Paris (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO Ha Kim Ngoc, who led the Vietnamese delegation to the 10th session of the General Assembly of the State Parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris, has met with UNESCO officials and representatives from UNESCO member states to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in world heritage preservation.
The Vietnamese official met with the UNESCO Deputy Director General and Assistant Director-General for Priorities for Africa and External Relations Xing Qu; President of the 42nd General Conference of UNESCO Simona-Mirela Miculescu; Bangladesh’s Minister of Cultural Affairs Naheed Ezaher Khan; Chairman of UNESCO’s World Heritage Commitee Vishal Sharma; Chairwoman of the intergovernmental committee of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Nancy Ovelar; and several heads of delegations to the session.
Ngoc also worked with head of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre Lazare Assomo, and Director of Advisory and Monitoring Unit at the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Regina Durighello.
During the meetings, UNESCO officials and the heads of the delegations highly appreciated the good cooperative relationship between Vietnam and UNESCO and its member countries, as well as the important role and effective contributions of Vietnam as a member of six operating mechanisms of UNESCO to the common work of the organisation.
The countries emphasised that Vietnam is one of the countries that effectively implement UNESCO cooperation programmes, typically in preserving and promoting heritage values associated with sustainable tourism development, economic development, and people's livelihood.
At the meetings, Ngoc called on countries and UNESCO to continue to support Vietnam in the fields of education, culture, and science through experience sharing, policy consultation on human resource development, innovation, promotion of cultural values and heritage for sustainable development.
He hoped that the leaders and the UNESCO Secretariat will advise and support Vietnam's new heritage dossiers such as the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son - Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex; the Oc Eo-Ba The archaeological site, Con Moong Cave, the Ba Chua Xu Festival at Sam Mountain, Dong Ho folk painting art, cheo stage art, Mo Muong, Lang Son Geopark, and notably a project to preserve and promote the values of the central sector of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi.
The representatives of UNESCO and ICOMOS committed to supporting Vietnam in building and promoting heritage dossiers that Vietnam proposed.
On this occasion, Ngoc extended invitations of his own and from Vietnamese localities to UNESCO leaders to attend coming events including the 2024 Festival for Peace in Quang Tri in July, and the 8th international conference of the international geopark network for the Asia-Pacific region in Cao Bang province in September 2024.
UNESCO leaders highly appreciated Vietnam for organising those meaningful activities, and said they look forward to attending the events./.
