BRUSSELS, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Union is striving to achieve a smart growth via increased investment in education, culture and youth, according to a high-ranking EU official.
Education, culture and youth should be the best investment fields for the future of Europe after years of debt and economic crises, said Androulla Vassiliou, the EU commissioner for education Adidas Pure Boost LTD Australia , culture, multilingualism and youth in an interview with Xinhua.
"We live in a globalized knowledge economy... We must equip our young people with the best possible skills," she said, referring to the budget increase for both education and culture projects in the 2014-2020 financial framework that is to take effect in January.
"Education is not a cost, but an investment for the future. You will regret it later if you cut it now," she said.
The flagship project "Erasmus Plus," an upgraded version of the "Erasmus" exchange program that has sponsored 3 million young Europeans for studying and living in other EU countries since 1987 Adidas Pure Boost Australia , will receive a total of 14.7 billion euros (20 billion U.S. dollars), up 40 percent from last seven-year budget.
More than 4 million students and researchers will be sponsored by the new project, and they are also encouraged to choose destinations outside the EU. "Why not China? Many young Europeans would love to go to China under Erasmus Plus," Vassiliou said.
The project "Creative Europe," worth 1.46 billion euros (some 2 billion dollars), will sponsor at least 250,000 cultural professionals Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 Australia , 2,000 cinemas, 800 films and 4,500 book translations during a seven-year period, while major research and innovation projects have also been given an increased budget.
"Culture is the best way to bring people together. It also has a great potential for economic growth," she said, adding that cultural and creative industries account for 4.5 percent of GDP of EU and create 8 million jobs.
About 6 million young Europeans remain jobless Mizuno Wave Prophecy 2 Australia , while there are 2 million job vacancies on the market. Most upgraded initiatives tend to address this "skill gap" and reduce the current record-high youth unemployment rate, according to Vassiliou.
"Education, innovation and research programs are the areas which will help Europe get back on track, and provide our young people with skills they need in order to find jobs and stay employed," she said.
"In education and culture sectors, China is the only country with whom we have such a wide spectrum of cooperation," Vassiliou said Mizuno Wave Rider 18 Australia , referring to a variety of joint initiatives on education, culture and youth.
The commissioner has devoted much time to promoting people-to-people exchanges between the EU and China in recent years, particularly since the EU-China high-level people-to-people dialogue was established in 2012 as a "third pillar" in addition to strategic dialogue and economic and trade dialogue.
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