Damascus, (SANA) – The Arab Ministers of Culture Conference concluded its deliberations on Monday by issuing the Damascus Statement for the Advancement of the Arabic Language for Moving towards Knowledge Society, in addition to the final report and the recommendations of the Standing Committee for Arab Culture.

The Conference affirmed that the Arabic language and Arab culture are the basis of cultural unity and national identity, pointing out in the Damascus Statement to the Arab Summit's interest in advancing Arabic language, placing this issue at the top of the Arab national policies' priorities and affirming the need to adopt policies committed to teaching various subjects in Arabic.

The Conference expressed conviction that supporting Arabic on the worldwide web and audio-visual media is necessary for preserving the Arab cultural identity, affirming the responsibility of state and society for using Arabic as the official language in various fields.

The Conference presented a number of recommendations to the Arab Summit concerning legislations for using Arabic in all basic fields of communication and education and encouraging the Arabization of higher education and the translation of sciences to Arabic.

The recommendations also called for linking the development of the Arabic language to economic development and the development of the knowledge society, teaching Arabic to children of Arabic expatriates, publishing Arabic literary classics, spreading Arab culture through mass media, and caring for national cultural industries.

The Conference called on Arab satellite channels to use classical Arabic and bring Arab dialects and accents closer in order to solve the problem of linguistic duality, in addition to supporting Arabic in information technology industries and bolstering its presence in audio-visual media.

H. Sabbagh / Ahmad Fathi ZAHRA