Ministers of Culture of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Member States kicked off here today their 17th meeting. The delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the meeting was headed by Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja. The meeting began with a speech by Abdurrahman bin Mohammed Al-Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in which he welcomed the participating delegations and hoped that the meeting ended for the good of the GCC member countries and their peoples. Then, the GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani delivered a speech during which he expressed thanks to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President and to his Government for their hospitality and good organization. Dr. Al-Zayani called to activate the cultural role in the community for the progress of the peoples of the GCC member countries in order to strengthen the cultural identity. He said that \"We need to a new modern culture provides youth with power and strength and the ability to meet the requirements of the times and keep up with modern civilization\". Subsequently, a closed meeting was held.