The Provincial Party Secretary received and worked with the UNESCO Representative in Vietnam.

On the morning of January 19, Comrade Doan Minh Huan, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, had a meeting and worked with Mr. Jonathan Baker, Head of UNESCO Representative Office in Vietnam and the working delegation.

Receiving and working with the delegation were comrade Tran Song Tung, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of a number of provincial departments and branches; representatives of Xuan Truong Construction Enterprise.

Welcoming and welcoming the visit and working in Ninh Binh, Provincial Party Secretary Doan Minh Huan congratulated Mr. Jonathan Baker on officially taking up the position of Head of UNESCO Representative Office in Vietnam, wishing him and his colleagues a successful term of office, contributing to tightening and further promoting the cooperation between UNESCO and Vietnam, including Ninh Binh.

The Provincial Party Secretary received and worked with the UNESCO Representative in Vietnam. — Working scene.

Providing general information about the history, geographical location and socio-economic development of Ninh Binh province, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Doan Minh Huan said: After 30 years of re-establishment of the province, Ninh Binh has persistently implemented the transformation of development methods from "brown" to "green", based on the fundamental values of the land with a long history and promoting the value of world cultural and natural heritage. Up to now, Ninh Binh has achieved very important achievements, one of the important milestones is that in 2014, Trang An was recognized by UNESCO as the first and only World Cultural and Natural Heritage in Southeast Asia to date.

The Provincial Party Secretary affirmed that the achievement of these achievements has a particularly important role of UNESCO. Through this, he expressed his deep gratitude to UNESCO and the UNESCO Office in Hanoi for always accompanying Ninh Binh province in the process of preserving the Heritage, creating a bridge to bring Trang An to the world and for the world to look to Trang An.

Sharing the outstanding results after 10 years of being recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage, especially the measures that Ninh Binh has taken to restore and promote the heritage values, the Provincial Party Secretary also informed about some major orientations of the province, emphasizing: The province is focusing on building Ninh Binh into a Millennium Heritage City, a creative city. In the coming time, Ninh Binh hopes that the UNESCO Office in Vietnam will continue to support and closely coordinate with Ninh Binh province to consult on the development of the Charter or Declaration of Trang An.

The Provincial Secretary said that this proposal can be considered an initiative, stemming from the significance of preserving and promoting the unique, extremely rare values of a heritage city that is facing enormous challenges, especially the challenges in restoring, preserving, and promoting heritage values; the challenges of compact urbanization, concrete urbanization; the challenges of climate change, the challenges of resolving the relationship between restoration, preservation and promotion of heritage values, especially the carrying capacity of heritage in the face of tourism development needs.

Recognizing and appreciating the good cooperative relationship with the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, especially the support and professional advice from UNESCO in improving policy-making skills, management plans, and conservation of the Trang An World Heritage Site in recent times, the Provincial Party Secretary hopes that the UNESCO Office in Vietnam and Mr. Jonathan Baker - with their central and connecting role - will continue to support, promote, and help Ninh Binh in building a model of close connection between conservation and promotion of heritage values.

In the immediate future, Ninh Binh will be supported to organize and participate in international events and conferences, and to deeply integrate into the network of heritage cities in the world. Ninh Binh is ready to be a pioneer in deeply integrating into this network. Every year, conferences can be held in rotation to share experiences of countries in preserving and promoting the values of heritage cities; especially in searching for and mobilizing international resources in archaeological and biodiversity research.

The Provincial Party Secretary expressed his belief that in the coming time, the relationship between the two sides will continue to develop further, improving the effectiveness of cooperation, contributing to solving development issues and protecting cultural values that Vietnam and many other countries are facing.

Thanking the Provincial Party Secretary and provincial leaders for the warm welcome given to the delegation, Mr. Jonathan Baker also said that this was his first working trip to Vietnam as the Head of UNESCO Representative Office in Vietnam.

Expressing his impression of the achievements that Ninh Binh has made throughout its history and the results after 10 years of being recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Mr. Jonathan Baker highly appreciated the strategy of building Ninh Binh into a Millennium Heritage City, especially in the context that countries around the world are facing great challenges of climate change, which has a great impact on the preservation and promotion of heritage values.

Supporting Ninh Binh's initiative in preserving and promoting heritage values, including the proposal to build the Trang An Charter, Mr. Jonathan Baker affirmed that he will continue to support and accompany Ninh Binh to realize the strategies and aspirations to build Ninh Binh into a Millennium Heritage City.

This will include supporting the organization of international cooperation forums to share experiences of localities with similar characteristics.

The UNESCO Office in Vietnam is also ready to support and connect Ninh Binh to successfully participate in the world heritage urban network; mobilize resources to strengthen conservation projects, research biodiversity and promote heritage values...

At the meeting, the two sides agreed on a number of program contents for the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex being recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Dinh Ngoc - Duc Lam - Anh Tu

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