Inauguration of a World Heritage Training and Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific Region in China

The Government of China will launch a World Heritage Training and Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific Region in China. The inauguration ceremony of this institute will take place at Tongji University, Shanghai with the presence of Mr Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mr Mounir Bouchenaki, Director-General of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Mr Michael Petzet, President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and Mr Zhang Xinsheng, Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO and Vice Minister of Education of the Government of China.

The World Heritage Training and Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific Region, in Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou (China) is intended to enhance international co-operation on the conservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage within Asia and the Pacific region. The training institute aims to strengthen the implementation of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention and complement the activities of the World Heritage Centre by providing capacity-building and research programmes at the regional level.