AMMAN, Sept 8 (KUNA) -- Secretary General of the Kuwait National Council for Culture, Art and Letters (NCCAL) Ali Al-Yoha urged on Thursday the need for increased efforts to repel all attempts to plunder Arab culture and civilization.
Al-Yoha made those remarks to KUNA during a regional conference entitled, "Culture Under Threat" held in the Jordanian capital with several international officials in attendance, including Kuwait's Ambassador to the Hashemite Kindgom Dr. Hamad Al-Duaij.
Moreover, the NCCAL Secretary General said that Kuwait is committed to enhancing regional cooperation to combat cultural racketeering, as he pointed out that around 20 to 30 thousand cultural entities worth USD 10 billion have been stolen.
This pivotal conference builds upon the Cairo Declaration issued in 2015, in which ministers from 10 Arab nations agreed to take steps to fight cultural crimes, as Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh cited, "malicious gangs who seek to sow seeds of acrimony around the world." Furthermore, Jordan's Minister of Tourism Lina Ennab underscored that cultural racketeering has become a chief concern in recent years, as she highlighted the need for further action to put an end to such dastardly deeds.
The conference, hosted by the Jordanian government, the Antiquities Coalition and Middle East Institute (MEI), will bring together ministers from 17 Arab League nations as they seek to address the mounting threat of cultural destruction at the hands of looters and terrorist groups.
A delegation from Kuwait's NCCAL is partaking in the conference, with Al-Yoha at the helm. (end) mjb.nam