According to the Management Board of Oc Eo Cultural Relics of An Giang province, the Oc Eo - Ba The Archaeological Relic Site is located in Oc Eo and My Thuan communes, An Giang province. The proposed heritage has 16 component relics divided into 4 areas with a total proposed area of 453.1 ha.
Regarding the progress of building the World Heritage nomination dossier, in April 2026, at the invitation of the Vietnam National UNESCO Committee, An Giang province sent a working delegation to attend the 224th session of the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris (France). Within the framework of participating in the meeting, the An Giang province delegation and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation met with the Deputy Director General of UNESCO, Director of the World Heritage Center, Director General of ICOMOS, Chairman of the 43rd UNESCO General Assembly to mobilize for the nomination dossier.
In May 2026, the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) sent a Letter in which ICOMOS introduced Professor Rima Hooja - ICOMOS Expert of India who will conduct field assessments in An Giang province expected from August 17-24, 2026.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Bang, Deputy Director of the Management Board of Oc Eo Cultural Relic, said that the direction for implementing the main tasks until 2027 is to continue to complete investment items, infrastructure and necessary conditions to serve the reception and working with ICOMOS experts.
It is expected that at the end of July 2026, the Scientific Conference will be organized to inspect the preparation for welcoming the ICOMOS expert delegation. From August 17 - 24, 2026, the reception and working session with ICOMOS experts will be organized to assess the field of the Nomination Dossier and many other tasks.
Mr. Bang also said that to carry out the work of preserving and promoting heritage values associated with socio-economic development of the locality, An Giang province has been and is implementing key programs and tasks. Specifically, implementing the construction of shelters to protect relics and adjusting conservation at Linh Son Bac, Go Sau Thuan, Giong Cat relics sites to serve the development of World Heritage nomination dossiers and the needs for sightseeing and learning of people inside and outside the province, contributing to promoting tourism development. Upgrading the display content at the Oc Eo Cultural Exhibition House to international museum standards.
To serve ICOMOS Experts in surveying and evaluating the field and promoting tourism development in the locality, the Relic Management Board will coordinate with units, unions, and localities to organize "Oc Eo Cultural Heritage Week" expected to be held in August 2026, which includes many cultural experience activities, display and sale of OCOP products, recreating traditional craft activities of the locality,...", Mr. Bang informed.
The criteria for showing outstanding global values (OUV) of the Oc Eo - Ba The Archaeological Relic Site are expressed in 2 criteria: The relic site is a prominent proof of the important intersection of human values in the 1st - 7th centuries AD between an indigenous culture of Southeast Asia and other cultures and civilizations in the world, especially the Indian, Chinese and Mediterranean civilizations; The relic site is a particularly excellent proof of the Oc Eo culture and the Phu Nam civilization - a political, economic and cultural entity that was once prosperous in the 1st - 7th centuries AD but no longer exists today.
