France, Japan pledge Angkor support
THE governments of France and Japan – both co-chairs of the International Coordinating Committee for Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor) – committed to continuing their support of conservation and sustainable development of the Angkor Archaeological Park for another 10 years.
The pledge came during the 28th ICC-Angkor Meeting on March 25 with the participation of Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona, who sits on the board of directors of the Apsara National Authority (ANA) – a state body tasked with managing the Angkor park.
The ANA said in a March 25 press statement that the announcement of the extended support by France and Japan received applause from all of those attending the meeting.
ICC-Angkor was established in 1993 after Angkor Wat was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1992. It will end its third mandate next year with the next set to continue for another 10 years until 2033.
The statement said that in the last 30 years, ICC-Angkor had made historic achievements in its restoration and strengthening of temples, and its implementation of sustainable development.
“For the next 10 years, ICCAngkor will focus on working to link the relationships between communities and their heritage – and continue to improve the conservation and development of the Angkor site,” it said.
ANA spokesman Long Kosal told The Post that ICC-Angkor will keep up the work of its previous mandate.
He said these tasks are part of the requirements set when Angkor Wat was first listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“They have received excellent evaluations for the work they carried out during their previous mandate, and we are confident that we will see similar results for the next decade,” he said.
The ANA working team also earned praise from their ICCAngkor counterparts for their hard work protecting and preserving the ancient temples during the difficult situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, ANA said in a statement.
“The ICC-Angkor experts said they have noted many achievements in conservation work by the ANA working group.
“They were also pleasantly surprised to see the beautification of the Angkor site – as well as the streets of Siem Reap – that are ready to welcome returning tourists,” it said.
Separately, a senior official of the Sambor Prei Kuk National Authority (SPKNA) said they have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian government on a restoration project for Prison Temple – or Asram Moha Russei.
SPKNA director-general Phan Nady said the Asram Moha Russei was built from sandstone and is currently in a dilapidated state.
The signing ceremony – between Nady and Indian ambassador to Cambodia Devyani Khobragade – took place during the 28th Meeting of ICC-Angkor on March 25, and was presided over by Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona.
“One of the characteristics of the Sambor Prei Kuk temple complex is that most of the temples are build from brick. This agreement focuses only on a sandstone temple – which has a similar style to a temple in India. This is partly why India is interested in repairing it,” he said.
The authority began their work in 2017 after the temple complex was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on July 8, 2017.
The authority will focus on their work in two steps. First, they will carry out renovations on the temples. Then they will lay out the homes of the villagers living around it to ensure they do not encroach on the temple grounds.