Above: Port-au-Prince (Caribbean Journal photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Ministers of Culture from across the Latin America and Caribbean region have begun a major conference in Port-au-Prince.

The sixth Inter-American Meeting of Minister of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities began Tuesday in Haiti’s capital, with a ceremony including Haiti President Michel Martelly.

The two-day meeting also included representatives from regional agencies, the private sector, academia and civil society.

This year’s conference is being held under the theme “Cultural Interdependence in the Context of Globalization.”

Addressing the attendees, Martelly said Haiti’s “wealth of heritage constitutes a shared asset of the Haitian nation and it enables us to embrace, with strength and intelligence, the diversity of our artistic expressions and movements.”

“This heritage also represents a common foundation for exchanges and a fertile ground for promoting interculturality, since we are here at a regional cultural event,” Martelly said.

“We must take advantage of this meeting to harmonize our different cultural expressions so that they are truly a fulfilling tool for the region,” Martelly said.

Haiti’s Culture Minister, Monique Rocourt, said the summit was “certain to further motivate us to pool our resources and talents for the development of cultural industries and thus to create wealth for the region.”

“You are in a country where everyone is convinced that development and well-being will come from culture,” she said.

At the conclusion of the conference, the Ministers will adopt a joint statement called the “Declaration of Port-au-Prince.”