UNESCO's General Conference president hails Cambodia for efforts to safeguard cultural heritage site

[geovalin]

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The president of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday hailed Cambodia for its efforts to preserve and develop world heritage sites, a Cambodian spokesman said.

Hao Ping, who is also China's vice minister of education, made the remarks during a courtesy call on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, Eang Sophalleth, a spokesman for Hun Sen, told reporters after the meeting.

"Hao also congratulated Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodia for retrieving (five) ancient statues from the United States in the last two years," he said.

Hao is visiting Cambodia to attend the official launching of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Preah Vihear (ICC-PV), which is slated for Wednesday in northwestern Siem Reap province.

The UNESCO's Executive Board welcomed the proposal to set up an ICC-PV on Oct. 23. China and India will be the co-chairs of the ICC-PV.

According to the spokesman, Hao said China and India would do their best to seek fund for preserving and developing the Preah Vihear Temple.

For his part, Hun Sen thanked UNESCO and China for supporting Cambodia in safeguarding cultural properties and asked Hao to help encourage more Chinese visitors to Cambodia so as to broaden tourism ties.

He also suggested China and India to help raise fund from their people for the renovation and development of the Preah Vihear Temple.

Cambodia's Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple, is situated on the top of a 525-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, bordering Thailand. It was inscribed on the UNESCO's prestigious World Heritage List in July 2008.

The temple had been a flashpoint of armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops between 2008 and 2011. The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in November last year that Cambodia had sovereignty over the whole territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear Temple, and ordered Thailand to withdraw its armed forces from that territory.

To date, the two countries have not started talks over the implementation of the ICJ's ruling.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/culture/2014-12/01/c_133825742.htm