Qatar to Partake in International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage on Friday

Doha,June 11 (QNA) -Qatar will take part in the three-day international conference on intangible cultural heritage, which is due to open in China's Chengdu city on Friday. The event is to be held by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of The People's Republic of China . Hamad Hamdan Al Muhannadi, the Director of Heritage administration at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, who is also head of the Qatari delegation to the conference , said the conference comes within the framework of cultural events which had been organized by UNESCO, in cooperation with the Member States signatories to the convention on intangible cultural heritage in 2003, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the convention. He pointed out that in a statement to Qatar News Agency ( QNA) Tuesday the State of Qatar has participated in this celebration and organized a workshop under the title " Challenges of capacity building in the field of intangible cultural heritage in the Arab countries " in January last year. He told (QNA) that the conferees will discuss efforts and steps made by the member states signatories to the convention in recording their respective intangible cultural heritage. The Director of Heritage administration at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, stressed that the Qatari delegation will display Qatar's experience in this regard showcase efforts being exerted to introduce Qatari students with their heritage. Al Muhannadi noted that since the ratification of the UNESCO's convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) , the State of Qatar exerted efforts to preserve and promote its intangible cultural heritage in order to invest as a driving force for sustainable development. Elaborating the Qatari official noted that Qatar,the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia during their participation in the seventh session of the commission ,held at UNSECO premises in Paris, had registered the heritage "falconry" as a living human heritage in the representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity .(QNA)