Bhaktapur, Apr. 18: The nine-day international conference on “Culture, heritage management and tourism” organised under the auspices of the Bangkok-based headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) concluded here on Sunday.
The conference suggested formulation and implementation of separate plans of action for heritage conservation for different cities according to their specific requirements.
The conference also called on Bhaktapur Municipality to preserve its natural environment, revive traditional construction technology and initiate local heritage assistance programme for overall conservation of its traditional architecture and heritage.
One hundred and fifty tourism entrepreneurs and cultural experts from 24 countries including different cities attended the seminar.
Cities represented in the conference were Bhaktapur of Nepal, Hubai of South Korea, Hoian of Vietnam, Candy of Sri Lanka, Levuka of Fiji, Lijiang of the People’s Republic of China, Luwang Prawang of Laos, Meleka of Malaysia and Vigan of the Philippines.
UNESCO heritage consultant for the Asia-Pacific region Richard Angleheart said sustainable tourism development of any heritage city depended on the tourist attractions it could offer.
He thanked all the participants of the conference and Bhaktapur Municipality for the successful conclusion of the conference and stressed the development of all aspects of tourism to bolster up the local economy.
Meanwhile, the international non-governmental organisation, A.C.A.-Japan has been undertaking various programmes in rural areas of Nepal in the last five years.
The programmes include construction of school buildings, provision of scholarship grants to students, literacy classes, afforestation, agricultural training and health programmes.
Addressing a press conference organised by the ACA here on Sunday, ACA-Japan president Sugahiko Aujimoto said that the assistance under the various projects has benefited the target groups.
He said the assistance for various programmes of the NGO would be increased to Rs 10 million in the next year.
Local community participation has been the main thrust of the programmes carried out by the project, he added.