Witnessed by Chairman Felipe de Leon and Executive Director Adelina Suemith of the National Commission on the Culture and the Arts, the memorandum is the first of its kind between the Czech Republic and the Philippines. This program will initiate the translation and publication of three titles of Czech literature into the Filipino language and reciprocally three books written by the writers from the Philippines into the Czech language.

For the first joint project under the agreement, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino is set to launch the book-length selection of the best poems by Nobel Prize winning Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert, while a selection of short fiction, poems and essays in a special Philippine issue of the literary monthly magazine Plav (www.svetovka.cz) will present the old and new literature from the Philippines to the Czech readers. Both titles will be available in August this year.