“BNP pour Lire”, a corporate philanthropy programme to promote the French language around the world

Discover, love and share the French language worldwide…such were the objectives pursued by BNP when it launched the international culture project “BNP pour Lire” in 1998, under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This multi-year programme consists of promoting the French language in the countries in which the bank is present, by financing donations of books to local libraries, cultural centres and Alliances françaises.
For each edition of “BNP pour Lire”, the bank selects five beneficiary countries, where it organises a series of events, public readings with French-speaking writers, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local cultural institutions. For its first edition in 1998, “BNP pour Lire” took place in Russia, Argentina, Egypt and Lebanon.

“BNP pour Lire” is part of BNP’s ongoing programme to promote culture, which also includes the ambitious campaign to restore painting masterpieces, “BNP pour l’Art”, which began in 1993 under the direction of Musées de France.

Today, the BNP Paribas Foundation, building on the strong tradition of corporate philanthropy at Paribas and BNP, has increased its commitments in the three areas of Culture, Social Responsibility and the Environment.