IT has been almost ten years since the inscription of George Town in the UNESCO World Heritage listing and now it is high time to bring the UNESCO status to the next level.
This time George Town’s UNESCO brand gets bigger when it joins two other cities namely Melaka and Vigan (in the Philipines) to receive a boost in the local creative industries through a pilot project that aims to promote cultural assets over the regions network of World Heritage Sites, museums and information centres.
With regards to this initiative, a workshop with the title ‘UNESCO Sub Regional Inception Workshop Linking World Heritage Sites and Local Assets through Museums, Information Centres and Creative Industries’ was held from Oct 29 – 31 at Bayview Hotel Georgetown.
The workshop was jointly organised by George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) and UNESCO Office Jakarta in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Asia and Pacific Unit. It was funded by the Japanese Funds in Trust and supported by the Penang state government.
Dr. Ang Ming Chee, the general manager of GTWHI, stated that the workshop will function as a catalyst for ideas, to foresee the sharing and exchange of information, past experiences and knowledge among participants.
“We understand that development and branding involve multiple complication but we will uphold equitability throughout the process to explore the potential of local cultural assets without compromising traditional assets for commercial purposes,” said Ang.
Exco member for Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Yeoh Soon Hin who officiated the workshop said that George Town despite its vast complications, is the most well-preserved World Heritage Sites globally.
“It is with much honour for George Town to be selected as one of the sites for this UNESCO project as we can see the potential for revitalisation and rejuvenation of the creative industries in here.
“Tourism in Penang has been flourishing since the inscription of George Town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7, 2018. Though there is an increase in the number of tourists every year, the cultural assets of the local communities in terms of built heritage, living heritage and collection of objects have yet to be fully explored and systematically promoted.
“This project yields new economical windows and opportunities for the local communities to map their cultural assets and work with cultural heritage entrepreneurs in developing the ‘Made in George Town’ brand of information, interpretations and products,” said Yeoh during the launching of the workshop.
Also present were the UNESCO Jakarta Cultural Unit head Moe Chiba, UNESCO World Heritage Centre Asia and the Pacific Unit Programme Specialist Nao Hayashi, Consul-General of Japan in Penang Shinichiro Kanoya and Vigan City mayor Juan Carlo S. Medina.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud