Katara launches European language activities

Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation will launch Tuesday the European Language Activities in collaboration between Katara's Public Diplomacy Centre (KPDC) and embassies of EU member nations Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Sweden.The activities run through June 20.Speaking at a press conference Sunday, Katara general manager and Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) president Prof Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti hailed the activities as one of the fruits of co-ordination and co-operation between Katara, represented by the KPDC and the embassies of the five EU countries in Qatar, in a bid to open important cultural and civilisational windows to introduce Europe's renowned cultural and linguistic diversity.The activities will last for five consecutive weeks, with each country being allocated a week to display its activities that include practical workshops and theoretical lectures on European languages, Prof al-Sulaiti said.Katara aims through these events to emphasise the importance of language as a bridge for communication and rapprochement among cultures, while being a meeting place for the world's cultures.Katara is also a meeting place for the languages of this world, Prof al-Sulaiti told the conference.KPDC chief executive and GDPNet secretary-general Maryam al-Saad told the conference that Katara's hosting of the activities embodies the close co-operation between Katara's KPDC and the embassies of Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Sweden.The activities express the strong cultural ties between Qatar and European nations, she said, and provide a cultural experience through multilingual activities as the main component in Europe's rich cultural heritage.Ambassadors of the EU and the five participating European countries expressed their happiness in co-operating with the KPDC to launch a variety of cultural and linguistic activities, and allow Katara visitors to learn about European history and cultures, the aesthetics of European languages and their creative and civilised influences.They also stressed the importance of European language activities in strengthening the bonds of friendship and communication between Qatari culture and the cultures of European countries, in addition to its role in promoting mutual understanding and increasing cultural awareness.Participants of the conference included EU ambassador Cristian Tudor, Italian ambassador Paolo Toschi, Greek ambassador Eleni Michalopoulou, Spanish ambassador Javier Carbagosa Sanchez, Swedish ambassador Gautam S Bhattacharyya, and Portuguese ambassador Paulo Neves Pocinho.