Pinuccia Contino KEYNOTE Head of Unit DGT.S.3, European Commission Multilingualism and translation studies Directorate-General for Translation

MESSAGE: Pinuccia Contino, Head of Unit, Multilingualism and Translation Studies, Directorate-General for Translation, European Commission, for the Translator Day – celebration hosted by the Association of Asian Translation Industry, Rajamangala University of Technology, National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, Phra Nakhon Distinguished guests, colleagues translators, and advocates of translation professions in Asia and all over the world, Pinuccia Contino

As the head of unit responsible for multilingualism in the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission. It is for me a great pleasure to be able to join you in spirit today, during the celebration of the International Translation Day. I wish to thank Prof. Maneerat Sawasdiwat for giving me this opportunity. I would like to welcome all the participants that are following this celebration, be it in person or via internet, radio and satellite broadcasts. Pinuccia Contino

Europe and Asia alike are multilingual and multicultural Europe and Asia alike are multilingual and multicultural. The European Union is built of 27 member states and 23 languages. The department of translation of the European Commission that I represent is the largest public translation service in the world. We have a staff of about 2500 and translate from and into all 23 official languages of the European Union. Apart from European languages we translate from and into some other world languages, notably Chinese, with the biggest number of speakers in the world. Pinuccia Contino

Earlier this year we organised a very successful meeting between European and Chinese translation academics from leading universities. We discussed increased student mobility between Europe and Asia, an ever growing demand for language services, the urgent need for training the trainers in translation on a global scale, and the role statistical machine translation is going to play in the near future. Pinuccia Contino

At the Directorate-General for Translation we pay a very careful attention to all the changes that we see happening at translation faculties of universities and in language industry. We meet regularly European translator trainers that come together for discussions within the European Master's in Translation Network. We develop knowledge on the language industry via our dedicated platform, LIND-Web, which hosts reports, articles and statistics on this important sector of economy. Feel free to consult and contribute to it: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/programmes/ languageindustry/platform/ index_en.htm Pinuccia Contino

What clearly emerges from our reflection and discussions with stakeholders is a need to pen a new chapter in international relations, also between Europe and Asia. Language is at the heart of mutual understanding. Knowledge is the core of today's societies. And knowledge sharing cannot do without translation. I truly believe we have a lot to learn from one another for the sake of prosperity of the translation professions. Pinuccia Contino

I am also convinced that our efforts can help build bridges for the world economic prosperity and even more cultural exchange between Europe and Asia. Dear colleagues, we all share a concern for the cause of languages and translation, and today we are celebrating its importance. I wish you a very successful meeting and all the best for the future! Pinuccia Contino, Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Translation, European Commission, Delivered for 28 September 2012 Pinuccia Contino