International seminar on UNESCO's role in heritage preservation and development

The two-day event has drawn participants from various heritage site management boards, specialists from the National Commission for UNESCO of Việt Nam, Mongolia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Japan and Coordinator of the National Commission for UNESCO network, Sector of External Relations in UNESCO Paris.

The conference includes talks on heritage conservation and promoting the role of the National Commission for UNESCO, as well as a field trip to Trang An Landscape Complex.

According to the Vietnamese commission, heritage has played a crucial role to the country's socio-economic development, as it helps draw more investors, gain more tourism turnover, thus contributing to develop tourism industry as well as promoting the country's image.

However, both cultural and natural heritages face many dangers as society develops, keeping the harmony betwen developing and preserving heritages is needed.

Opening the conference, Mai Phan Dung, Secretary general of Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, stressed the important role of the organisation in protecting and promoting the value of natural, tangible and intangible cultural heritages.

"In the past years, the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO has participated in building dossiers of heritage for UNESCO's recognition, orienting and passing on experience to implement in Viet Nam, in addition to proposing suggestions related to heritage preservation and promotion.

"The National Commission for UNESCO also connects the network among heritage areas' local authorities and the world to share experiences in heritage administration and conservation," he said.

However, Dung also mentioned to some issues like the co-ordination and assignation roles among the secretariat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as of related organisations.

"The conference creates a chance to raise people's awareness on cultural and natural heritage's preservation for sustainable development; share difficulties, experiences and knowledge from other countries; promote the role of people, communities, business, youth and private sectors in heritage conservation activities," he added.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy