Trust Funds for Protecting World Heritage Sites in the Asia-Pacific
International Development Cooperation on Cultural Heritage
▪The project refers to supporting socioeconomic development in both public and private sectors to eradicate poverty in developing countries.
▪It includes 1) preserving and restoring the Hong Nang Sida Temple in Laos 2) preservation treatment of Bagan mural paintings in Myanmar 3) sponsoring new projects for preserving historical sites in northern regions of Central Asia 4) supporting intangible heritages in partner countries 5) assisting partner countries in inscribing their cultural heritages on the list of UNESCO Memory of the World and strengthening their preservation capacity 6) granting contributions and trust funds of international organizations, with a view to effectively protecting and promoting cultural heritages.
▪In accordance with the New Southern Policy and the New Northern Policy, the project aims to foster and expand new international development cooperation projects related to cultural heritage. Here, the New Southern Policy refers to strengthening substantial ties with ASEAN while the New Northern Policy focuses on improving cooperation with countries on the Eurasian continent.
▪Since it became a member state of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in the OECD in 2009, the Republic of Korea has been solidifying its international position by providing aid to developing countries. The country is also cooperating with the World Heritage Center, ICOMOS, ICCROM and IUCN to carry out projects to protect world heritage in the Asia-Pacific region. Moreover, it fulfills its obligation as a signatory to the Implementation of the UNESCO convention by establishing and operating trust funds as well as by making full contributions.
Three results are expected from the project. First, it preserves and restores the cultural heritages of developing countries, ultimately improving their self-reliance in terms of preserving and maintaining cultural assets. Second, it helps developing countries protect cultural heritages and pass them down to future generations by supporting the excavation of seminal cultural heritages with global values worthy of UNESCO registration. In fact, 16 developing countries received support from 2009 to 2017, eventually having 10 items inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World and another 11 items listed on the Memory of the Asia-Pacific. Third, it establishes a foothold for South Korea to expand research on Korea’s ancient culture and the Silk Road.
Approx.399,284 dollar (as of 2016)