16 January 2018
H.E Shaikah Mai Receives 2025 Russian Expo Delegation, Enhancing cultural relations between both countries highlighted
H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities (BACA) received, on 15 January 2018, the Russian Ambassador to Bahrain H.E Vagif Garaev and Director General of EXPO 2025 Bid Committee, Svetlana Sagaidak to discuss many joint cultural projects topics and future cooperation between Russia and Bahrain.
H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa commended the ambassador’s efforts to boost bilateral cultural relations, stressing the depth of the good relations between the two countries and the importance of building cultural bridges with art and literature between the two peoples. H.E added that Bahraini-Russian cultural relations have increasingly boosted the mutual cultural presence of both countries during many events and festivities held in Russian and Bahrain.
During the meeting, Sagaidak gave an overview of Russia’s preparations for hosting the global event in Yekaterinburg, which is a key Russian city in the field of technological industries. During the presentation delegation stressed that Yekaterinburg hosted summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), Russia-EU, as well as major cultural and sport events. They noted that the region is one of the largest industrial centers of the country. Such large world companies as Siemens, Boeing, Mitsubishi, Saint-Gobain, arguing that Yekaterinburg has good chances to win the right to host Expo-2025. Mr. Vladimir Shcherbatykh, Head of the Middle East division at “ TMK” corporation, one of the world's leading producers of tubular products for the oil and gas industry in Russia, voiced the company’s readiness to support the efforts deployed by EXP 2025 Bid Committee to host this event in the city of Yekaterinburg. Mr. Shcherbatykh also expressed his desire to establish cooperation with Bahrain.
The meeting also discussed cultural and artistic cooperation between Bahrain and Russia during the recent years, given the important number of events organized by Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities (BACA) to enhance such tendency. Indeed, Bahrain National Theater has hosted many world-renowned Russian ballet shows, BACA’s “In the Land of Dilmun, Where the Sun Rises” exhibition, which was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, 5 December, 2017, at the Hermitage State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. This Dilmun Exhibition comes after “Tylos, The Journey Beyond Life” exhibition, which was hosted by St Petersburg-based State Hermitage Museum back in 2012 as part of Bahrain Culture Days in Russia.
