrors  social behavior, norms, beliefs, values, arts, customs, traditions, language, religion, of any society.  Our culture has unique strength of bringing individuals and communities together to foster closer understanding of each other and develop resilience.

The strength of Asian culture is its harmony, tolerance, and unity in the midst of diversity. It teaches us to be respectful to others and provides us opportunities to be creative, innovative, and productive.

It is time to create awareness by investing in culture and promote research and development, promote education, inclusion, and community cohesion. There should be no politics in promoting cultural activities. Government should be encouraged to be more open and accountable to their activities.  We should also work with the government, wherever possible  to use culture as a means of integration and stabilization.

We live in an age of technology and should make use of technological advancement in promoting feelings of togetherness and harmony. Cross cultural interactions help bridge the gaps and promote harmony and understanding. Interfaith interactions will help understand better and promote cohesion and tolerance in society. I am happy to note that ICAPP and ACC  recognise the importance of exchanging views on best practices and initiatives of international cooperation and partnership in preserving cultural heritage.

 

By working together and exchanging our experiences and best practices, we can connect culture and help transform cultural assets and set an example of harmony and tolerance in the modern pluralistic society across the world.  This, I am sure, will pave the way to transform Asian cultural assets into significance source of peace, sustainable development and international cooperation.

 

Conid19 pandemic confined majority of the humanity to indoors. Our culture helped us to survive this pandemic. The discussions we had here, and views expressed by delegates are sure to  make positive contributions  in this difficult time of pandemic  to achieving the desired outcomes.

 

I thank you all for active participation.

Thank you.

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