Yangon, 26 October 2015 – The Italian Ambassador to Myanmar Pier Giorgio Aliberti joined today Deputy Minister of Culture Sanda Khin and UNESCO Head of Office Sardar Umar Alam in a site survey in the Bagan area to verify the state of art of a conservation intervention on different sites.
”We are pleased to join UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture”, said Ambassador Aliberti, “to take part in this common effort to preserve Myanmar Cultural Heritage. Italy and Myanmar are two countries very far away but also very similar, considering their very long history. Our country wishes to continue supporting Myanmar to preserve this wonderful and huge asset of historical landmarks. Thanks to the work developed so far, the basis to pave the way towards the inclusion of Bagan site in the World Heritage List has been established. This will be the subject of the new project, currently under evaluation”.
Italy’s contribution granted for the benefit of Myanmar Cultural Heritage started in 2011 and sums USD 1.4 Million. The projects, implemented by UNESCO, allowed the Ministry of Culture to preserve important heritage sites (i.e. the ancient Pyu settlements and the Bagan archaeological landscape). These operations were made possible also thanks to expertise provided by two very renowned Italian organizations such as ICCROM and the Lerici Foundation.
The Italian participation in supporting Myanmar’s cultural heritage and its sustainable exploitation is in line with the Italian Development Cooperation priorities in the country and strengthens Italy’s effort in promoting the development of rural areas, where 76% of the less advantaged population live.
