Asian countries have signed the ‘Ordos Initiative’ which stresses maintaining a common spiritual home in Asia and increasing cultural exchanges in the context of the global financial crisis.

The initiative drew the signatures of representatives from 17 regional countries at the 11th Asian Art Festival which opened in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of northern China , on August 18.

The current economic recession has had a major impact on various aspects of social life such as sharp drops in the consumption of art products and in the number of visitors to museums as well as restricted budgets for cultural events, especially major ones on the regional and international scales.

Participants said these problems have not only affected how the rich resources of Asia’s cultural heritage are being handed down to a new generation, as well as how it is promoted to the world, but it has also pushed back cultural cooperation and development among regional countries.

Regional countries have taken numerous measures to cope with the situation such as China , with its issuance of a plan for cultural development while Bhutan has established a cultural fund to conserve traditional culture.

The festival is to last through August 26./.