Speech of Mr.Sadallah Agha Al-Kala’a, Minister of Tourism Silk Road Festival Bosra – 2007

Ladies & Gentlemen,I would like to welcome you on behalf of his Excellency Mr. Mohammed Naji Otri, the Prime Minister, for the sixth opening of The Silk Road Festival which is organized by the Ministry of Tourism every year in Syria, the Pearl of the Orient & the Cradle of Civilizations.In 2002, three factors have developed this festival.. Firstly, the new vision of Tourism adopted by the government to perform a solid pillar of the Syrian economy, bridge for all nations to communicate, and a regional development factor.  Secondly, Syria has a historical role of being the cradle of civilizations and religions, and a geographical impact as the heart of the ancient world, incubating the dialogue between East and West.Secondly, the new situation of the world after September 11 2001 which lead to the third factor where the world had to face clear irrational changes that in some way damaged the synergy between nations and cultures.  Tourism, as a tool of communication and dialogue, should lead this synergy to its secure track. The Ministry of Tourism has launched this festival to demonstrate to the world how nations in the past got over its conflicts through constructional interaction between civilizations, where Syria, as geographically being the heart of the ancient world, played an essential role to attract the world trade to meet on its land & exchange goods and ideas …Trade caravans in the ancient world held a lot of human activities starting from China (Far East) crossing Asia, where different nations joined the caravans that used to interact in Palmyra with the maritime caravans coming from Japan all the way across the oceans heading to the Arab Gulf and the Euphrates River and merge as one in Palmyra, then spread out  into three caravans towards Aleppo to meet the European caravans, towards Latakia and Tartus to meet the European maritime caravans coming through the Mediterranean Sea and towards Damascus to meet with the caravans coming from Palestine, Egypt, and Arab countries in North Africa and finally some get down to Bosra and meet the Summer and Winter caravans coming from the Arabian Peninsula.  All that made Syria as the only country in the whole worldwide where trade caravans didn’t cross by.. but all met together from all parts of the world to spread out in the market with an enormous invaluable load of traditions and cultures.  All these factors made Syria the perfect place for global interlocution that gave the Syrian people the sense of creativity, hospitality, and generosity to unite all as one in peace How to benefit  from the western’s willingness for understanding our civilization to present Tourism  as a cultural  factor for direct communication  so that the media and  tourists coming back to their countries would represent the true experience they have lived?!Is it possible that the Tourism groups of different trends may be the caravans of the modern Silk Road leaving the inconvenience of distant dialogue behind so that Tourism will be the most important approach to achieve the communication between the peoples in a way that guarantee their integration and contribution to build the future of the safe and balanced world?The Ministry of Tourism has intended since the launch of the Silk Road festival to represent the caravans meeting as it was, through the distinguished Syrian Drama.  In 2002 the festival witnessed the arrival of the Asian caravans to Palmyra and how Queen Zanobia used to welcome them.  In 2003, we celebrated the first commercial treaty signed  between Aleppo and Venice eight hundred years ago , in 2004  the arrival of the European Commercial Maritime caravans crossing the Mediterranean in Tartous at the Phoenician period. In Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited capital in the world, in 2005, we presented successive scenes, in a journey through time, that reveal the Damascene life. In 2006, we presented  in the citadel of Damascus a Syrian theater dancing troupe how Syria, through Sinbad, attracted nations from different parts of the world ,highlighting the ability of the Syrian artist to embody the various arts of the world.  Today, we represent in Bosra, Damascus, Jableh, Aleppo, and Palmyra, the artistic dialogue between Syrian artists and their counterparts from other countries to perform mutual works to prove the importance of Art as a global language of creativity and understanding. In parallel, The Ministry of Tourism has applied its new vision of Tourism that attracted increasing number of tourists to the Syrian unique tourism product that reflects the Orient charm which complies with the international standards, whereas the annual Tourism Investment Market Forums embodied the response of the Tourism investment sector to the requirements of  increasing numbers of tourists. and launched its promotional campaigns to different parts of the world to achieve the development of supply and demand complying with the historical and cultural importance of Syria. Ladies & Gentlemen,It gives us a great pleasure every year to meet you.  I would like to welcome you all, especially people working for the media, who came here to convey their impressions to their readers around the world who will travel similarly as the journeys of the Silk Road  from  Bosra to , Damascus, from Jableh to  Aleppo, and ends up in Palmyra, just like their colleagues have done during the past years in transmitting these activities into incomparable articles and images. I would like also to thank all Syrian officials who have helped to the success of this festival and show the real civilized image of Syria that is having qualitative improvements under the leadership of Mr. President Bashar Al- Assad.Thank You for joining us…