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09 July 2018 H.E Shaikha Mai Participates Al Ahsa Oasis World Heritage List’ Celebrations
H.E Shaikha Mai Participates Al Ahsa Oasis World Heritage List’ Celebrations

H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities, headed a Bahraini to participate in a festive celebration ceremony, held Under the patronage His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage, and His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Region and Chairman of the Tourism Development Council in the Eastern Region, on 8 July 2018. The ceremony was held at the traditional Caesarean market on the occasion of registering Al-Ahsa Oasis as a UNESCO World Heritage List Site. 

The ceremony was attended His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage, and His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Region, H.E
Bahrain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Humood bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, a number of ministers, diplomats, media and officials of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
The Bahraini delegation included H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Shaikha Haya Bint Rachid Al-Khalifa, the Chairwoman of the World Heritage Committee meeting for the year 2018, Dr. Shadia Touqan, Director of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), Shaikh Khalifa Bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, Museums’ Directorate Head, Shaikh Ibrahim bin Hmood Al-Khalifa, Deputy Director of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) and Mr. Hani Jamal, Director of the National Theater at BACA.
Speaking for the occasion, H.E said “ We gather here today to celebrate the national identity and genuine culture in Saudi Arabia, a beloved land that has proved to the world its capacity to achieve great deeds and reach the glorious path of eternal historical achievements”. H.E expressed her joy and happiness with regard to Al-Ahsa Oasis’s accession to UNESCO World Heritage List during the 42nd meeting sessions of the World Heritage Committee, hosted and chaired by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
H.E also argued that investing in tangible and intangible natural and cultural heritage and its promotion would certainly lead to sustainable development in any country, adding that The role of culture in development should be treated as multi-layered: on the one hand as an intrinsic value, on secondly as a real factor of regional development leading to increased attractiveness of regions for tourists, residents and investors, thirdly, as an active factor of social development based on knowledge, tolerance and creativity. Culture also belongs to a fundamental reference point in relation to metropolitan functions and the significance of cities in spatial, economic and social arrangements. H.E added that GCC countries’ iinvestments undertaken in the field of culture – besides intangible, social profits – frequently have an economic dimension as well. The subsidy amount for cultural undertakings is multiplied, owing to culture industries, which contribute to increased employment and generate gross national product value. It should be pointed out that investments in cultural infrastructure fulfill, just as other public expenditures, functions of development multipliers. National identity and culture in GCC countries could give them an exceptional universal value, H.E said.
Worth to mention that the 42nd World Heritage Committee meeting session endorsed and approved the nomination of the Al-Ahsa Oasis Cultural Landscape as a World Heritage List site as the kingdom’s fifth UNESCO World Heritage site, after Madain Saleh, Al Daryia, the Historic Jeddah, and Rock Art in Hail. Indeed, Al-Ahsa is the greenest place in eastern Saudi Arabia where more than 1.5 million and date palms grow, and the largest sandy oasis in the world. It is a serial property comprising gardens, canals, springs, wells, a drainage lake, as well as historical buildings, urban fabric and archaeological sites. They represent traces of continued human settlement in the Gulf region from the Neolithic to the present, as can be seen from remaining historic fortresses, mosques, wells, canals and other water management systems. The site comprises many prominent heritage venues, such as Jawatha Mosque, Qasr Ibrahim, Qasr Sahood, Qasr Meheers, Qasr Abu Jalal, Al-Aqeer port, Al-Qarah mountain and Al-Qaysaria market.