Ambassador Michele Ramis: Romania - a country deeply attached to culture, with great potential in domain

France's Ambassador, Michele Ramis, launched on Tuesday the Strategy to promote French Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Romania, opportunity with which she stated that our country is profoundly attached to the cultural phenomenon and expressed the determination of the French side to act in favor of developing cultural economy in the domain of books, cinematography, audiovisual, music and digital media.

According to the French diplomat, after the Romania-France season, there is the desire to continue to act by association with Romanian partners, because Romania has an important potential in this regard: festivals, film studios, book fairs.

She recalled that the sector of creative industries represents today a huge stake in matter of competitiveness, attractiveness and development for our economies.

"This sector generates in France a turnover of 91.4 billion euro per year, which represents 2.3 pct of the national economy, having a contribution comparable with that of the agri-food sector and twice as important as the automotive industry. In Romania it brings an income worth 3 billion euro," Michele Ramis showed.

According to her, the strategy to promote the French Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Romania implies creating connections between public and private actors, between authorities and cultural operators - festival directors, various authors, artists, private societies, and patrons.

"We now define the framework of these collaborations, searching for those interested. Our objective is to bring together the interests, energies, to create connections, maybe a seminar, a meeting. It's important that we noted this fertile ground here and the great potential," Michele Ramis also said.

In his turn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, an internationally recognized French pianist, who presently lives in Los Angeles, but who has affective connections to Romania, the country in which he spent his childhood, stated that he accepted to be the special representative of the French Embassy to promote these industries, given that, unfortunately, Romania is not too promoted in France and in the world from a cultural point of view.

During the event, organized by the French Embassy and the French Institute in Romania, the director of the International Theater Festival in Sibiu, Constantin Chiriac, drew attention on the "legislative vacuum" and the "lack of dialogue" in the domain.

"I hope from all my heart that the new Government give more attention to the 2021-2027 Program and, truly, culture become an engine to attract all the European funds. I am convinced that the gates will open and the Ministry of Culture become a structure that can think up cultural policies, not administration area, because, unfortunately, I am working for 27 yeas on the Sibiu Festival and if I have white hair it's because I worked with 28 Culture ministers to convince them each time that it's important to exist always some support from the state," Chiriac explained.

Director and producer Cristian Mungiu expressed hope that in the current political context European funds be attracted to support this domain.

The event also saw the participation of the director of the George Enescu International Festival, Mihai Constantinescu, and the director of Radio France International Romania, Cornel Ion, who emphasized the Romanian-French collaboration in the domains that they represent as well as the support of France in the activity of their institutions.AGERPRES