Macedonian Culture Ministry has presented its Action plan for dealing with the National strategy for development 2013 - 2017, and announced that all projects that were planned, have begun, and some of them are already finalized.

Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska - Milevska said that the National strategy has six important measures to stimulate publishing, arts, music and drama, improves the standing of artists in the country and promotes Macedonian culture internationally.

- I would particularly like to point out to the important bid to finance translations of books by Macedonian authors in other languages, which received enormous interest, Kanceska - Milevska said, adding that 20 selected books will be translated into 12 foreign languages.

- There was a lot of interest in the bid to purchase paintings - we have received 220 applications for a total of 605 works, which we have narrowed down to 60 Macedonian artists. These works will be added to the collection of the national institutions, and will be prominently displayed in official buildings, Minister Kanceska Milevska said.

In the field of music and drama, Kanceska Milevska said that the Ministry has continued to procure classical music pieces, with an open bid for grander works ending on November 15. The Ministry has also supported domestic popular music production, and, for the first time, has commisssioned dramas from Macedonian authors.

As far as museums are concerned, the Culture Minister has announced that she has initiated a long running project to have permanent exhibits placed in the 16 national museums. Two new theaters were opened last year - the New Macedonian National Theater and the Veles Theater, while the ministry has also continued the three year long project to provide theaters with equipment. A total of 20 culture centers around Macedonia were given movie projectors, and 14 more will be equipped with projection screens and other equipment.

- One of our priorities is to digitize the rich audio and visual material owned by the Macedonian Cinematheque. We have digitized the entire works by the Manaki brothers, Stole Popov and the documentary film "Macedonia in pictures - 1923" by Arseni Jovkov. By December we plan to finish work on the works by Ljubisha Georgievski and Milcho Manchevski, the minister said.

As part of the National strategy, the Ministry is working on changes to the Law for protection of cultural heritage, that will put it up to speed with modern international standards. The Ministry has also formed a Center for books, and is working to start the construction of filming studios.