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H.E. Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities, nominated as Special Ambassador for the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development since 2017, has taken part in 9th Asian Leadership Conference, which is held on May 16(Wed.)-17(Thurs.), Seoul, Korea. This year’s ALC will be held under the theme titled “Globalization in Crisis: Navigating the World with New Opportunities”. ALC 2018 will feature a number of sessions on the areas of global security, global prosperity and global cooperation.

In a special session dedicated to sustainable development opportunities, H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad said “ This important international meeting in a country like South Korea is an ideal opportunity to exchange expertise and knowledge transfer of pioneer experience with regard to world heritage preservation, as well as creativity making and progress towards a brighter future”. H.E added saying “ There is no way we can separate culture and sustainable development; they are two sides of the same coin and they are a perfect tool and the way to achieve world peace, global dialogue and discourse between world’s civilizations”.

H.E argued that the Kingdom of Bahrain has deployed strenuous efforts to implement a cultural sustainable tourism industry, as per the recommendations of UNESCO and World Tourism Organization, pointing out to the heritage sites registered so far, especially those on the World Heritage List. These sites are considered as a very important factors of local communities development economically and culturally, given that they offer the visitors the opportunity to discover the history and culture of the country.

H.E added that Bahrain has succeeded so far to register two heritage sites on UNESCO World Heritage List, namely Qala’at al Bahrain Site, Manama , and Pearling: Testimony of an Island Economy, Muharraq, celebrated this year as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2018. H.E said “ Registering these sites on UNESCO World Heritage List coincides with our vision to attract a sustainable qualitative cultural tourism categories, which would reflect positively on local communities”.

Worth to mention that the Asian Leadership Conference(ALC), hosted by the CHOSUNILBO, a major Korean daily newspaper, is the country’s premier international conference that was first held in 2005. The objective of the conference is to bring global leaders and minds together and discuss issues that affect people in Asia and the whole world and provide a sense of direction to those who are directly involved in managing these issues. H.E Shaikha Mai had previously met with Mr. Cho Hyun, Foreign Ministry, 1st Vice Minister; and Mr. KIM, Jong-Jin, Manager at Cultural Heritage Administration. H.E also visited Samsung Innovation Museum, featuring original inventions from Thomas Edison’s light bulb and Samuel Morse’s telegraph to the latest cutting-edge discoveries. The five-story museum occupies about 118,000 square feet and provides a uniquely harmonious view of nature and architecture, history of innovation and since the 18th century until 20th century.