Launching ceremony of the “Technical Assistance Services to the Yangon Region Chief Minister Office and Support for the Requalification of Yangon Heritage”.

YANGON, 12th October 2017. The Yangon Region Government, the Embassy of Italy in Yangon and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS)- Yangon Office – launched today the “Technical Assistance Services to the Yangon Region Chief Minister Office and Support for the Requalification of Yangon Heritage” in the framework of the Project “Tourism and Cultural Heritage – Phase 1”.
The Government of Italy has a long-standing partnership with the Myanmar Government authorities providing assistance and supporting the safeguarding of cultural heritage, the valorization of the historical and archaeological heritage and the strengthening of sustainable tourism as effective resources to leverage the socio-economic development of the Country.
This Project, “Tourism and Cultural Heritage – Phase 1”, is a pilot initiative targeting several aspects of the cultural and tourism development of the Country. Specific components are dedicated to the protection and requalification of the historical patrimony of Yangon Downtown, to the capacity development on the destination management of cultural sites in the view of developing sustainable tourism strategies. Furthermore, a specific action is foreseen, as a case study, for the involvement of local communities in sustainable tourism.
More specifically, the launching event is aiming at presenting the Technical Assistance, as per the first component, that will be provided to the Yangon Region Chief Minister Office through the collaboration of Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) which was awarded with a Contract after a competitive selection procedure. Among the tasks that YHT is in charge to implement within this Technical Assistance Service are: (i) the inventorying and documentation of the historical properties of Downtown Yangon, (ii) the proposal of valuable public buildings that could be restored and re-used for socio-cultural purposes within the framework of the same Italian funded projects, (iii) the support to the Yangon Region in identifying suitable legal frameworks to proceed safeguarding the heritage values of the City for the benefit of its citizens.
The ceremony took place on October 12th, 2017 at 9.00 am in Yangon, in the presence of the Chief Minister of Yangon Region, H.E. U Phyo Min Thein., the Ambassador of Italy, H.E. Mr. Pier Giorgio Aliberti, the President of Yangon Heritage Trust, Dr. Thant Myint U, and the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation Yangon, Eng. Maurizio Di Calisto. A delegation from the Yangon Region, local authorities, international partners and Myanmar scholars from the most prestigious Universities were also attending the event.