The Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea, Chung Kwan-Joo, has said that Iran and South Korea plan to put their focus in 2017 on establishing mutual cultural centers. [...] He called his visit a good event, adding that several agreements have been signed between Iran and Korea in the cultural, educational and economic arenas. 

Although China lacked the creativity to produce a soft power hit like the popular Disney movie, it seems to have the vision to shape something bigger: the “One Belt, One Road” initiative – the supreme mixture of soft and hard power, something similar to Joseph Nye’s idea of smart power. China has the power, now can ‘One Belt, One Road’ take it down the path to glory?

This fall has been marked by numerous “jubilees”: 25th anniversary of restored Baltic States’ independence, re-opening of Nordic-Baltic diplomatic relations and flourishing of public diplomacy. The three Baltic States’ ambassadors in Denmark shared their views with the BC’s international editor on the countries’ present and further steps in streamlining mutual relations.

The measure has already generated a dramatically increased number of tourists not only from Thailand but from across Southeast Asia. They have now become a major source of Taiwan's foreign-currency earnings, economic growth and development. Most importantly, it has expanded people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and a region previously little seen by outsiders. 

For more than two decades, Russia has been trying to regain its Soviet-era economic influence in Africa, but such efforts have regularly hit stumbling blocks. Policy experts and Russian authorities attribute this to inadequate knowledge of investment and economic possibilities in the continent.

Abu Dhabi will be the site of a high-level international summit [...] The event will explore how new technologies are changing the very nature of culture and cultural interactions worldwide with major consequences for education, our economies, politics and virtually every other dimension of our lives.

Essentially, from the moment he took office — from the Davos glitziest in January, to this month’s whirlwind trip to China — the prime minister has cannily seized on his international star appeal to try to create commercial benefit for the Canadian economy. And the right people are noticing [...] The challenge is how to build this opportunity. Our prime minister can and should be the door opener. 

There is a need for African governments and industry to explore innovative financing schemes alongside enactment of robust policies to spur the growth of the cinema and audio visual industry, [...] Speaking at a media roundtable ahead of the Africa Film Festival to be held in Nairobi from October 12 to 16, the officials said a vibrant creative industry will boost the continent's soft power and economic growth.