Culture - Sports

Indochina-era archives proposed for UNESCO Memory of the World Register

According to the State Records and Archives Department, part of the archives from the French colonial period (1858–1954) is preserved in Vietnam, while the remainder is kept in France.

Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh has agreed to submit the nomination dossier for the documentary heritage of the archives on Indochina preserved in France and Vietnam (1862–1954) to UNESCO for inscription on the Memory of the World Register.

Under Document No. 1444/VPCP-KGVX, the Deputy PM assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs, in carrying out the necessary procedures and working with the French side to submit the dossier to UNESCO in accordance with regulations on cultural heritage and UNESCO guidelines.

The process must ensure compliance with international treaties and commitments to which Vietnam is a signatory, the provisions of the letter of intent signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Culture of France, as well as relevant legal regulations.

The MoFA and the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO were tasked with supporting the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and relevant agencies in implementing measures to garner international consensus in this regard. They were also asked to promote Vietnam’s role in UNESCO’s governing mechanisms.

The Ministry of Home Affairs was requested to work closely with the French side to finalise the nomination dossier and follow the submission schedule closely, ensuring that its contents strictly comply with regulations on national security, sovereignty, cultural heritage, archives, protection of state secrets, access to information, and other relevant laws.

According to the State Records and Archives Department, part of the archives from the French colonial period (1858–1954) is preserved in Vietnam, while the remainder is kept in France.

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Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks are inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register (Photo: VNA)

In Vietnam, the documents are safeguarded at the National Archives Centres I, II and IV, with a total volume of some 9,000 metres of shelving, comprising 84 record groups. The remaining documents are preserved at the French National Overseas Archives in Aix-en-Provence under the terms of a 1950 agreement between French High Commissioner Léon Pignon and Bao Dai, the last king of Vietnam’s last feudal dynasty.

The archives include administrative records of Indochina-level agencies as well as regional administrations and provincial authorities. They also contain technical documents related to nearly 150 architectural works, including administrative headquarters, hospitals, schools, irrigation facilities and transport infrastructure across the northern, central and southern regions, along with more than 20,000 maps produced by the Indochina Geographic Service and provincial administrative agencies.

Vietnam currently has three documentary heritages recognised by UNESCO, namely the Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks and imperial records, and the stone steles of doctoral laureates at the Temple of Literature./.

VNA
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