Valletta's (V18) bid for the title of European Capital of Culture (ECOC) has passed the pre-selection stage following the first meeting of an evaluation panel set up to assess the applications of cities bidding for the title.

Now that it has passed pre-selection stage, Valletta together with the V18 Foundation responsible for the bid, will now need to further develop the bid and include the recommendations made by the panel, which is to meet again in mid-October for the final selection meeting.

Culture Minister Mario de Marco thanked all local councils for their cooperation in producing the V18 bid.

He said the government was committed to investing in the creative and cultural sector so as to effectively prepare for the European Capital of Culture project as well as for investing in the future of the sector beyond 2018.

In difficult economic times, the minister said, countries normally reduce the budget allocated to the cultural sector but in recent years, the government managed to increase the financial allocation for this sector while further increasing the allocation and introducing a number of initiatives in this year's budget. Mario de Marco augured that the bid will continue to be successfully developed so that the European Capital of Culture will reap benefits beyond 2018.