The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has assessed it accomplishments since the 2019 government mandate began, and concluded that it has achieved a great deal in the area of reparation and in the preservation of temples, ancient buildings and artefacts.

The culture ministry held an annual meeting on February 9 to wrap up its 2021 achievements and plan for 2022.

Speaking during the opening of the meeting, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona said that since 2019, the ministry had repaired and preserved 109 ancient buildings and temples, 8,296 pieces of artefacts, 509 ethnographic objects, and 31,046 pieces of Sleuk Rith manuscripts.

She added that the ministry had received a total of 31,434 artistic objects from different sources, including more than 100 artefacts which will be returned from abroad following more than three years of negotiations.

The ministry had also registered a total of 23,587 artefacts and ethnographic objects, with 12,375 entered into its database.

It had also improved the beauty and infrastructure of many historical places and heritage sites, including Angkor Wat, Preah Vihear Temple, Sambor Preikuk Temple, the National Museum, the ASEAN Traditional Textile Museum, Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum and the Angkor Ceramic Museum.

“Our world heritage and other cultural sites have welcomed a total of 5.4 million visitors, including 3.7 million international visitors,” she said.

She said her ministry had carried out many other related tasks – such as raising awareness of intellectual property rights and the rights of authors, and run many workshops and trainings.

The minister said the new challenge – Covid-19 – had claimed 11 people working in the culture and fine arts sectors, while old challenges remain.

“The old challenges include the lack of human resources, financial resources, clear legal standards for fulfilling our work and daily encroachment on ancient places across the country,” she said.