Development of Historic Site of Angkor

The 20th Technical Session of the International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor) was held in Siem Reap province under the chairmanship of H.E. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers.

The two-day meeting from June 8-9, organized under the joint cooperation of the governments of France and Japan, was attended by the representatives from the development partners, the UNESCO, the Apsara Authority and a number of the world heritage experts.On the agenda was the examination on new projects relating to conservation, research, training and sustainable development.

After the remarks by the co-chairmen from the two countries on the activities of the development projects, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, in the name of Chairman of the Apsara Authority, recalled the formulization of the map relating to the risks of the temples, the community relationship in order to obtain contribution to appropriate management with the aspect of the Angkor City.

The Angkor site sees increasing tourist arrivals, he said, adding that in 2010 there was a 16 percent-increase over 2009, and the tourist arrivals was up by 14 percent in the first three months of 2011 as compared to the same period last year.

The increase in tourist numbers is positive for the poverty alleviation policy, however, he further said, for sustainability it is necessary to have policy in effective management with a view to attracting more new tourists, especially to the historic site of Angkor.He underlined that it is important to have the participation from the development partners and bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Royal Government of Cambodia and the Government of Australia.

On that occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An conferred medals of Honor and Decoration on those who are successful in their efforts to safeguard the Angkor Temples, and those firm partners who have accompanied Cambodia ever since the Tokyo Conference in October 1993, and for their contribution in sustainable conservation of the Angkor Temples.

Source = akp.gov.kh