Participants at the conference of Arab ministers of culture which was opened by Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Al-Khodairy in Riyadh on Monday. (SPA)

Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Al-Khodairy has called for the promotion of the Arabic language saying that it should serve as a medium for cultural and humanitarian integration.

He was addressing the 19th Session of the Conference of Arab Ministers Responsible for Cultural Affairs under the theme, “Arabic language as a platform for cultural and humanitarian integration.”

The event was attended by Arab ministers and top education and cultural personalities with the participation of various Arab envoys.

Speaking on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Al-Khodairy said: “I hope to meet the high expectations and hopes of the people of the Arab World to have Arabic which is the language of the Holy Qur’an at the forefront of the world’s living languages.”

He also asked his counterparts and ministers to offer their people all the support required to achieve this goal through the modernization of the Arab cultural development, the creation of the Council of Arab Ministers of Culture and to study the updated comprehensive plan of Arab culture.

Appreciating the hosting of such an important event, Al-Khodairy said: “The popularizing of the Arabic language worldwide is our ultimate goal and mission.” He pointed out that the objective of the conference among other things is to “present a feasible project and implement it within our capacity as ministers.”

The Saudi minister said that the conference reflects “our sincere desire to support the Arabic language” and that all participants in these conferences want tangible results from the Arab ministers of education.

He stressed the importance of the resolutions of the conference that would meet the aspirations of the Arab and Islamic nations on the future of the language as a platform for cultural integration. “Such a development would allow us to communicate with others through this language in addition to highlighting its contribution to human culture and cultural dialogue between peoples.”

According to him, this year’s conference will focus on four main themes: The Arabic language, its functions and uses; the contributions of the Arabic language in human culture, the language of the people’s culture and identity and the Arabic language and the production of digital content.

In another statement, Al-Khodairy asked Twitter users to use the social media site responsibly noting that new rules would soon be issued to regulate the postings on the networking site.

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