(Fatherland) - On March 15, 2025, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO received and worked with the Monitoring Delegation to respond to the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the conservation and promotion of the values of the World Heritage Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh province) - Cat Ba Archipelago (Hai Phong city).
Attending the reception and working session, on the international side, there were Mr. Jonathan Baker - Chief Representative of UNESCO in Vietnam; Ms. Luba Janikova - representative of the World Heritage Center (WHC); Mr. Amran Hamzah - representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Working scene
On the side of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, there were Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa - Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Standing Member of the Cultural Subcommittee; Mr. Tran Dinh Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage. On the side of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there was Ms. Le Thi Hong Van - Director, General Secretary of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO.
On the local side, there were Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ninh; Mr. Trinh Van Tu - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong; leaders of the Management Board of Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba National Park.
In his opening speech, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong welcomed the WHC-IUCN Feedback Monitoring Delegation to Vietnam from March 10 to March 16, 2025, to work specifically on the conservation and promotion of the values of the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh Province) - Cat Ba Archipelago (Hai Phong City), emphasizing that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the responsibility assigned by the Government, is very interested in coordinating with international organizations and localities in the conservation and promotion of the values of cultural and natural heritages in Vietnam, especially the world heritages recognized by UNESCO. In particular, ensuring the balance and harmony between conservation and development is the key content for many heritages today, especially for the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago - the first inter-provincial heritage of Vietnam.
At the meeting, Ms. Luba Janikova - representative of the World Heritage Center (WHC) highly appreciated and sincerely thanked the Ministries, branches, and functional agencies of Vietnam, including Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city, for their close coordination, thoughtful and respectful reception, and creating favorable conditions for the Monitoring Team to directly conduct surveys in the buffer zone and core zone of the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, as well as in the process of studying, researching documents and working specifically and in detail with relevant agencies, communities, organizations, and individuals in the heritage area on the work of preserving and promoting the values of this world heritage. Ms. Luba Janikova emphasized that the Monitoring Team responded to the difficulties and complexities in coordinating the management of the first inter-provincial world heritage site in Vietnam, as well as the challenges in ensuring the balance and harmony between conservation and development, affirming that this is a difficult problem not only for Vietnam but for all heritage sites in the world in general.
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong speaks at the meeting
Mr. Amran Hamzah - representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shared the opinions of Ms. Luba Janikova, stating that Ha Long Bay was recognized as a world heritage more than 30 years ago, Cat Ba Archipelago (along with Ha Long Bay) has only recently become a world heritage (1.5 years), so the coordination between localities and agencies to preserve and promote the value of world heritage faces many difficulties and challenges, however, it is a good opportunity for Vietnam to demonstrate its international obligations and responsibilities in the process of implementing the World Heritage Convention, including preserving and effectively promoting the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of this inter-provincial heritage.
Regarding specific professional assessments, Mr. Amran Hamzah recommended that Vietnam regularly inform and update the World Heritage Center and UNESCO's competent agencies on development projects that have been, are being or are planned to be implemented in the areas of the Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba Archipelago World Heritage Site, focusing on applying relevant regulations and guidelines of UNESCO in the process of planning and implementing projects. In particular, the IUCN representative recommended that localities pay attention to and apply important tools such as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) in this process, before making a decision. In particular, Mr. Amran Hamzah - IUCN representative recommended that Vietnam apply and deploy these tools not only in the planning and implementation process but also after the project is completed to assess the overall impact on the heritage.
Delegates speak at the meeting
For development projects that have been, are being or are planned to be implemented in the areas of the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, the Monitoring Team responded that all projects have been applied with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) tool, and recommended that localities develop and complete Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) during the management process to ensure that foreseeable impacts on the heritage are minimized, including projects implemented outside the buffer zone.
Regarding the issue of assessing tourist carrying capacity, the Monitoring Team responded to the recommendation that Vietnam pay attention to and develop an assessment of tourist carrying capacity for the entire Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba Archipelago World Heritage area, including both tangible and intangible assessments that affect tourists when choosing to visit the heritage site in order to have appropriate solutions.
Regarding the management plan for the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, the Monitoring Team responded by acknowledging the efforts of localities in developing, integrating and completing related plans to serve the heritage management work, emphasizing the necessity and role of an agency to unify the perception and monitoring, thereby ensuring the effectiveness and perfection in management work, without missing any tasks for the entire heritage.
Delegates speak at the meeting
After the feedback from the experts of the Monitoring Team, the leaders of the functional agencies of Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city, and the leaders of the Department of Cultural Heritage continued to report and provide more information on the issues of concern to the Monitoring Team regarding the conservation and promotion of the value of the World Heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, focusing on the content of compliance with the guidelines of the World Heritage Convention; perfecting the legal system of Vietnam, especially the new Law on Cultural Heritage passed by the National Assembly, as well as sub-law documents being developed and will be issued in the coming time; environmental protection; wastewater collection and treatment; developing and implementing strategies and plans for sustainable tourism development; expanding research and assessment of the tourist capacity of the entire heritage site, based on which decisions in the process of conservation and promotion of values are based; Promote scientific research on the value of world heritage; ensure apparatus and resources for the conservation and promotion of the value of World Heritage...
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong highly appreciated the results of the work of the Feedback Monitoring Team in Vietnam, respectfully acknowledged the assessments and recommendations of the Team, affirming that these are important contents, contributing to the process of perfecting the work of preserving and promoting the values of cultural heritage, especially the world heritages recognized by UNESCO in Vietnam, including the World Heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
Delegates take souvenir photos
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong requested Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh Province to continue to closely coordinate and support the Monitoring Team to respond and complete relevant reports to send to the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the coming time, emphasizing that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to work and request localities to seriously implement the provisions of the World Heritage Convention and the Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, especially in the process of implementing development projects.
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong affirmed that Vietnam is interested in the socio-economic development process. The Vietnamese Government sets a high development target, with double-digit growth in the near future, but that does not mean trading economic development for environmental protection, conservation, and promotion of heritage values, especially UNESCO-recognized world heritages./.
Source: https://toquocweb.dev.cnnd.vn/viet-nam-nghiem-tuc-thuc-hien-cac-quy-dinh-cua-cong-uoc-di-san-the-gioi-20250315162315744.htm
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