On October 20, at the Conference summarizing the implementation of the Master Plan for investment in preserving, restoring and promoting the value of the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town associated with the development of Hoi An city and sustainable tourism for the period 2012 - 2025, Mr. Nguyen Su - Former Secretary of Hoi An City Party Committee - shared about the preservation of Hoi An Ancient Town.
According to Mr. Su, the recognition of Hoi An in the list of World Cultural Heritage and the summary of the overall planning and investment for the old town need to be viewed fully and fairly.
Currently, reports often state that investment resources are mainly from the state budget, but in reality, the contribution of the people is very large. Many households have spent billions, even tens of billions of VND to repair and renovate their houses according to the instructions of specialized agencies. This is the huge amount of social resources that we have not fully counted. Heritage preservation cannot only rely on the budget but must be the cooperation of the whole society.
In addition, Mr. Su also suggested that the City People's Committee and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism should clearly assess the role of the team of experts, as well as international cooperation in conservation work.
According to Mr. Su, if it were not for the first experts to discover and study the value of Hoi An, such as architect Hoang Dao Kinh or the technical and skillful support from Japanese experts, we would not have had such valuable experience as today. Therefore, in every summary, it is necessary to fully recognize the role of the people, experts and international partners - that is fair and objective.
The former Secretary of the Hoi An City Party Committee also affirmed that any planning needs to be accompanied by an implementation mechanism.
"If there is only a beautiful plan without a mechanism, without resources, it will only be on paper. To successfully preserve, it is necessary to keep people - including people, the government and those working professionally - together, benefit together and take responsibility together," Mr. Su emphasized.
