Thailand to promote cooperation in cultural industries with Bay of Bengal countries

Published : February 02, 2012 :: 10:02:25 [ 541 views ]

BANGKOK, 1 February 2012 -The Cabinet has given the green light to the Ministry of Culture’s proposal for Thailand to consolidate relationships with the Bay of Bengal countries by signing an MOU on the establishment of the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission and the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory, which is hoped to be signed later this month.

Cultural industries, by definition, are the various businesses that produce, distribute, market, and sell products and services of creativity, cultural knowledge and intellectual property with social and cultural meaning.

BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), allows Thailand to build strong relationships with countries in South Asia, namely Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal, through bilateral means.

Minister of Culture Mrs. Sukumol Kunplome said Thailand and the 6 other member countries would provide and exchange information useful for the promotion of cultural industries under the BIMSTEC agreement.

Information on cultural industries from each country, to be compiled from statistics, analysis and researches, will be displayed on a website to be set up specifically to keep archive records of such industries in this region.

Bhutan is currently the lead country in promoting cultural cooperation in BIMSTEC. Once the MOU is signed, a commission will be appointed consisting of senior representatives from the 7 BIMSTEC members to serve as a governing board with a mandate to develop plans and programs, create cooperation modalities and oversee implementation and evaluation of activities under the agreement.

According to Mrs. Sukumol, each representative will stay in position for 3 years while the director of the organization will take the helm for 10 years. She added that the proposed signing is in line with the government policy to encourage creative economy.

Thailand will ink the agreement during the 3rd Leadership Conference in Naypidaw, Myanmar during February 22-24, 2012.

Report by : NNT