via Khmer Times, 26 December 2018: The Asian Cultural Council will be launched in Siem Reap last this month (Jan 2019)
ICC-Angkor, of APSARA, became an international model in terms of preservations, protection and restorations. Cambodia was elected by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) to host the committee’s 37th session in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in June 2013, receiving the largest ever foreign delegation of more than 14,000.
During the 10-day session the Kingdom worked with stakeholders, such as the WHC, and announced the listing of more than 20 sites, including 14 cultural ones.
In this respect, Cambodia being elected to head the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is not a serendipitous incident, but is the result of the Kingdom’s success story of international cooperation through ICC-Angkor since 1992 in the field of culture with five other Cambodian cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage being inscribed into the World Heritage List.
The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is now recognized by UNESCO as an international institution after it was established in April 2018 by the regional group of political parties, International Conference of Political Parties (ICAPP), comprising 352 members, including in parties in power and the opposition from 52 countries in Asia.