The United States has deeply valued and admires Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage, underlined H.E. Eric Catalfamo, Director of Cultural Heritage Centre in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, when addressing the International Conference on Cultural Property Protection in Siem Reap, on Sept. 6.
The United States and Cambodia first signed a cultural property agreement in 2003, and together, they have have worked for more than 20 years to protect, preserve, and honour Cambodia’s heritage with Cambodian partners, American academic institutions, and nonprofit organisations, said the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh in a press release issued this afternoon.
“Throughout this conference, you’ve heard from many speakers from across the United States. This whole-of-government approach exemplifies how we work together to implement cultural property agreements and to honour our international commitments to protect cultural heritage,” said H.E. Eric Catalfamo.
On Sept. 19, 2003, the Government of the United States and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia entered into a cultural property agreement that imposed import restrictions on Khmer archaeological material. This agreement allowed the United States to continue import restrictions that were established as an emergency in December 1999, the press release pointed out.
The agreement was extended for five years in September 2008 and amended to include archaeological material dating from the Bronze Age through the Khmer Era. The agreement was extended again in September 2013 and 2018.
“To support the agreements, we've also supported law enforcement training and cultural property protection projects through the U.S. Cultural Antiquities Task Force. We recently supported collection inventories in six provincial museums, and we'll host a cultural heritage site security workshop for site managers and investigators in Cambodia next February,” the same source added.
In addition to cultural property protection, the United States also works to preserve cultural heritage. The country has contributed over US$5 million to implement 26 preservation projects in Cambodia through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. In July, the Fund awarded an additional US$361,000 to continue conservation work at the Temple of Preah Vihear.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press