Vietnam becomes a member of the World Heritage Committee

At 14:45 Paris time (20:45 Vietnam time) on November 19, Vietnam was officially elected as one of 21 members of the World Heritage Committee (term 2013-2017) at the 19th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, with the participation of representatives of 160 countries around the world.

Illustration photo. (Source: mfa.bg)

According to Mr. Dang Van Bai, member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, this is a great honor for Vietnam, because the World Heritage Committee is one of the most important specialized committees of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with the right to decide on many important issues related to the recognition of World Cultural and Natural Heritages; assess the conservation status of World Heritages globally; decide on policies, guidelines, and development orientations of the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (abbreviated as the World Heritage Convention).

Vietnam joined the World Heritage Convention in 1987 and has so far had 7 Cultural and Natural Heritages recognized by UNESCO. However, it was only after 26 years of participation and many positive contributions that Vietnam was elected to this important Committee for the first time./.

According to Vietnam+