Mikhail Mishustin and prime ministers of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have taken part in the plenary session titled The Interaction of Cultures: Preserving Heritage and Global Dialogue in the Modern World.
Group photo of the heads of delegations attending the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries. From left: Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Turchin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan – Chief of Staff of the Presidential Office Adylbek Kasymaliev, Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, and Minister of Education of Turkmenistan Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiev
Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Turchin at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Mikhail Mishustin and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Mikhail Mishustin at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Mikhail Mishustin delivering his remarks at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Mikhail Mishustin delivering his remarks at the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries
Group photo of the heads of delegations attending the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries. From left: Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Turchin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan – Chief of Staff of the Presidential Office Adylbek Kasymaliev, Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, and Minister of Education of Turkmenistan Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiev
The International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries is taking place in St Petersburg on 18 June.
The agenda for the plenary session, The Interaction of Cultures: Preserving Heritage and Global Dialogue in the Modern World, provides for discussing international cooperation in its current state and its future with a focus on preserving historical and cultural heritage, strengthening humanitarian ties, promoting interstate dialogue and creating up-to-date cooperation mechanisms in a changing international environment.
The conference will also include a panel discussion titled Intercultural Dialogue: Traditions, New Meanings and Cooperation Formats. It will explore matters dealing with promoting cultural cooperation as one of the key tracks in international humanitarian cooperation with a focus on the latest trends and prospects for cooperation in film production, theatre art, library and museum operations, musical culture, as well as creative education. Matters dealing with preserving the shared cultural heritage, forging stronger professional and institutional ties, supporting joint projects, expanding cultural exchanges and devising new cooperation formats in keeping with the aspirations of the people will also be high on the agenda. In terms of substance, this section will explore culture not only as a traditional attribute of state-to-state relations, but also as a major asset for building a shared humanitarian space based on respecting cultural diversity and shared historical ties.
Another panel discussion, titled Creative Industries on the International Cooperation Agenda, will offer experts an opportunity to discuss ways of working together to build a single cultural and economic space that would be competitive at an international level. Participants will discuss matters dealing with moving from cultural exchanges to joint business ventures, combining talent, traditions and technology from various countries for initiating joint projects with the view to exporting them. The agenda also covers support mechanisms for the most effective undertakings in terms of developing creative start-ups and scaling best practices at the intestate level, as well as the way the creative industry can have an impact on preserving the cultural code in today’s digital world.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Colleagues and friends,
I am delighted to welcome you all to Russia and to St Petersburg, our Northern capital and one of its largest cultural centres. It is precisely for this reason that the city was chosen as the venue for the International Conference on Strengthening Cultural Ties and Developing Creative Industries.
This subject is of paramount importance for all our states. As President Vladimir Putin has emphasised, we have inherited a truly unique civilisational fusion of traditions and customs, languages and literature, art and folk art. Naturally, our task is to preserve this shared multinational heritage to the greatest possible extent and to enrich it with new substance.
We are bound together by centuries of shared history. We meticulously preserve and defend the truth about the heroic feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. We honour the heroism and courage of our ancestors, who fought shoulder to shoulder against the Nazi invaders.
Together, we are creating conditions to expand direct contacts between our citizens, affording them greater opportunities to get to know their closest neighbours and friends better, and to familiarise themselves with their traditions, art, and culture.
Cross-cultural days of culture, specialised forums, and congresses are held on a regular basis. A wide range of interesting events take place, including competitions and festivals. New initiatives are constantly being advanced. For example, our friends from Uzbekistan have proposed launching a creative tourism corridor project from Samarkand to St Petersburg. Just the other day, we spoke with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who put forward this idea here, in St Petersburg, at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. This entails the organisation of joint cultural, gastronomic, and musical events.
Today’s conference is, without a doubt, an excellent opportunity to discuss this initiative. Such joint initiatives help to more fully unlock the shared potential of our national cultures. They contribute to strengthening mutual understanding and give a tangible impetus to our multifaceted collaboration. This is particularly important, as investments in the cultural sphere have a very significant multiplier effect.
Our states are home to millions of talented, versatile, and creatively gifted citizens. It is they who are shaping new growth points – the creative industries, where the main driving force is not resources but human capital, skill, and unconventional ideas. The products they create not only possess material value but also help to preserve and transmit our national identity and our cultural and civilisational code, not only within our respective countries but also abroad.
Music, cinema, books, digital services, architectural projects, traditional cuisine, designer clothing, and handicrafts make a state recognisable on the world stage. Such sectors provide an additional impetus to the economy, as Mikhail Shvydkoy noted.
In Russia, the contribution of the creative sectors to gross domestic product is steadily increasing. In particular, it reached 4.2 percent last year. President Vladimir Putin, by Executive Order on national goals, instructed that this indicator be increased. The Government is systematically working to address this task to ensure that, by the end of the decade, it reaches 6 percent.
We are developing both the necessary legal framework and a comprehensive support infrastructure. Without a doubt, we are ready to share this experience with our friends and partners.
We fully understand that each of our states is unique and develops its own model of the creative economy in its own way.
In Russia, for example, its drivers are software, advertising, gastronomy, the performing arts, architecture, and urban studies. In other countries, the highest growth rates are seen in cinema, crafts, and cultural heritage.
At the same time, the creative industries have, of course, much in common.
First, there is a high concentration of such enterprises in large cities. It is there that teams, educational centres, and markets are formed. It is important that creative businesses develop not only in capitals but also in small communities. Here, joint projects and initiatives are especially in demand, primarily at the inter-regional level.
Second, the sector’s foundation consists of small companies and individual entrepreneurs, handicraft workshops, and emerging technology teams, which means they need additional assistance and support from the state to access export markets, as well as simplified administrative and tax regimes. We can provide this together.
Third, the creative industries, like all others, are very actively influenced by the introduction of the most modern innovations, technologies, electronic services, and solutions based on artificial intelligence. This, too, needs to be discussed in detail.
Naturally, this provides entrepreneurs with broader opportunities. For instance, it allows them to gain access to wider audiences and to increase brand recognition. New business models are also emerging in culture, media, and education. At the same time, issues of copyright protection are becoming more pressing. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an exchange of experience on such topics and to define, within our shared space, common approaches to regulating digital platforms and to the use of artificial intelligence technologies specifically in the creative sphere.
We propose to address these tasks together.
Colleagues and friends,
The development of the creative economy in our states helps to create new jobs, promotes the self-fulfilment of young people, increases the output of in-demand products and unique goods and, as a result, enhances each state’s competitiveness on a global level. This is crucial for preserving cultural heritage.
We have every opportunity to become prominent centres for the creative industries in Eurasia. The main thing is to act in concert, drawing on our shared values and traditions. This aspiration, in my view, is evident, which means we will succeed.
I wish all participants of the conference every success.
Mikhail Shvydkoi (moderator): Thank you, Mr Mishustin. May I ask one question?
I would like to address it to all the speakers. All of us have unexpectedly found ourselves in the 21st century. The 20th century that seemed completely modern has unexpectedly turned into a bygone age for all of us.
What do you personally think about the most important and most sensitive aspect of the legacy of the second half of the 20th century? Let us start from the moment when you were born and started growing and eventually became Prime Minister. What is the 20th century in art and culture to you?
Mikhail Mishustin: Speaking of art, I was very fond of traditional theatrical performances in school. We attended ballets and operas together. We felt a bit shy because, just like today, new forms of art fascinated us. I continue to appreciate the tradition of Russian theatrical and ballet school. And I am trying to pass it on to my children, young people and the new generation. We are trying to arouse their interest.
Regarding education, no one can abolish and replace fundamental Soviet-era education. Moreover, we are reverting to the foundations laid by our scientists and those who created a wonderful education school. I also consider engineering to be a creative industry because an engineer is always a creator, he always conceives something, and creation is a very complicate process.
I therefore believe that traditions are the foundation to rely upon, and they will certainly help deal with new aspects. It appears that creative industries should rely on our traditions.
Mikhail Shvydkoi: Thank you very much. I now give the floor to Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Turchin.
More to be posted soon…
