Preserving and promoting the value of My Son Temple Complex and other World Cultural Heritages in the Central region

VHO - Many issues on sustainable development of culture and heritage in the context of developing cultural industry, protecting heritage associated with the practice of socio-economic development and environmental protection... were discussed at the scientific workshop "My Son Temple Complex and World Cultural Heritages in the Central region: Reserves and prospects" held last weekend at My Son Temple Complex, Quang Nam province.

The workshop, organized by the Central Institute of Social Sciences in collaboration with the People's Committee of Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province, is considered an academic forum connecting managers, scientists, educators, and businesses in the Central region to propose proposals and solutions to effectively promote heritage, bring long-term benefits, and ensure sustainable development.

Identify the challenges

The discussions focused on clarifying scientific assessments related to the current status of promoting the value of world cultural heritage (WCH) in the Central region, difficulties, challenges and appropriate solutions, ensuring that the heritage is protected in accordance with the commitment to UNESCO and at the same time creating positive impacts on the socio-economic life of the community.

From there, lessons can be drawn and future prospects for conservation activities and maximizing the value of World Cultural Heritage in the Central region in general and My Son Temple Complex in particular.

Many My Son temple tower groups have been restored and revived through domestic and international support resources. In the period 2003 - 2013, with support from the Italian Government, the Vietnamese Government and UNESCO focused on preserving tower group G with a total budget of nearly 60 billion VND. In the period 2016 - 2022, the Indian Government supported the preservation of 3 tower groups A, K, H with nearly 60 billion VND.

According to Dr. Hoang Hong Hiep - Acting Director of the Central Institute of Social Sciences, in recent years, My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An Ancient Town, Hue Monuments Complex as well as UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritages have not only been carefully preserved but have also become a driving force for cultural, tourism, and socio-economic development in localities.

However, the preservation and promotion of the values ​​of World Cultural Heritage in the Central region is facing many challenges, from the impact of climate change, pressure on tourism development, to issues in management, regional connectivity, digital transformation, planning... Therefore, it is necessary to frankly identify the limitations and obstacles, and propose solutions to remove them so that My Son Sanctuary as well as other heritages can develop more sustainably in the future.

With My Son Temple Complex, over the past 25 years, activities to preserve and promote the value of My Son Cultural Heritage have achieved valuable achievements, integrating into the world's heritage protection trend, especially the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention.

This process promotes the expansion of cooperation between My Son and international organizations, raising the value of My Son cultural heritage to become a model of regional heritage and a valuable cultural, historical and architectural asset of humanity.

After 25 years of Hoi An Ancient Town being recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage, and 15 years of Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An being recognized as a world biosphere reserve, Hoi An tourism industry has made great strides with the number of tourists, revenue from accommodation and food services increasing sharply.

Regarding the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An, many opinions at the workshop highly appreciated Hoi An's proactive implementation of connecting the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town with the World Biosphere Reserve of Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An and the cultural space of rural villages, traditional craft villages, riverside ecological areas, etc. in tourism development.

Besides, Hoi An also focuses on investing strongly and effectively in communication, education, museums, exhibitions, and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​and scenic spots.

However, the current status of heritage tourism development in Hoi An city in recent times still lacks sustainability, the connection and mutual support in development between economic sectors associated with the tourism industry are still quite low. The spread and connection in heritage tourism development with neighboring areas are still limited. This heritage also faces limitations in tourism environment, urban order, business order, cultural environment, heritage protection issues at destinations, etc. that need to be quickly overcome.

Suggestions for harmony between conservation and promotion of heritage values

Opinions at the workshop also raised suggestive issues, discussed and made practical contributions to the activities of protecting and promoting the values ​​of World Cultural Heritage in the Central region in general and My Son Temple Complex in particular.

For Hoi An, the question raised for discussion is: Under the pressure from the "hot" development process and new challenges in the post-Covid-19 period, what should Hoi An do to develop heritage tourism sustainably, on the basis of preserving and promoting the value of cultural and natural heritages - precious assets of humanity.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet - Director of My Son Heritage Management Board said that My Son is a tourist attraction, not a tourist area, so it is difficult to satisfy the service and entertainment needs of tourists.

The starting point of My Son is different from Hoi An. My Son is a holy land of the Cham people, a place to worship gods associated with the Brahmin priestly class, so it also limits some inappropriate entertainment and dining services. My Son tries to do a good job of preserving and promoting heritage in a harmonious way, not too focused on revenue, but that does not mean lacking investment in serving tourists.

In addition, My Son also focuses on investing in technology infrastructure and applying digital transformation to serve tourists.

According to Mr. Khiet, to achieve the set goals, My Son has been focusing on human and material resources. In which, material resources have become the key factor in conservation work. Ensuring strict conservation principles, promoting and exploiting potentials and advantages to create resources to maintain conservation, aiming at the community to benefit together, ensuring that the heritage is protected in accordance with the commitment to UNESCO, at the same time, creating a positive impact on economic and social life.

Cham art performance at My Son Temple Complex; Photo: BQLMS

The workshop also raised and resolved many issues on sustainable development of culture and heritage in the context of cultural industry development, linkages in sustainable tourism development, and updated measures and trends on current heritage protection.

“With a long-term vision, the trend of sustainable development of culture and heritage, the context of cultural industry development encourages heritage protection associated with socio-economic development and environmental protection, requiring appropriate and innovative planning and strategies, participation and responsibility of local communities, tourists, businesses and stakeholders. At the same time, it is necessary to continue to ensure full implementation of commitments to UNESCO on protecting and promoting heritage values”, Dr. Hoang Hong Hiep emphasized.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/bao-ton-phat-huy-gia-tri-khu-den-thap-my-son-va-cac-di-san-van-hoa-the-gioi-o-mien-trung-113778.html