Noticias
At the National Museum of Popular Cultures
The Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibero-American Cooperation Programme concludes in Mexico City: IberCocinas, Tradición e Innovación
March 17, 2018IberCocinas, Tradición e Innovación was created in December 2014 and is a multilateral integration and financing mechanism to promote traditional cuisine, gastronomy, cultural diversity and cultural tourism. This cooperation program is integrated by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Panama through the Mayor's Office of its capital and the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and La Paz, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, as observers for the first time.
It was approved as an initiative at the XXIV Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Veracruz, Mexico, in 2014, as part of the cooperation programs of the Ibero-American Cultural Space (ECI, for its acronym in Spanish) of the Ibero-American General Secretariat.
The aim is to design and promote policies, strategies and cultural initiatives for the dissemination of the strengths of the region's gastronomy; to promote education and training in gastronomy and the production of traditional and artisanal foods; to encourage research and the preservation of traditional and popular gastronomy.
It also seeks to enhance the region's contribution of raw materials to the world, promote the creation of gastronomic records and acquisitions, and contribute to the design and evaluation of public policies to promote culinary culture and safeguard the region's ingredients.
The opening ceremony of the meeting was attended by Jorge Gutiérrez Vázquez, Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Reading of the Mexican Department of Culture; Ángela Caro Díaz, President of the Intergovernmental Council and advisor on the Policy for the Safeguarding of Traditional Cuisines of the Department of Culture of Colombia; Francisco Cornejo Rodríguez, Senior Official of the Department of Culture.
Also present were Adriana Careaga, Deputy Director General of Tourism and Gastronomic Promotion of the General Directorate of Educational and Cultural Cooperation of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Jimena Lara, Coordinator of the Technical Unit of the Ibero-American Initiative IberCocinas and General Director of International Affairs of the Department of Culture; Enrique Vargas, Coordinator of the Ibero-American Cultural Space of the Ibero-American General Secretariat and Jacinto Chacha, Head of the General Directorate of the Popular, Indigenous and Urban Cultures of the Department of Culture.
Jorge Gutiérrez Vázquez said that as part of the primary tasks of the Department of Culture is to recognize and safeguard the uses, representations, expressions, knowledge and techniques that, transmitted from generation to generation, instill a sense of identity and continuity in all Mexicans.
"Gastronomy is one of this knowledge, since it is an activity that is an essential part of this set of cultural features whose protection, conservation and dissemination is our mission”.
The Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Reading stressed that Mexico is a gastronomic destination and a country with a great culinary tradition to safeguard.
"For this reason, there is no doubt that initiatives such as this one, which contribute to the promotion of policies, strategies and initiatives around the culinary art and everything that surrounds it, are fundamental. The specific case of Ibercocinas is exceptional; it is an initiative that transcends borders and thus contributes to promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity".
He stressed that the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Council is an event that has an impact on the enrichment of kitchens as a source of flavour but also as a source of knowledge; of cooking and creation; of nutrition and identity, "so I celebrate what we have here today: the accumulation of flavours, colours, knowledge, techniques, traditions and stories".
Ángela Caro Díaz, President of IberCocinas, considered that the Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibero-American Initiative Ibercocinas…is a key moment to consolidate its financial fund and guarantee the sustainability of the initiative from a technical and financial point of view.
"This, in order to work in the best way for the knowledge, strengthening and dissemination of our culinary heritage of Latin America”.
For her part, Adriana Careaga said that the meeting will allow for the sharing of knowledge, experiences, interests, values and efforts to build inclusive public policies between Mexican institutions and those that are part of the Mexican government.
"IberCocinas is a very important program that considers culture as an overriding theme of development, facilitating and generating opportunities for social inclusion and cohesion through the promotion of traditional regional cuisine as an element of identity and development”, she said.
"It is of greater importance that initiatives like this one seek to design and promote cultural strategies for the dissemination and gastronomic strengths of our countries. We are pleased that this meeting will be held in Mexico because it will surely lay the foundations for continuing to materialize the commitments to enhance gastronomy and its impact on Ibero-American cooperation”.
The results of this meeting were the change from Initiative to Program, with the number of members required for this purpose, and the increase in membership with the incorporation of the Mayor's Office of Panama and the firm intention to incorporate the Dominican Republic and La Paz, Bolivia.
For further information on the Ibero-American Initiative IberCocinas, Tradición e Innovación please visit: http://segib.org/programa/ibercocinas/ and http://www.ibercocinas.org/
Mexico,Distrito Federal
