HIST Delegation attends the Special Meeting of ICC- Preah Vihear

Date：2017-01-13

The Special Meeting for the Experts Group of the International Coordinating Committee for PreahVihear (ICC-PV) was held in Sanya, China from January 13-15, 2017. The session began with a cultural visit to the Nanshan Cultural site, followed by a preparatory meeting to introduce the participants and set the agenda, chaired by Azedine Beschaouch, Head of Secretariat for the ICC PreahVihear. On January 15, the opening ceremony was held, chaired by DuYue, Secretary General of National Commission of China for UNESCO. Opening remarks were made by Ket Sophann, Ambassador of Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia to UNESCO and by other representatives from UNESCO and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China.

The thematic presentations focused on conservation and restoration of the PreahVihear site and suggestions were made about maintaining the authenticity of the site during restoration and adopting a multi disciplinary approach. The restoration works plan for the site was then presented by Pheng Sam Oeun, Director of Monuments and Archaeology, National Authority for Preah Vihear, Cambodia.

The second thematic session was on space technologies to support the restoration of the PreahVihear and Koh Ker sites, regarding which presentations were made by Hong Tianhua, Executive Deputy Director and Secretary General of HIST, among others. Prof. Hong provided a brief introduction about HIST and about the work it has been doing in the area of World Heritage, especially cultural heritage sites. Specific techniques and implementation plan for Preah Vihear and Koh Ker sites were shown. The high resolution images obtained and the processed results were displayed. The proposals for future engagement of HIST with the project were made in the areas of mapping for conservation, documentation and demonstration of the different stages of restoration through digitizing the status of temples, dynamic monitoring of the surrounding areas and data sharing, both satellite and air borne, for the sites and finally capacity building for the staff at the sites.

The suggestions were well received by the panel, which also made remarks about the significance of space technologies for accessing sites in remote locations and also its significance in monitoring progress of the restoration works. The importance of having a master plan for implementation was noted. Other thematic sessions focused on the project benefits to the local communities and on the links between Koh Ker and Preah Vihear site. The special meeting was concluded with the adoption of the general and technical recommendations, among which the preparation of a risk map was highlighted.

The HIST delegation also included Dr. Bi Jiantao and Archana Jayaraman.

Meeting in progress

Remarks by Ambassador of Cambodia to UNESCO

Presentation by Hong Tianhua