WithChinaandEgyptholdingthe2016China-EgyptCulturalYeartomarkthe60thanniversaryoftheirdiplomaticrelations,HusseinIbrahim,CounselorandDirectorofEgyptianCulturalandEducationalRelationsOfficeinChina,speakstoChinAfricareporterXiaYuanyuanabouttheinitiativeanditsimpactonbilateralrelations.
ThereareseveralcultureexchangecentersinCairoandthenumberofEgyptianstudentswhotraveltoChinafortheirstudiesisincreasing.Ibelievetheywillpromotecultureexchangesbetweenthetwocountries.
HusseinIbrahim,CounselorandDirector,EgyptianCulturalandEducationalRelationsOffice,China
ChinAfrica:Howdidthe2016China-EgyptCultureYearcomeabout?
HusseinIbrahim:TheinitiativecanbetracedbacktoEgyptianPresidentAbdelFattahal-Sisi鈥檚visittoChinainDecember2014.China鈥檚MinisterofCultureLuoShugangpaidavisittoEgyptinAugustlastyearandputtheprojectontheagenda.
Asancientcivilizations,ChinaandEgypthavelongandgloriouscultures,andbothhavemadegreatachievementsinmodernartsandculture.Holdingthecultureyearwillboostthefriendshipbetween[our]twocountries.Itisameanstointensifythealreadystrongculturalties.
Weareholdingculturaleventsinbothcountriesthroughoutthisyear.Over100culturaleventswillbeheld,withChinaaloneholdingmorethan60[intheareasof]music,folkdance,cinema,literature,food,seminarsandexhibitions.Weareespeciallyfocusingonartexchangeactivities.
WhatroledoesculturalexchangeplayinChinaEgyptdiplomaticrelations?
Sincetheestablishmentoftheirdiplomaticrelations,ChinaandEgypthavesignedtensofculturalagreementstoenablefruitfulculturalexchanges.Ibelieveculturalexchangeswillenhanceourtwopeoples鈥檓utualunderstandingandimproveourtwocountries鈥檆ooperationintheBeltandRoadInitiative.Thecultureyearisanimportanteffortthetwocountries鈥檖residentsagreedontoliftthebilateralrelationshiptoacomprehensivestrategicpartnership.
TheChinesecangainabetterunderstandingofEgyptiancultureandtraditionalcustomsthroughtheartperformances.Wehavealsoinvitedsomeoutstanding[Chinese]ensemblestoEgyptsothatourpeoplecanknow[more]aboutChineseculture.IamsuretheChineseperformanceswillreceiveawarmwelcomeinEgypt.
Wehavealsoproposedsomeacademicexchanges.ThepresidentofBenhaUniversity[innortheastEgypt]attendedanacademicforuminXi鈥檃n[innorthwestChina]topromoteacademicexchangesbetweenChineseuniversitiesandBenhaUniversity.AsfarasIknow,BenhaUniversityalreadyhassomeagreementsonstudentexchangeprograms,whichwillsurelyhelpenhancetherelationshipbetweenourtwocountriesinthefuture.
HowpopularisChinesecultureinEgypt?
Verypopular.ThereareseveralcultureexchangecentersinCairoandthenumberofEgyptianstudentswhotraveltoChinafortheirstudiesisincreasing.Ibelievetheywillcontributetopromotingcultureexchangesbetweenourtwocountries.
HowdoesEgyptbalancetourismdevelopmentwithheritageprotection?CanitlearnanythingfromChinaandviceversa?
Heritage-basedtourismhasbecomeoneofthelargestandfastest-growingsectorsoftheEgyptiantourismindustrybutnowthedevelopmentmaycausenegativeenvironmentalandsocio-culturalimpacts.Itmayrepresentathreatintermsofpotentialdegradationofheritage[sites],whichcandispossesscommunitiesoftheirculturalintegrityandresourcesaswellasthebenefitsoftourism.Sowehaveputforwardsomemeasurestoresolvethisproblem:
Communication:Increasingpublicawareness,involvementandsupportforheritagesitesthroughcommunication.
Conservation:Ensuringconservationofheritageproperties.
Capacity-building:Promotingdevelopmentandimplementationofcapacity-buildingmeasures.
Communities:Strengtheningcommunityinvolvement.WehopethatwecangainsomepreciousexperiencefromChinaonthis.CA