The Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture, Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq, held on Saturday separate meetings with Assistant Director-General for Culture of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Ernesto Ottone Ramirez and Deputy Russian Minister of Culture Sergey Obryvalin in the Indian city of Varanasi.
The two meetings were held during the Saudi Assistant Minister’s official visit to India to represent the Kingdom at the G20 Cultural Ministers' meeting, held within India's G20 Presidency 2023.
During his meeting with the UNESCO official, Al-Touq underscored the Kingdom's keenness and aspiration to host the forthcoming edition of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MUNDIAKLAT 2025).
He stressed the Kingdom’s steadfast and ongoing support for projects and proposed programs by UNESCO that contribute to the global heritage, its conservation, and protection.
They reviewed ways to bolster collaboration between the Kingdom and UNESCO across various cultural spheres, with a primary focus on the preservation of the global heritage. The Saudi Assistant Minister and the UNESCO official also tackled collaborative projects, prominently highlighting projects of the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society (SHPS) within the framework of UNESCO.
During the second meeting, Al-Touq expressed gratitude to the Russian Deputy Minister of Culture for Moscow's endorsement of the Kingdom's re-nomination to the UNESCO Executive Board for the 2023-2027 term.
Both officials also discussed potential collaborations between the Kingdom and Russia spanning diverse cultural fields.
Additionally, the meeting addressed strengthening cultural cooperation between both countries through collaborative programs and projects, which both friendly countries intend to formalize by a joint memorandum of understanding (MoU).
