The Fundació Ramon Llull will be responsible for the institutional representation of the Catalan language as a guest of honour at the 2010 Expolangues fair
The Board of Governors of the Fundació Ramon Llull met on Monday, 9th November at 9 a.m. at the headquarters of the organization, the Areny-Plandolit Museum, in Ordino, Andorra. The meeting was chaired by the Head of the Government of Andorra, Jaume Bartumeu, the Vice-President of the Government of Catalonia, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, and the Minister of the Presidency of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Albert Moragues. The Director of the Fundació and the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), Josep Bargalló, also attended. The meeting allowed the approval of the activities programmed for 2010, the accounts for the current financial year, and the new board members sitting on the Board of Governors in the wake of the change of government in the Principality of Andorra.
Highlights of the activities programmed for 2010 include the participation at the 2010 Expolangues Fair in Paris, at which the Catalan language will be the guest of honour with the slogan "Catalan, the language of 10 million Europeans". Hence the Vice-President of the Government, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, stressed the importance of the event, since "it is the first time that we can show ourselves as a single linguistic and cultural space". Carod-Rovira also pointed out that recent editions of Expolangues have had the European Union (2009), The People's Republic of China (2008), and the Russian Federation (2007) as guests of honour. "A very high standard has been set and it is a great responsibility for us, having successfully managed the Catalan representation at the Frankfurt Book Fair".
The Director of the Fundació and the IRL, Josep Bargalló, explained that "Expolangues is a language products fair that received 25,000 visitors this year". He announced, "in the next edition we want people to play a key role, hence we are promoting multimedia tools". Bargalló also stated that at the meeting it was decided that "the IRL will carry out the logistics side of the participation at Expolangues, while the Fundació will be in charge of the institutional representation. This mean that it will be the first time that in an international forum the Catalan language will be represented by the highest institutional level possible, including the presence of a head of state".
At the meeting the organization's new statutes were approved in order for them to comply with the Andorran Law on Foundations 1/2008. As a consequence of this, the President of the General Council of the Western Pyrenees and the Ombudsman of the city of Alghero, which became part of the Fundació Ramon Llull on 15th January of this year, have now become founding members. Furthermore, the new board members of the Fundació have been confirmed following the change of government in the Principality of Andorra.
Also attending the meeting were: the Minister of Education and Culture of the Government of Andorra, Susanna Vela; the President of the General Council of the Western Pyrenees, Christian Bourquin; the Secretary of State for Culture of the Government of Andorra, Clara Vives; the President of the Ramon Llull Network of Valencian Cities and Mayor of Morella, Joaquim Puig; the Deputy Ombudsman of Alguero, Mario Conoci; and the Councillor for Catalan Affairs of the General Council of the Western Pyrenees, Marcel Mateu.
The Fundació Ramon Llull, established on 31st March 2008, aims to intensify the study, promotion and protection of the Catalan language and foster its international presence. It is involved in promoting the activities of the IRL Consortium that are in line with the objectives of the Foundation.
Andorra has hosted the annual meeting of the body, which approved the modification of its statutes to adapt them to new Andorran legislation
