GCC ministers of culture endorsed the Cultural Strategy for GCC States (2020-2030), during their 23rd meeting on Thursday in Muscat, Oman, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Heritage and Culture of Oman Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, the Chairman of the current session of the Committee of Ministers of Culture.

HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanim bin Nasser al-Ali headed Qatar's delegation to meeting.

The ministerial meeting approved the linking of cultural activities and events to the Gulf Cultural Strategy, as well as cultural work regulations.

It was also agreed for the Gulf countries to participate in foreign cultural events, as well as the communication with international cultural institutions and organisations.

In the same context, the second joint meeting of ministers responsible for tourism and culture in GCC countries was held.

Qatar's delegation was headed by HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanim bin Nasser al-Ali.

During the meeting, a number of topics were discussed, including: The common vision between tourism and culture in the GCC countries, as well as the vision of developing the joint strategy of the cultural and tourism sectors in the GCC countries and other topics included in the committee's agenda.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meetings, a ceremony was held on Thursday to honour artists of the Gulf countries, where two personalities from each country in various cultural fields were honoured.

From Qatar writer Dr Mariam al-Naimi and the renowned artist Ghazi Hussein were honoured during the ceremony.

*Qatar Participates in GCC tourism ministers' meeting

Qatar also participated in the Fourth Meeting of the Ministers responsible for tourism in the GCC states in Muscat

HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali headed the Qatari delegation to the meeting.

The ministerial meeting reviewed the items on the agenda of the meeting with the recommendations of the preparatory meeting held on Wednesday by the tourism Undersecretaries in the GCC states. The recommendations included reviewing the follow-up report on the implementation of the third ministerial meeting's decisions and discussing the brief report on the plan of implementation of the comprehensive vision of joint tourism strategy in the GCC States.

The meeting discussed previous related proposals and perceptions, most notably the designation and selection of a Gulf city each year to become the capital of the Gulf tourism with the circulation of the proposed standards on how to select the city as the capital of the Gulf tourism to be considered in addition to preparing a final draft of the standards to be adopted in the next meeting.

The participants also discussed the recommendation on the establishment of a programme of initiatives and events that promote belonging and citizenship entitled "Living the Gulf", which was adopted as one of the joint strategic programmes. The meeting also approved the organisation of an annual exhibition of crafts and handicrafts.