Ninh Binh celebrates 10th anniversary of UNESCO's recognition of Trang An

In his opening speech, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Pham Quang Ngoc underscored that right after Trang An was recognised as a world cultural and natural heritage site, Ninh Binh devised master planning scheme and issued numerous polices and measures to manage, preserve and promote the values of the Trang An heritage, applied the model of restoring and preserving the heritage in line with green and sustainable development.

After 10 years of recognition, many organisations, experts, scientists have hailed the model of combining economic and tourism development sustainably, that preserve nature and ensure the harmonic interests between local people, the state and firms. 

Ngoc affirmed that Ninh Binh will continue to uphold its achievements, inner strengths, tradition of solidarity to preserve and hand over the heritage to next generations, connect heritages in the globe in a bid to protect the green earth, the peaceful world and build Ninh Binh into a millennium centrally-run urban heritage city.

Speaking at the ceremony, President of the 42nd General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Simona-Mirela Muculescu said that the ceremony not only marked a decade of UNESCO recognition but also honoured the success of Trang An in terms of preserving and developing the heritage sustainably.

She also hailed the ceaseless contributions of Vietnamese leaders, preservationists, managers and local people in preserving and developing the heritage sustainably.

Amid the rapid changes in this era, in the next 10 years, Ninh Binh needs to cooperate and preserve Trang An under a general vision for a brighter and more sustainable future for all, she added.

Adressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang described the Trang An Landscape Complex as a special highlight of the local nature and people, a bridge between the past and the present where cultural, historical sediments and landscapes are formed, and also a place of harmonious convergence in the space of symbiotic culture.

Noting Trang An's prestigious status as the 31st mixed heritage site in the world, the 11th in Asia-Pacific, and the first in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, he commended the complex for becoming one of the world's most exemplary models of balancing economic development and sustainable tourism while protecting the nature, as well as a symbol of Vietnam's responsible commitment to fulfilling the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

 On the occasion, he asked the provincial Party Organisation, authorities, agencies, organisations, businesses and people to identify the complex's distinct potential and stay creative in pooling resources, especially through public-private partnerships, while leveraging the support of ministries, agencies, domestic and foreign experts for the preservation, planning and development of the Trang An heritage's values toward popularising the values of Ninh Binh culture, people and nature to friends at home and abroad.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy