From July 5 to 17, 2025, the working delegation of Quang Tri province led by Mr. Hoang Xuan Tan - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - participated in the Vietnamese delegation to attend the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Paris, French Republic.
Also attending the meeting were leaders of relevant departments and branches to exchange experiences and seek cooperation opportunities in the field of cultural and natural heritage conservation.
This year's session attracted the participation of 21 member countries of the Committee, focusing on discussing and reviewing about 30 new heritage nomination dossiers for the World Heritage List along with expanding the 2 recognized heritages.
In addition, UNESCO assessed the conservation status of 248 recognized heritages, including important heritages of Vietnam such as Ha Long Bay, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Trang An and Phong Nha - Ke Bang Scenic Landscape Complex.
In particular, this session considered the nomination for the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son and Kiep Bac Monuments and Scenes Complex as a world heritage, and at the same time assessed the recognition of Hin Nam No National Park (Laos) as an extension of the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Quang Tri Province.
In parallel with the official discussion sessions, the Quang Tri working delegation actively attended many thematic seminars organized by UNESCO such as: "Building capacity to improve World Heritage management", "Using the World Heritage Convention to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework" and "updated World Heritage space analysis".
A highlight of this year's session is the event "Locating the World Heritage online map platform" to support the work of looking up, tracking and managing global heritage information.
At the same time, delegates also discussed the topic "Building the participation of indigenous peoples within the framework of the World Heritage Convention", emphasizing the role of indigenous communities in preserving heritage values.
According to Mr. Hoang Xuan Tan, this event is an important occasion for Quang Tri to affirm its international responsibility in protecting natural heritage, as well as to learn from experience and trends in sustainable heritage management, climate change adaptation and tourism development.
Notably, the entire session was streamed publicly by UNESCO on the website whc.unesco.org, without limiting access, demonstrating efforts to increase transparency and disseminate heritage information to the global public.
Through active foreign affairs activities at the session, the leaders of Quang Tri province hope to promote extensive cooperation with international organizations, mobilize resources for technical assistance, share data and improve the capacity of local heritage management staff.
