The first of its kind, the Ancient Civilizations Forum concluded on Tuesday, April 25, amid high praise from fans, including Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli, according to an interview with Xinhua.
The Ancient Civilizations Forum, co-organized by Greece and China, was attended by other countries where major ancient civilizations once flourished. These include India, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Italy, Bolivia and Peru. Additionally, these countries represent over 40 percent of the world’s population and have extensive global reach.
Through the forum, participants were able to realize the full extent of communications between the ancient civilizations despite their distance from one another.
“The forum, initiated by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and supported by the Chinese side, has been an important achievement of the Sino-Greek cultural communication year,” Zou told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
“It also marks the coordination and cooperation in multilateral areas in international affairs,” Zou added.
The main goal of the Ancient Civilizations Forum was to establish and promote dialogues between existing civilizations. Through the forum, participating countries were able to learn from another country’s history, customs and traditions, which can create an environment where world peace and development can be achieved.
By studying the origins of ancient civilizations and the history of human development in general, Zou said, modern societies can learn how to address current issues such as terrorism, extremism and war conflicts.
“The forum is an innovative platform where the issues of culture and development are closely linked,” Zou told Xinhua.
“The countries where ancient civilizations originated have shown a strong sense of responsibility to explore more effective means of cooperation and exchanges.”
Zou has also applauded Greece’s initiative to host the Ancient Civilizations Forum despite their ongoing struggle to recover from a debt crisis, which has affected the European Union significantly.