Mashawah: “We believe in the greatness of our heritage and the need to protect it”

Beijing (ST) – With the participation of Syria, the conference of the Council for the Protection of Asian Cultural Heritage was inaugurated on Monday in China, with the aim of enhancing cooperation in protecting the archaeological cultural heritage, and supporting efforts aimed at recovering antiquities and combating their smuggling.

The conference focuses on enhancing the exchange of research and scientific expertise in the field of excavation and restoration.

Minister of Culture, Dr. Lubana Mashawah, expressed her pleasure at holding this event in the oldest city and first capital in China, Xi’an, the city of “eternal peace” located in the far east of the historical Silk Road.

She said: “We, as governmental institutions, civil society organizations and individuals have worked together to secure everything possible to protect and preserve our heritage with all its components by all available means, including documentation, restoration, rehabilitation and recovery.”

The conference was held with the participation of the founding countries, namely China, Cambodia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, in the city of “Xi’an” in the People’s Republic of China, and in the presence of the founding countries of the Asian Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

During the meeting, the charter of the Asian Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage was adopted, and a number of new member states joined the alliance, namely Azerbaijan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Vietnam were approved as observers.

The conferees also approved the Asian Heritage Protection Fund System and the Xi’an Declaration of the Asian Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

Najla Khoury