São Paulo, July 2, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - A document entitled the "São Paulo Letter" is the fruit of a meeting between the Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and representatives of the governments of Spain, Mali, Mexico, Algeria, and Austria. The encounter took place yesterday (1) during the World Cultural Forum. The letter will be sent to Ministers of Culture around the world and multilateral institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the Mercosur, the European Economic Community, and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).

According to Gil, the document contemplates the integration of cultural relations among countries and proposes an international meeting of Ministers to discuss questions considered strategic to cultural development. "This meeting should take place before the October, 2005, Unesco General Conference, which will deal with the International Convention on Cultural Diversity. The idea is to gather as many Ministers as possible to define a position prior to the conference and work out ahead of time a general stance in relation to the document that Unesco is preparing and intends to sign in 2005," the Minister affirmed.

The letter also emphasizes the importance of the relationship with the media as a strategy to strengthen world culture through the promotion of cultural projects and initiatives, as well as the need to conceive cultural goods, services, and contents as economic products. "This is a document with political guidelines and policy program recommendations for the administration of culture around the world," Gil said.

In the São Paulo Letter, the Ministers pledge to institute official policies to guarantee citizens access to culture, support existing cultural networks, and encourage the creation of other networks to disseminate and organize activities highlighting their importance to society. They also commit themselves to the defense of special treatment for cultural goods in the trade liberalization agreements underway in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Reporter: Flávia Albuquerque
Translator: David Silberstein