The first cross-border world heritage site demonstrates Vietnam-Laos friendship

UNESCO has approved the adjustment of the World Natural Heritage boundary, officially connecting Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Vietnam) and Hin Nam No National Park (Laos), forming the first cross-border World Heritage Site between the two countries.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper, at the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris (France), UNESCO officially approved the decision to adjust the boundary of the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, including Hin Nam No National Park of Laos, creating the first cross-border world heritage named "Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park". This decision of special historical significance was approved based on 3 important criteria of UNESCO, including geology and geomorphology, ecosystem, and biodiversity.

Phong Nha - Ke Bang landscape. (Photo: VNA).

In an interview with VNA reporters in Paris, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong assessed this as a common success of Vietnam and Laos, demonstrating the evergreen and everlasting friendship between the two countries. He said that in the coming time, the agencies of the two countries will continue to coordinate to preserve and promote the value of the transnational natural heritage between Laos and Vietnam as well as for sustainable economic development.

Speaking on the Government Electronic Newspaper, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Standing Member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, Head of the Vietnamese expert group participating in the World Heritage Committee, said: Today's success is thanks to the close direction and special attention of the Party and State leaders, the Secretariat, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Ministers, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Ministers and specialized agencies of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs , National Cultural Heritage Council, Quang Tri province, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in recent years, have actively coordinated closely with the Lao People's Democratic Republic to complete the nomination dossier to request UNESCO to inscribe it on the World Heritage List.

The Vietnamese delegation congratulated the Lao delegation after UNESCO officially approved the adjustment of the boundary of the World Natural Heritage between Laos and Vietnam. (Photo: Nguyen Thu Ha/VNA).

The nomination dossier for Laos' Hin Nam No National Park, an extension of Vietnam's Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park World Natural Heritage, was submitted by the two governments to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in February 2024 for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at this session.

Hin Nam No National Park, Lao PDR. (Photo: Government Electronic Newspaper).

The UNESCO recognition of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park will be the first model for transboundary world heritage management so that Vietnam can contribute practical experience to world heritage management according to the 1972 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Up to now, Vietnam has had 9 World Heritage Sites, including 2 inter-provincial World Heritage Sites: Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba Archipelago (Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city) and Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son, Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex (Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city), along with the first inter-border World Heritage Sites Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Quang Tri province) and Hin Nam No National Park (Kham Muon province, Lao People's Democratic Republic).

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/di-san-the-gioi-lien-bien-gioi-dau-tien-minh-chung-cho-tinh-huu-nghi-viet-lao-214821.html