Damascus - Vice President Dr. Najah al-Attar on Wednesday met Romanian Minister of Culture Kelemen Hunor, stressing the importance of beefing up the historical relations between Syria and Romania as they are the most important bridges binding the nations.
Dr. al-Attar added that the cordial deep-rooted relations between Syria and Romania constitute a solid basis for opening new prospects of fruitful cooperation in the economic, political and social domains, serving the best interests of the two friendly countries.
The Vice President called for enhancing the exchange of cultural activities and activating the role of the communities in both countries in a way that would be reflected positively on the historical denominators between the two sides.
For his Part, Minister Hunor lauded the historical special relations binding the two countries which could form the basis for opening new prospects of cooperation.
The minister said Romania considers Syria as an important partner in the political, economic and cultural fields and Romania is a gate for Syria into the countries of the European Union.
"I think that anyone who is interested in culture knows that Syria is the cradle of religions, cultures and civilizations and subsequently, he considers that he belongs to Syria," Hunor added.
He hoped that the projects of cultural cooperation between Damascus and Bucharest would form a remarkable step on the way for enhancing the bilateral cooperation.
Otri, Hunor Discuss Means of Enhancing Cultural Cooperation
In a similar meeting, Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri reviewed with Romanian Minister Hunor the bilateral cooperation and the historical friendship relations binding Syria and Romania and the keenness of both sides' leaderships on enhancing them and widening their prospects in various domains.
Talks during the meeting dealt with means of boosting up cultural cooperation and exchanging the artistic and cultural activities and benefiting from the mutual expertise and experiments on the level of protecting all forms of the national heritage.
For his part, Minister Hunor stressed that Syria is a basic partner for Romania in the region, expressing his country's keenness on consolidating its cooperation with Syria in the economic, trade, cultural and educational domains.
Bilal, Hunor Discuss Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation
Minister of Information Mohsen Bilal also discussed with Romanian Minister of Culture Kelemen Hunor means of enhancing the Syrian-Romanian relations, particularly in the domain of media.
Minister Bilal highlighted the close friendship relations binding the two countries which have yielded a number of the successful cooperation projects, underlining the important role of media in consolidating and upgrading friendship ties and the cultural relations between the two friendly peoples.
Talks during the meeting also dealt with fields of cooperation between the two sides and means of enhancing them on all levels and boosting up friendship relations between the Syrian and Romanian peoples through media and cultural communication in a way that would be reflected positively on the scientific, cultural, economic and trade cooperation.
For his part, Hunor expressed his country's desire to enhance its relations with Syria in various domains, stressing the role of media and culture in further beefing up these relations, serving the best interests of the two friendly peoples.
Minister of Culture Discusses with Romanian Counterpart Means of Boosting up Cultural Relations
Syrian Minister of Culture Dr. Riyad Naasan Agha discussed with Romanian Minister of Culture Hunor prospects of boosting up cultural relations between the two countries in various domains.
Naasan Agha underlined the importance of renewing the cultural agreements between the two friendly countries.
He expressed his Ministry's readiness to activate the cultural exchange and cooperation with Romania on all levels through exchanging expertise and mutual visits between the writers and artists of both countries to pave the way for more comprehensive cultural activities.
The Minister said that his discussions with Hunor were a precious opportunity for studying the possibility of developing the cultural relations between Syria and Romania.
He underlined the importance of translating more books from the Arabic into the Romanian and vise versa starting by translating four books selected by the Ministries of Culture from each language at the beginning of the next year.
Minister Hunor said that the Roman people consider Syria as the cradle of civilizations and cultures, pointing out that there are many common values binding the two friendly peoples of Syria and Romania.
He added that there are several cooperation agreements signed between the two sides in the cultural field, indicating that the members of the Syrian community in Romania and a lot of the Syrian businessmen work in the economic sector which could further develop the bilateral relations.
By R.al-Jazaeri/al-Ibrahim
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
