On this occasion, reporters from the Provincial Media Center had an interview with Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province, Deputy of the Steering Committee - Head of the Executive Committee for the construction of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac dossier.
- Congratulations to the localities in the heritage area, and to you for successfully completing your role as leader and manager in the process of building the World Heritage nomination dossier for the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex! Could you share a little about your feelings at this time?
+ At the moment when the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac was recognized as a World Heritage Site, we were especially moved, the joy is hard to describe. This is a great pride not only for the 3 localities in the heritage area but also for the people of the whole country when Vietnam's heritage is known, admired and honored by the whole world. After 11 years since the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Trang An was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2014, up to now, Vietnam has had the 9th World Heritage Site, the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac.
The heritage complex was first of all the result of localities closely following and implementing well the instructions of the Party and State leaders, specifically: General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Ministers... This result demonstrates the great efforts and determination of the localities of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, in which Quang Ninh province was assigned to take the leading role, throughout the process of research and registration with UNESCO to include in the List of Tentative Nominations with clusters and sites of relics in Quang Ninh province and Bac Giang province (now Bac Ninh province) until 2020, assigned by the Prime Minister to add relics in Hai Duong province (now Hai Phong city) to ensure the integrity of the heritage; together with the determination to strengthen research work, complete the dossier to propose UNESCO to recognize it as a World Heritage Site.
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Quang Ninh delegation attended the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) to protect the dossier of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son - Kiep Bac relic and landscape complex as a heritage of humanity. Photo provided by the delegation. |
Today's achievements also demonstrate the combined strength, close and effective coordination between localities and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - the focal agency to help the Government implement unified state management of cultural heritage, fulfill the responsibilities and commitments of member countries participating in UNESCO Conventions on cultural heritage; of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Cultural Heritage Council and experts participating in the World Heritage Committee of Vietnam.
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Hue Quang Tower Garden is located in the World Heritage Complex of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac. |
The success of the heritage dossier has an important role of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to UNESCO in Paris - France in coordinating information, promptly connecting and working with specialized agencies of UNESCO, ICOMOS, the World Heritage Committee, experts to conduct dozens of meetings, contacts with Heads of Delegations, Ambassadors, experts of 20 member countries of the World Heritage Committee, Director of the World Heritage Center, ICOMOS.
This helps us update, explain information, clarify outstanding global values, and strongly commit to implementing ICOMOS recommendations on heritage conservation. This success is greatly contributed by the special assistance of the UNESCO Representative Office in Vietnam, international experts, and ICOMOS's active professional support in completing the dossier, explaining and implementing the recommendations well. As a result, the Session achieved absolute consensus, all members supported the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac to be worthy of being listed on the World Cultural Heritage List.
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The Vietnamese delegation attended the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, France. |
- The Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac heritage complex has many differences. So the process of building the dossier is certainly not easy, can you share more specifically?
+ The dossier of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex is the first nomination dossier in Vietnam to be implemented in the form of a chain heritage (including many separate components), with a very new approach in Vietnam, inter-provincial (3 provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Giang and Hai Duong, now Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh and Hai Phong City) with relic sites located in a large area with complex terrain of mountains, rivers and streams. However, the dossier has been elaborately and methodically built with high quality.
The People's Committee of Quang Ninh province was assigned to take the lead in building the heritage dossier. During that process, we issued many directive documents closely following the tasks at different times to ensure suitability and effectiveness. The first two years of building the dossier were also in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the three provinces still took the opportunity to conduct archaeological excavations at a number of relic sites in the area, thereby adding valuable information to the heritage dossier. In 2021, Quang Ninh province implemented three scientific research projects with a research scope in three provinces in the heritage area, for the Yen Tu Complex of Monuments and Landscapes, including: Research topics on cultural and historical values; Research topics on the system of architectural and landscape relics; Research topics on geological - geomorphological characteristics and values and biodiversity. These results have long-term and immediate significance and will be used to build the World Heritage nomination dossier for the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son and Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex.
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Vietnamese delegation met and worked with the Indian ambassador to UNESCO. Photo provided by the working group. |
The process of collecting information, documents and research since 2020 has also been carried out simultaneously with the construction of the heritage dossier, going through many steps until it is officially completed. During that process, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province has chaired the organization of 8 domestic conferences and seminars and seminars with the participation of internal international experts; 11 meetings with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Cultural Heritage Council, a number of departments, institutes of central agencies, domestic experts and scientists and more than 100 meetings between the Steering Committee for the construction of the Yen Tu dossier and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the 3 provinces; between the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the 3 provinces and related departments, branches, localities and the Consulting Unit for the construction of the nomination dossier.
During the construction process, the Dossier also received active support and played an extremely important role from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, along with the advice and participation of domestic experts, scientists, managers and 2 internal international consultants (Prof. Shimoda, Japanese nationality, expert in the field of cultural heritage; Prof. Paul, New Zealand nationality)...
Accordingly, on February 5, 2021, UNESCO issued document CLT/WHC/NOM/21/12 confirming the inclusion of the Heritage Complex dossier in the tentative nomination list. The summary report of the Heritage Profile has been posted on the World Heritage Center's website in the list of tentative world heritage profiles. The official nomination dossier of the Yen Tu Complex of Monuments and Landscapes was sent to the World Heritage Center in January 2024, meeting all technical requirements and the Guidelines for the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention. After that, the dossier was assessed by ICOMOS experts in the field in August 2024. Based on the assessment comments, we continued to supplement information for the nomination dossier and sent it to the UNESCO World Heritage Center and ICOMOS on February 28, 2025...
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One Roof Pagoda at Yen Tu relic and scenic area (Yen Tu ward, Quang Ninh). |
- That is the story in the country, but when it comes to international affairs, is it easy to successfully defend the dossier, comrade? We heard that the Vietnamese delegation had to face the recommendation to "return the dossier" right before the Session?
+ Yes, the requirements for reviewing UNESCO's dossiers are increasingly difficult and strict, in which, the on-site inspection of the authenticity of ICOMOS is extremely strict. The authenticity has been preliminarily examined by UNESCO experts and concluded that this is the weakest point, there are even many very weak points that need to be overcome to serve to prove the global outstanding criteria of the nominated Heritage Complex. The conservation of relics is still inadequate (some relics have been completely destroyed such as Quynh Lam Pagoda, Ngoa Van Pagoda, some relics have been and are preparing for new investment and construction). The current integrity is not uniform, some are unclear about the scale of the core zone, buffer zone...
It can be said that the journey to protect heritage records is full of new difficulties and challenges, however, the Vietnamese delegations have never given up, always making great efforts and determination. The delegation of Quang Ninh province has chaired the participation in expert-level dialogue delegations with ICOMOS, attending the 221st session of the UNESCO Executive Board in France from April 6 to 9, 2025. On the sidelines of this session, the delegations of the 3 provinces had meetings and worked with the Director General, Deputy Director General, Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Culture, Director of the World Heritage Center, Director General of the Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and members of the World Heritage Committee to exchange, provide information and clarify the outstanding global values of the nominated heritage of the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac.
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Buddha stele made of natural mountain stone on the sacred peak of Yen Tu (Quang Ninh). |
Most recently, from June 10-17, 2025, Quang Ninh organized a working delegation led by the provincial leader, participating with the delegation of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to travel to the Republic of France, conducting a legal campaign for the nominated Heritage Complex dossier. Thereby, an event was organized to introduce and promote the cultural, historical and spiritual values of the Heritage Complex at the Vietnam Cultural Center in France; Meeting with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, Director of the World Heritage Center Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director General of ICOMOS Marie Laure Lavenir to clarify the heritage values; requesting support and facilitating the recognition of the World Heritage at the 47th Session; Private meeting with 20 ambassadors, heads of delegations of member countries of the World Heritage Committee and the Bulgarian representative, who is the President of the Session to promote support for world heritage listing at the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee held from July 6-16, 2025 in Paris, France.
Previously, domestically, on May 16-17, 2025, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province chaired with the People's Committees of Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces (now Bac Ninh province and Hai Phong city) in coordination with the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to organize the program "Learning about Vietnam Day 2025" in 3 localities. On this occasion, the 3 provinces invited the Diplomatic Corps of countries based in Vietnam to visit, promote and introduce their history and culture, including the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son and Kiep Bac Heritage Complex, and to legally lobby for the nominated heritage dossier.
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Explaining the life and career of Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong to Buddhists and tourists at Hue Quang Yen Tu tower garden (Quang Ninh) . |
- Honoring world heritage also comes with great responsibility, so what will Quang Ninh do to preserve and promote the value of heritage in the coming time, sir?
+ After many years of efforts, the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son - Kiep Bac Heritage Complex has been officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. This recognition affirms the international appreciation of the outstanding global value of the heritage and the fine humanistic thoughts of Truc Lam Buddhism founded by King Tran Nhan Tong, as well as the efforts of localities in preserving and protecting the heritage. The role and position of the heritage are enhanced in the international arena, while also creating favorable conditions for preserving and promoting the value of the heritage in a sustainable manner.
After 11 years since Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, Vietnam now has its 9th world heritage. This is a special opportunity for Yen Tu to be known, admired, honored and protected by the whole world, and will also bring many opportunities for conservation, restoration and promotion; including developing cultural tourism in a sustainable and highly responsible manner.
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Bach Dang stake field is one of 12 relic sites located in the World Heritage Complex of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac. |
In fact, for many years, the system of relics and intangible cultural heritages of localities has received special attention from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the provinces through research, identification of values to prepare nomination dossiers, and registration domestically and internationally; implementing many projects to preserve and restore relic works. Thereby contributing to protecting the outstanding global value of the heritage site, improving the cultural and spiritual life of the community in the heritage area. On November 23, 2024, the National Assembly also passed the Law on Cultural Heritage 2024, along with documents guiding its implementation, including the addition of legal content to legalize UNESCO's sustainable development perspectives in the spirit of the World Heritage Convention, which is an important legal corridor for the work of preserving and promoting the values of World Heritage in a sustainable manner.
We are well aware that honor and pride always go hand in hand with responsibility. Quang Ninh will continue to develop and implement the Project to preserve, restore and promote heritage values, in order to ensure sustainability and widely spread heritage values. Along with that, we will strengthen the connection and coordination with Hai Phong and Bac Ninh to build a unified heritage space, synchronously deploy measures to preserve and promote the values of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Heritage Complex in accordance with the spirit of the World Heritage Convention associated with sustainable development, actively contributing to promoting the beauty of the country and people of Vietnam to the world.
Thank you for the conversation!
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Phan Hang
Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/pho-chu-tich-ubnd-tinh-nguyen-thi-hanh-dong-hanh-xay-dung-bao-ve-ho-so-di-san-the-gioi-yen-tu-vinh-n-3366794.html
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