QUẢNG NINH — Vice Chairwoman of the Quảng Ninh municipal People's Committee Vũ Thị Mai Anh received Jonathan Wallace Baker, UNESCO Representative to Việt Nam, on October 29 to discuss cooperation in digital transformation, heritage management and sustainable development.

Anh praised the UNESCO Representative Office in Việt Nam for its support and cooperation in science, education and culture, particularly in managing world heritage sites.

As UNESCO develops its five-year strategy and action plan for Việt Nam, she called on both sides to maintain existing cooperation programmes, increase experience sharing and expand collaboration in key areas.

Quảng Ninh looks forward to UNESCO support in using digital technology for heritage management, fostering cultural industries and innovation, and creating policies to gather and allocate resources for heritage preservation and restoration. The city also aims to work with UNESCO on environmental protection and tourist destination management, the official noted.

These efforts aim to improve the conservation and promotion of world heritage sites in Quảng Ninh, including Hạ Long Bay and Yên Tử, while raising the international profile of the city’s distinctive culture, Anh added.

For his part, Baker affirmed UNESCO’s readiness to work with Quảng Ninh in priority areas such as education, culture, heritage management and promotion, science – technology, innovation, and digital transformation, which are also among the organisation’s strategic priorities in Việt Nam.

The UNESCO representative showed interest in collaborating with Quảng Ninh to explore an ocean education project, aiming to raise young people’s awareness of protecting the marine environment.

Welcoming the proposals, Anh assigned the Quảng Ninh Economic Zone Authority to act as the focal point, working closely with the UNESCO Representative Office in Việt Nam and relevant departments to turn the proposals into cooperation programmes and activities in line with the city's sustainable development target. — VNA/VNS