Attended by the Secretary-General of UNESCO

Prince Sultan bin Salman Opens the Kingdom Antiquities Exhibition at UNESCO Location

On last Thursday, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, opened the Kingdom Antiquities Exhibition at UNESCO location in Paris. The opening celebration was attended by His the UNESCO Secretary-General, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Deputy Minister of Education at the Kingdom, Dr. Saeed Al-Mulays, the permanent representative at UNESCO, Dr. Zeyad Al-Drays, and many international experts and persons interested in the archeology field.

HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman said that organizing such exhibition of the Kingdom's antiquities, which are nominated to be registered in the World Heritage List, aims at familiarizing the people with these sites and preserving the cultural heritage in general. It also aims at manifest the national antiquities at the world level. The SCT is supporting the registration of Maddin Saleh site in the World Heritage List. If the registration is achieved, the site will be protected according to internationally-known regulations so as to enable everyone to recognize an essential part of the Kingdom civilization.

During the opening celebration, Prince Sultan stressed the importance of registering the cultural and natural heritage sites in the World Heritage List. Consequently, the Kingdom's Heritage will be recognized as a humanitarian inheritance, the relations will be established with persons and institutions that are interested in heritage at the international level, and the tourism and scientific attraction of the sites will increase. HRH Prince Sultan pointed out that registering the national remarks in the World Heritage List is a means to develop tourism and activate its role in the economic growth. He mentioned that tourism is the best means to use these sites in a sustainable manner through organizing tourism activities. Therefore, there will be a balance between the governorate' needs and employment requirements, so the sites will be visited by the tourists from everywhere.

The Secretary-General of the SCT added that the World Heritage Protection Agreement, that was issued by the UNESCO in 1972 and to which the Kingdom joined in 1977, was set out for the preservation of heritage sites with great importance, including the heritage familiarization and determining the Member States' responsibilities to identify the natural and cultural heritage.