Sharjah: Speakers at the first UAE Writers Union Conference called for more funding from private sector companies in cultural and heritage related programmes and organisations.
The first UAE Writers Union Conference, named after Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan was inaugurated under the patronage of and in the presence of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on December 26at the University of Sharjah. The Conference,which will run until December 27,is titled “Towards Strategy for National Culture”.and consists of a series of discussion concerning the cultural scene.
In his opening speech, Habib Al Sayegh, Chairman of the UAE Writers Union, announced two membership related initiatives that the Union have planned, which are conferring honorary membership to some of the writers and intellectuals, both to those affliated with the union and those who are not, as well as creating membership for young writers, in order to attract young talents from schools and universities.
The first session, which discussed the role of the public and private sector in national culture, emphasized the severe need for the private sector to give more money to cultural organizations, and the need for government to create laws to facilitate that.
Bilal Al Budoor, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Vice Chairman of the Cultural and Scientific Association in Dubai, said that the government does provide the infrastructure for cultural activities, such as theatres, halls and places where people can go to learn. “Culture is available to everyone.” He noted. He added that the UAE has agreements with most countries for cultural exchange.
He said that there are many organization that do support the cultural scene, but that it is not enough. The government needs to give more financial support as well as laws. “There are a lot of efforts and plans but funding is what is stopping them from becoming a reality.” He said.
Sultan bin Saqr Al Suweidi, Chairman of the Cultural and Scientific Association in Dubai, said that in the United States and Europe, there are laws that grants private sector companies who have social responsibility programs tax reductions, which acts as an incentives to them to contribute to society whether in the fields of culture or education or humanitarian efforts. He explained that it is very crucial to have something similar in the UAE to support culture as there are between 50-75 cultural organizations and societies in the UAE that needs this funding.
“The private sector role is very important and they do contribute to cultural activities in the UAE, but if there is no law, those contributions will be few and individual.” Al Suweidi said.
