ASEAN moves forward with cultural cooperation
ASEAN is working to enhance cooperation between ASEAN member states in the area of cultural heritage protection, following new guidance from the bloc’s leaders. Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Social-Cultural Community, Mr Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, told the media about the progress made on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting held in Vientiane recently on cooperation in natural disaster response. ASEAN leaders signed the Vientiane Declaration on Reinforcing Cultural Heritage Cooperation during ASEAN Summit meetings held in Vientiane last September. We are working wit h our partners to identify ways to conduct an in-depth analysis of how we can implement this declaration, Mr Vongthep said. Through the declaration, ASEAN heads of state and government expressed concern about the increasing threats to tangible cultural heritage as a result of illicit trafficking in cultural property.
