Vietnamese, French experts discuss conservation, promotion of Thang Long Imperial Citadel’s values

Hanoi (VNA) – An international symposium was held by authorities of Hanoi, Toulouse city of France, and the French Development Agency (AFD) on April 13 to discuss ways for preserving and bringing into play values of the archaeological site of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

Nguyen Thanh Quang, Director of the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre, said preserving and bringing into play archaeological heritage values is a challenge to not only Vietnam but also many other countries.

However, thanks to efforts by Hanoi’s authorities and the conservation centre, along with cooperation from agencies, organisations, and scientists, encouraging outcomes in heritage conservation have been recorded, he noted.

According to the official, the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre has strong and extensive cooperation in heritage research, conservation, and promotion with the Ile-de-France region and Toulouse city of France. French experts have provided specialised assistance since before the Thang Long Imperial Citadel was recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

In particular, the centre has worked with Toulouse to carry out a project under the AFD’s Funding Facility for Local Authorities (FICOL). The project has transferred modern technology in the conservation, research, and promotion of heritage values, especially of archaeological sites. It has also provided technical support, helped build scientific reports, made proposals for better conservation and management of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel heritage site as well as tourism development, and given training for the site’s personnel.

At the symposium, experts from Vietnam and France discussed issues related to the heritage site and gave recommendations about how to conserve and bring into play its values./.