Minister-President of the Government of the French Community of Belgium (Wallonie-Bruxelles) visits the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long

On his official visit to Viet Nam, His Excellency Mr. Rudy Demotte, Minister-President of the Government of the French Community of Belgium (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and his entourage paid a working trip to the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long on 13 September 2016.

The delegation was received by Mr. Ngô Văn Quý, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee and leaders of Ha Noi Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of the People’s Committee, and Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre.

As part of the international cooperation on Thăng Long Imperial Citadel conservation, between 2010 and 2012, the Wallonie – Bruxelles region funded a project that helped to assess the impacts of the environment on the heritage site through such factors as humidity, underground water level, and cracking level at the Archaeological Site of 18 Hoàng Diệu. Specifically, Wallonie-Bruxelles provided financial assistance for the installation of specialized equipment that monitors humidity, precipitation, climatic conditions and sent leading archaeologists to Vietnam to work with Vietnamese colleagues at the Archaeological Site of 18 Hoàng Diệu. Together they worked on technology transfer, data collection and analysis in order to arrive at the most suitable conservation measures for the archaeological site at 18 Hoàng Diệu. Wallonie – Bruxelles also kindly funded a study tour that enabled Vietnamese professionals to pursue a course on archaeology in Belgium.

Regarding the architectural plan for the conservation of the 18 Hoàng Diệu Archaeological Site, in 2012, Wallonie – Bruxelles also sponsored part of the funding that brought a Belgian expert to Vietnam, first as advisers and then as member of the jury, for the competition that looked for the best plan for the conservation of 18 Hoàng Diệu Archaeological Site. The plan proposed by an alliance between the National Institute of Architecture of Vietnam and Boydens Company of Belgium won the first prize in a competition where there was no first prize.

On this working trip to Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, His Excellency Mr. Rudy Demotte, Minister-President of the Government of the French Community of Belgium (Wallonie – Bruxelles) expressed his pleasure to have an opportunity to see with his own eyes a major heritage site of Vietnam. He said “Thăng Long Imperial Citadel is of substantial values in terms of culture, history and archaeology. And at the same time, there are significant challenges regarding the safeguarding of this heritage site. Our experts, with their remarkable experience, pledge to stand by Ha Noi to help you in this regard. Our cooperation is a scientific and academic one”.

Kim Yến