SADC holds Cultural Week from Sept 30 to Oct 4
First of its kind event aims to boost SADC-Kuwait ties
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 26: The embassies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) accredited to and based in the State of Kuwait, comprising Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe will hold a SADC Cultural Week in collaboration with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) from Sept 30 to Oct 4, 2018, in the State of Kuwait.
The SADC Cultural Week, the first of its kind in Kuwait, is organised to enhance relations between the SADC region and the State of Kuwait through cultural exchanges and the promotion of people to people cooperation, trade, investment and tourism as encapsulated under the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport, and the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). The SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport aims to, among others, promote the participation in cultural and sporting activities by all the nationals of the SADC countries whereas the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan is aimed at promoting sustainable economic development for the benefit of the people of the region.
The SADC Week will involve several activities including musical performances by musicians from the region, an art exhibition, a food festival and community service amongst other activities. The Art Exhibition will feature some designers, sculptors, painters and crafters from the region who will have the opportunity to share with the members of the public the inspiration behind their art works.
SADC is a regional organisation in Southern Africa founded on the Aug 17, 1992 and whose mandate is to promote and advance regional integration and economic development of the region. The regional body is headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana, and comprises 16 Member States namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The SADC region provides a huge market of over 286 million people which investors from Kuwait could benefit from if they invest in the region. The region continues to experience steady inflows of foreign direct investment throughout most of the member states, owing to its relative stability and attractive investment climate.
SADC is also rich in culture which is a source of pride for the people of the region. Culture plays a critical role in the facilitation of people to people exchanges and the growth of creative industries and cultural tourism as well as trade and investment in the arts which has proven beneficial especially to rural communities, some of which make a living through the sale of their art works and services to tourists.
According to the UNESCO and UNCTAD 2013 Creative Economy Report, the creative economy is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy. It is highly transformative in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. The creative economy also generates non-monetary value that contributes significantly to achieving people-centered, inclusive and sustainable development. Furthermore, the report shows that world trade in creative goods and services were $624 billion in 2011, which is double the value in 2002. In developing countries creative industry trade has grown at 12.1% annually since 2002. Today, the creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors in the world economy providing new opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog into emerging high-growth areas of the world economy.
It is worth noting that 2018 also marks the Centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birthday which, at the level of the United Nations General Assembly was marked by the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit on Monday, Sept 24, 2018.
The United Nations General Assembly honoured Nelson Mandela with a pledge to build a just, peaceful and prosperous world and to revive the values for which the former president of the Republic of South Africa stood. The Nelson Mandela Peace Summit was also marked by the unveiling of a statue of Nelson Mandela at the United Nations Headquarters by the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
Contact details:
Embassy of the Republic of Botswana – D. Kgasa: 25396153
Embassy of the Republic of South Africa – Ms M. Bosilong: 25617988