Supreme Council of Culture : Naguib Mahfouz Award to be global

CAIRO, JUNE 13 (SEE) The Supreme Council of Culture approved on Tuesday the proposal of Minister of Culture Enas Abdel Dayem, for the transfer of the Naguib Mahfouz Prize to the International Prize for Creativity, increasing its financial value and expanding its candidacy and relying on arbitration committees from inside and outside Egypt.

Abdel Dayem stressed during the meeting of announcing the 2017 State Awards, the important role of the Council in  following-up and developing  cultural policies in Egypt, calling for the need to activate the Council's role in the coming period.

She pointed out that Egypt is at an important stage in its history, which requires hard work to build the Egyptian national identity in accordance with what was put forward by  President Abdel Fattah el SIsi at the beginning of his second term, adding that culture is one of the priorities of the President and the Government for the first time in the modern history of Egypt.

During the first session of the meeting, the minutes of the previous meeting were ratified and the Council was informed of the decisions previously issued by Abdel Dayem under the recommendations of the Council and the authorization of the Minister of Culture.