Preparations underway for UNESCO recognition of Oc Eo - Ba The as World Heritage Site
The authorities of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on January 6 held a conference to review a decade of the operation of the Oc Eo - Ba The special national relic site (2012-2022), and announce a plan to prepare a dossier seeking UNESCO recognition of the archaeological location as a World Heritage Site.
An Giang (VNA) – The authorities of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on January 6 held a conference to review a decade of the operation of the Oc Eo - Ba The special national relic site (2012-2022),🔜 and announce a plan to prepare a dossier seeking UNESCO recognition of the archaeological location as a World Heritage Site.
The special national relic site of the ancient Oc Eo civilisation covers 433.2ha of land in Oc Eo township of Thoai Son district. The civilisation - part of the ancient kingdom of Phu Nam - was first discovered by French archaeologist Louis Ma𝓰lleretin in 1942 via artefacts unearthed in the area o🦹f Ba The Mountain, now in Oc Eo township. Named after Mound Oc Eo in Thoai Son district where the relic site was first found, the civilization took shape and developed strongly in southern Vietnam between the first and seventh century.
As heard at the function, over the past ten years, the preservation and promotion of the Oc Eo cultural heritage have progressed significantly, recording regular conservation of exposed relics. They have also actively underta﷽ken land clearance works serving archaeological excavations; and international cooperation in research, promotion and display of items from the civilisation.
Nguyen Huu Gieng, head of the management board of the site, said the UNES🌺CO World Heritage Center has in♛cluded the relic site on its Tentative List. The list is an inventory of properties which States Parties consider to be cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value and therefore suitable for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
He said An Giang is working with competent agencies to well prepare a dossier seeking UNESCO's accreditation of Oc Eo-Ba The as a World Heritage Site./.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to submit a brief report on the Oc Eo - Ba The relic site to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, proposing putting the site on the Tentative List.
One of the most prestigious archaeological sites in the country is set to undergo a lengthy period of restoration and preservation covering hundreds of hectares across the Mekong Delta.
New archaeological findings at the Oc Eo - Ba The and Nen Chua archaeological sites in the Mekong Delta provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang have set an important milestone in the research of the Oc Eo culture and provided reliable evidence and materials for the compilation of a dossier of the sites to seek recognition as a World Cultural Heritage site, a prominent archaeologist has said.
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At the site (Photo: VNA) 
