The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has set October 1 as the date for a cycling and tree planting event in the Angkor area followed by a meeting of the senior officials in charge of culture and the arts scheduled to be held in the third week of October.

The dates were set during a September 9 online meeting chaired by Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeung Sakona with participation of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the committees and officials in charge of preparing for upcoming events.

According to an announcement on the culture ministry’s Facebook page on the night of September 10, the ministry has set October 1 as the date for a cycling and tree planting event in the Angkor area because the ASEAN Minister for Culture and the Arts in 2020 meeting designated Siem Reap as the ASEAN City of Culture.

The ministry confirmed that the cycling and tree planting programme was being held to celebrate the meeting of the senior officials in charge of culture and arts, which is scheduled for the third week of October.

The ministry wrote on its Facebook page that “Cycling and tree planting programmes will be held in the Angkor area according to the locations and roads designated by the Apsara National Authority. It will have participation from the ministries’ leaders, provincial leaders, diplomats as members of ASEAN and dialogue partners, as well as stakeholders, with limited attendance numbers in line with [Covid-19] health measures.”

The September 9 meeting participants also discussed preparations for the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival (ASEMfest) 2021, which will be held from November 22 to 26 and the preparation of various accompanying events under the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts as the ‘cultural committee’ to provide support during the upcoming ASEAN Summit in 2022.