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Germany is Outward-Looking;
Made in Germany – it's not a label just for excellent products, but for culture that is welcomed abroad as well. German culture portrays an outward-looking and modern Germany. New Foreign Office initiatives are working to stir up interest in German culture around the world – particularly in Africa and amongst young people. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier summarized the aims of German cultural relations and education policy recently for the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs of the German Bundestag: "With foreign cultural and education policy, we aim to promote understanding between nations and make our own country more modern and international. What we in the Federal Foreign Office want to offer is the image of an outward-looking Germany, a Germany that offers cooperation and does not pull up the drawbridge but works in a modest but nevertheless self-confident way to further its values and attitudes." Spotlight on Africa During his most recent trip to West Africa, the Foreign Minister unveiled "Aktion Afrika" – a special Federal Foreign Office program in the sphere of education and culture. The focus in "Aktion Afrika" is on education and language. Two new branches of the Goethe-Institut in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Luanda (Angola) will be opened. Using teaching experts and in cooperation with the Deutsche Welle, assistance is being offered to improve school education and training centers are being set up at five African universities. Investing in education
Take for instance German schools abroad. For the Federal Foreign Office, a major focus for the year 2008 is the global initiative "Schools: partners for the future". More than a quarter of graduates from German schools abroad continue their studies in Germany. They retain long-term ties to Germany. Business and science, culture and politics reap the benefits. The aim of the "Schools: Partners for the Future" initiative is thus to pool the capacities of schools abroad and the Goethe-Institut. More than 500 schools are currently involved but the target is 1000 schools. Particular attention is being paid to growth regions, such as in Asia or the Persian Gulf. Immigration enriches culture What holds true in education, also applies to culture. German films are in great demand, evidenced by author/director Doris Dörrie's latest work screened at the Berlinale. And films by Jovan Arsenic, a native of Yugoslavia, or Özgür Yildirim, the son of Turkish guest workers, not to mention Fatih Akin, also underscore that the world of culture reveals just how much Germany has benefited from immigration. Literature also offers examples, such as the nomination of Sherko Fatha, son of an Iraqi Kurd father and a German mother, for the Leipzig Book Prize. This diversity also highlights that the openness and independence of German culture is not a source of exclusion but of bonding. It is precisely this image of Germany that foreign cultural and education policy wants to promote. As Foreign Minister Steinmeier put it: "Such a cultural policy is an investment in Germany's cultural and therefore also economic and political future." February 25, 2008 Link
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