All eyes on 37th session of World Heritage Committee in Cambodia

All eyes on 37th session of World Heritage Committee in Cambodia

Xinhua | 15 June 2013 

PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The 37th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) will begin on Sunday at Cambodian capital' s Peace Palace with the participation of around 1,300 delegates from more than 120 countries, said a media statement released by host Cambodia.

Cambodia is the fourth Asian countries, which was elected as host country of the 37th WHC session from June 16 to 27, the statement said Wednesday.

The session will be opened at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh in the evening of June 16 by Prime Minister Hun Sen and closed in Siem Reap Cultural City on June 27 by Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An.

Besides the local media, some 350 foreign journalists have registered to cover the 12-day event.

Phay Siphan, Spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, said it is a pride for Cambodia to host such a significant meeting and it would be an opportunity to show the world about the richness of Cambodia's culture and civilization.

"Cambodia has nearly 1,000 ancient temples and is the country with the oldest culture in Southeast Asia," he told Xinhua on Saturday. "The session will be the chance to tell the world that Cambodia is rich in culture and civilization and is putting its efforts to protect and conserve those ancient temples for tourists and next generations."

According to the statement, the upcoming session would identify, on the basis of nominations dossiers submitted by States Parties, cultural and natural properties of Outstanding Universal Value which are to be listed.

It would also review the state of conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List and decide which properties need to be placed in the World Heritage List in Danger or to be removed from the World Heritage List.

In addition, it would examine international assistance requests managed by the World Heritage Fund.

The World Heritage Committee, comprised of members from 21 countries, will examine the situation of the world's most important cultural and natural sites and decide whether more should be added to the World Heritage List.

Up to 2012, the World Heritage List included 962 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage, which the World Heritage Committee considered as having outstanding universal value, the statement said.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An, who is the chairman of the 37th WHC session, said about 36 nominated properties around the globe would be examined during the forthcoming session. However, it remained unknown how many of them would succeed in being inscribed on that prestigious list.

Among the natural properties are Xinjiang Tianshan of China, Great Himalayan National Park of India, Mount Etna of Italy, Mount Kenya-Lewa Wildlife Conservancy of Kenya, El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve of Mexico, Namib Sand Sea of Namibia, Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary of the Philippines, Tajik National Park of Tajikistan, and Cat Tien National Park of Viet Nam.

The candidates for cultural properties are comprised of 23 sites in the countries around the world.

In addition, there are four candidates for mixed natural and cultural properties presented by Canada, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho and Russia.

Sok An said that through the forthcoming meeting, the World Heritage community would have the opportunity to know and understand the richness of Cambodian heritage and Cambodia's efforts for its protection and safeguarding in the context of sustainable development.

"Cambodia is very proud to have inherited cultural and natural wonders from our ancestors, and it is our responsibility to preserve this legacy for future generations," he said.

He said during the upcoming session, Cambodia would not submit a nomination dossier for any of its heritage sites for consideration although it has already completed documents for nominating Sambor Prei Kuk temple in Kampong Thom province for inscription on the World Heritage List.

"We decided to hold back our nomination as a gesture toward improving the culture of impartiality within this international organization," he said.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Kirt Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police, said that security has been deployed at airport, along main roads, hotels and meeting venues in order to ensure security and public order during the meeting.

"We arranged more than 10,000 security forces to safeguard this important event," he told Xinhua over telephone on Saturday.