NEW YORK, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Kazakhstan is working with its Central Asia neighbors to have more sites added to the UN’s World Heritage List, following the recent inscription of a section of the old Silk Roads, the country’s heritage chief told RIA Novosti.
“Together with our Central Asian neighbors, we are interested in nominating other corridors of the Silk Roads for world heritage listing. For the next corridor, we are working with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan on a site that includes 16 Kazakhstani properties,” said General Secretary of the National Commission of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO Assel Utegenova.
“Our three countries are also working on natural heritage nomination called Western Tien-Shan. In general our country takes successive steps to boost bilateral and multilateral cooperation with our Central Asian neighbors in all areas of UNESCO’s competence,” Utegenova said.
Kazakhstan, together with China and Kyrgyzstan, had a site inscribed on the UN’s World Heritage List in June – called Silk Roads: The Routes Network of Chang’an-Tian-shan Corridor, a 5,000km section of old trading roads complete with palaces and temples.
“This nomination was prepared jointly by experts from Kazakhstan, China and Kyrgyzstan, the first time we have worked with other countries on a nomination,” said Utegenova.
“It has certainly contributed to the capacity-building of our experts, enhancing cooperation between our countries and upgrading the quality of the nominations. We should focus on things which bring us together rather than divide,” she said.
UNESCO’s World Heritage List currently features 1,007 sites in 161 countries. They include natural and man-made wonders, such as the Pyramids of Egypt, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Russia’s landmark governmental complex, the Kremlin.
