Companies have to work very hard to position themselves in the market. This takes a lot of time and a lot of energy, and we have to build on the work which has already been accomplished. In the past, not only did a government-supported company have to do the work on the ground, but that company also had access to an entire network of cultural officers in our embassies, whose specialty was to widen these networks, to stay plugged in, and to organize promotional events every time artists performed abroad. This is very important for new artists. It is extremely difficult to gain a foothold in another market. However, everyone says so, we have exceptional artists who will not be able to gain a foothold abroad if we do not have people and measures on the ground to help them.
On October 26th, 2010. See this statement in context.