Speaking on the occasion, the head of UNESCO’s office in Hanoi, Katherine Muller Marin, praised Vietnam for preserving and developing its cultural heritages for future generations.

She added that UNESCO appreciated the hard work Vietnam has done in complying with regulations of the World Heritage Convention and preparing profiles on Ca tru and Quan ho.

Vietnam’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh said the UNESCO certification will have an extremely positive effect on efforts to preserve and develop other elements of the nation’s heritage.

At the ceremony, 19 organisations and individuals were rewarded with certificates of merit from the Ministry for their contributions to creating the profiles on the two heritages.

Minister Anh took the opportunity to announce a national action programme aimed at protecting and developing all of Vietnam’s cultural heritages.